For the most part, I don’t care too much about matching a tow rig to a trailer. I’ll tow a gray and brown trailer with a lava orange truck any day of the week. Some campers, however, almost demand a matched tow vehicle and this 1950 Westcraft is one of them. It’s 26 feet of pure retro, and the best part? The trailer has been restored, so you can have classic looks without actually trying to live like someone in the 1950s.
If you read my work, you’re probably aware that I love what camping’s past and future look like. Vintage trailers have a style you just don’t see anymore. Some of them were also built to standards that I’d love to see every company adopt today. Unfortunately, dealing with an old trailer often also means working with old equipment. I know this headache personally as I still haven’t figured out what’s wrong with the electrical wiring of my U-Haul CT13. So, if you can find one, a restored camper is sort of the best of both worlds. You get an old shell without having to decipher equipment likely older than you are.
The seller of this 1950 Westcraft says the trailer was restored from top to bottom, from the electrical system to the plumbing setup, including sinks, fixtures, and yes, even the toilet.
Westcraft
Like many of the stunning trailers I’ve written about, this story takes us to the West Coast. This time, we’re stopping by Burbank, California. And here’s a twist: while these trailers haven’t been in production for almost 69 years, the company that distributed them is still around today.
According to the George T. Hall Company, George Hall started his business empire in 1932 as a distributor of enclosures, trailers, and butane heaters. The company says Hall graduated from an Ohio high school in 1928 and sought to start an automotive career in Cleveland. Hall’s job out of school was as a shipping clerk at an auto parts store. Unfortunately, this start would be hindered by the onset of the Great Depression, as Hall would lose his parts store job and would have to return to his Ohio hometown.
During the Great Depression, George T. Hall Co. writes, the federal government encouraged Americans to get out and visit National Parks around the country. Many Americans chose to travel by car back then just as they do today. Those motorists wanted affordable places to stay, and that’s where trailer companies started sprouting up to feed this demand. The George T. Hall Co. says that Hall’s mother, Cecile, designed her own travel trailer, taking inspiration from a trailer she had seen being used by missionaries. By having the family tow their own trailer, they could travel the nation inexpensively. The company explains what happened next:
George had originally seen the prototype for Covered Wagon Trailers featured at the 1930 Detroit Car Show and they were inspired on their road trip to get into the business of trailer distribution. Within 8 months after returning home from their trip, George and Cecile became the first Covered Wagon Trailer distributors in the U.S. In October of 1932, George and Cecile decided to move West as they believed there were more opportunities for success. They packed up their 9-foot Covered Wagon Trailer and headed to Los Angeles, California. It took them about a month to arrive in Los Angeles where they were able to secure a sales lot for their trailer inventory.
In California, Hall started off as a small distributor of travel trailers built by regional brands. These trailers were advertised in local newspapers and over time, the George T. Hall Company became one of the largest distributors of campers in Southern California.
One of the brands carried by the George T. Hall Company was the Westcraft Manufacturing Company. Production of Westcraft trailers is believed to have begun in 1932 around the time Hall started his business. I’ve reached out to the George T. Hall Company to find out what Hall’s exact connection to these trailers was. I’ll update if I hear back.
Westcraft had two lines of trailers during its run. Westwood trailers had a more traditional look for their era, featuring a “breadloaf” design and usually, wood framing with aluminum bolted or riveted on top. This line of trailers was short-lived, being produced from 1946 to 1948. Westcraft’s other line was sold under the Westcraft name. Early Westcraft models are said to have been built with wood framing with aluminum outer skin, but later models have metal framing under their riveted aluminum skin.
Westcraft models, which include the Capistrano, the Coronado, the Imperial, the Montecito, the Shasta, the Sequoia, the Yosemite, and probably more, featured a more streamlined design. A prominent trait of a Westcraft is what it marketed as the “Pullman Top.” Its trailers had elevated tops with vent openings. These had the double benefit of increasing headroom while helping to extract heat on hot days.
Despite the George T. Hall Co.’s apparent success in the trailer distribution business, the company found an area that was even more lucrative. Company phones rang off of the hook with customers who needed parts and repairs for their oil heaters. George Hall found out that parts availability and service lead times were rough. In response, in 1948, Hall decided to start his own automatic controls division to serve these customers. By 1955, demand for these services was so high that the George T. Hall Co. decided to shutter travel trailer distribution. Westcraft production ended the same year.
Big Red
The trailer before us today appears to be a Westcraft Sequoia, though the seller does not confirm this. The George T. Hall Co. advertised its trailer distribution in local newspapers and suggested that these campers were a pretty big deal. This one has the aforementioned Pullman Top and comes painted in a rich color.
Reportedly, Westcrafts were known for their bold colors, high-end quality, and durability. It’s unclear just how many Westcraft trailers were made, but it’s impressive to see any trailer survive nearly 74 years. This one has the benefit of having been modernized along the way.
The seller of this unit says a total restoration was performed on the trailer with an emphasis of maintaining 1950s looks while giving you a modern camper to sleep in. That means every inch of wiring has been replaced, plus receptacles, outlets, and the trailer’s shore power cable. Every plumbing line has also been replaced, because who wants to deal with 70-year-old camper pipes? The plumbing changes include a new toilet and sinks. The toilet was worthy of its own note from the seller. It’s not a cassette “shitcase” toilet, but a real porcelain one.
The seller continues that everything from fixtures to the trailer’s lighting was replaced, including even the trailer’s 12-volt system. They even went as far as to install bamboo floors, a 15,000 BTU air-conditioner, and a microwave. The idea here was to preserve the trailer’s 1950s vibes while not having to roll the dice with 70-year-old equipment. It sounds like this Westcraft is equipped like a new trailer, but looks way better.
The Westcraft measures 26 feet long and weighs 5,500 pounds with a 550-pound tongue weight. Sadly, holding tanks are not mentioned, but you get electric brakes! The seller doesn’t say, but archived listings would suggest that the restoration on this trailer was likely finished around 2018 or 2019.
I love how well the vintage look was retained in the restoration. The time machine illusion is broken somewhat with the modern microwave, air-conditioner, and refrigerator, but I can live with that when the rest looks so beautiful. It’s so gorgeous, even, that you can’t just tow this thing with your new F-150. Lash this baby up to an old red truck and hit the road.
If you’re as enchanted as I am, you will need a heavy wallet. The seller wants $43,000 for this unit (click here for an alternate link), which may be a reasonable price if the work appears as good in real life as it does in these low-res photos. It’s also located in Gastonia, North Carolina, near enough to some scenic places to take your Westcraft for a camping test drive. For your money, you are essentially getting a modern camper with an old camper’s body, which sounds pretty sweet to me. What’s the perfect ’50s vehicle to pair with this charmer?
It says it has a wet bath. So that’s almost certainly not original and is a downgrade. Difficult to believe there’s not room for a dry bath. And all that woodwork, then bamboo floors. Curious choices. This is the issue with restorations. You have to do all the things right. This guy seems to have done almost everything right but those two things stick out… the lack of a photo of the actual toilet/shower combo is significant. Why the bamboo floor when something with a real wood veneer would’ve been a better period appropriate choice despite the hassle. The pex and 12v upgrades are a big deal, but then these mistakes are problematic. Same with “oh, we damaged the side paint with our lawnchairs”. If you want $43k, then fix that.
This looks terrible.. the red color is all wrong and seems to have been applied poorly. The wheels are from a 90’s Ford Ranger, the interior looks sanded and polyurethaned poorly, floors are the wrong color / wrong material.. pass.
“49 Buick torpedo back painted the same red. Waddaya think?
It is lovely and actually quite reasonable if there aren’t any gotchas. This needs to be towed with a color-coordinated, fully restomodded classic Jeep Grand Wagoneer. (modern engine swap, big brakes, fully safety equipment)
As with many classic trailers I would go full Wally Byam with an International Travelette. Alternatively a full sized station from the period or sod everyone and tow with a banged up mid 90s Ford pickup
Having lived with ancient cooling systems, brakes of that era and the puny power output of vintage cars vs. today, no way would I want to tow a trailer that large with a vintage vehicle.
At the top of some grades out here, we still have water for vehicles that have overheated coming up a long desert grade.
Do what makes you happy, but I’d not be looking forward to that thing chasing me down some giant grade out here in the west after my drum brakes faded to oblivion.
Yikes.
Agree. I’d pull this restored/modernized trailer with a good ol vintage land barge restored/modernized with upgraded brakes etc. Apples to apples.
That’s a nice looking camper!
As an aside, the best equipment is useless without proper controls and someone knowledgeable in properly setting them up. Examples: replacing a dumb thermostat with an Ecobee made my house more comfortable by better using the equipment. Or adding Klipper to my 3D printer let it go faster with no reduction in quality. Car-related is having a good OBDII scanner and knowing how to interpret what the data means.
This would look really good behind, oh, a 1969 Mitsubishi Minica. Don’t get mad at me, I know the Minica is a little too new to match, but I think it would look so right.
That Minica looks like a 1971 Travelette that went through the dryer on the “hot” setting.
“Darn it, Cletus! How many times do I have to tell you the Travelette is line-dry only!”
Retro trailers should not be hauled by retro trucks. These things were designed to be pulled by the big land yachts of the day. This Westcraft just begs to be pulled by a mid 60’s Chrysler 300, Newport, or Imperial. Here is an ad for a 67 Imperial that would be perfect.
To actually answer the question, a 1949 Hudson Super Six Brougham Coupe, or just a Hudson Commodore. I really should not have started thinking about this, I have even checked shipping costs!
Rumor has it that George’s brother Tom had one, and he once pointed to it and said “That’s how I got to Memphis”.
Lovely, and a much better deal than spending $40k or more on a modern trailer if you don’t mind standing out in the campground.
I would try to find out about the black/grey tank situation though. There may not be a tank.
That is quite nice! And, given its history, will likely last far longer than new ones costing twice the asking.
Would definitely want to spend a few hours poking through the cupboards & underneath before hitting the bank, though. Hook it up to shore power, check the tanks, etc.
The paint job is great, shows what can be done if you think outside the box of swooshes and swirls