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buy, build or sell, we are here to help! |
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If you are looking for a different way to travel, check out http://www.trikesaustralia.com |
When you own a teardrop you are towing along a little piece of history, here is the story…
This teardrop slept two and had the raise-up deck lid for the rear kitchenette with ice box and stove. A curtain-enclosed dressing room outside the starboard entry door provided privacy while dressing. The February, 1940 issue of Popular Mechanics ran a story and plans for a egg-shaped teardrop trailer. It was built on a 1924 Chevrolet Superior front axle with disk wheels from a 1930 Chevrolet. The floor was of tongue-and-groove oak over a spruce chassis. The exterior was 1/8" pressed board sealed with varnish. This 9'x5'9-1/2" floor plan featured a pressurized water tank with running water to a sink, a stove and ice box in the rear kitchenette. The cabin provided standing room beside the double bed for dressing, a small clothes closet, a chemical toilet and a single entry door on the starboard side. Then in October of 1945, C.W."Bill" Worman and Andy Anderson formed Kit Manufacturing Co. in an abandoned fruit stand on Telegraph Road in Norwalk, California to produce "Kit Kamper" tear drop trailers. They had no orders yet, but their plan was to produce the cute little aluminum-clad trailers in knocked-down form to be assembled by the purchaser.
Materials after the war had to be obtained from surplus markets. The chassis was made of 2"x1" steel U channel, when it could be found, and from 1-1/2" round tube steel tube otherwise. Wheels were from Jeeps salvaged from sunken ships. Many had bullet holes in them which were welded up. Exterior skin was of .032" thick 24S-T aircraft grade aluminum. The first public showing was at Gilmore Stadium in L.A. in February of 1946. They took 12 completed units to the show and booked 500 firm orders at a dealer cost of $500. Some dealers paid in advance. many offered to pay a bonus to get early delivery. The 4'x8' "Kit Kamper" TearDrop Trailer was destined to win the hearts of Americans... and a place in history. At midyear 1946, Pocapalia and Worman decided to upgrade the model by adding a second door and fiberglass (a new technology) fenders as well as a 10 gallon water tank, chrome yoke and other cosmetics, including a butane stove with a Manchester butane bottle. They ended up with two models, the"Standard" and a "Super Deluxe" with the second door (port side), fenders and a dealer cost of $595. Sales were going crazy. Over 1,000 units were backlogged and by July, Kit was operating two shifts and turning out 40 trailers a day. A total of 4,500 Kit Kampers were produced in 1946 and 1947. Success demanded change and in January of 1948 Kit went into production of a more conventional 8'x14' "coach" with demand far exceeding production capability. The "Kit Kamper" teardrop assembly line was ended! In September of 1947, Howard Warren of Riverside, California published his "do-it-yourself" plans for a very similar (4'x9'7" floor plan) teardrop in Mechanix Illustrated magazine. No one really knows how many
"teardrops" have been built by the "do-it-yourself" crowd
who purchased Mechanix Illustrated and other plans over the years. The design
remains mighty popular around the world. Kit Manufacturing Co. remains a
hugely successful manufacturer of recreational vehicles and mobile home
equipment in 1998, with some 14 manufacturing plants in operation around the
United States. Dan Pocapalia serves as Chairman of the Board, President, and
Chief Executive Officer at Kit. Bill Worman lives in retirement. Taken from "A Compilation" by Mike Mooney SUMMER scenes: Aileen Cash (left in photo) sits at a picnic table with her son David (on lap), her mother Lucie Binns and her other son Derek. The photo was taken circa 1946 at an unidentified camp site. Note the teardrop camper behind them. You can also download the 1947 Mechanix Illustrated article on teardrops:
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This site has borrowed images from
tear-droppers around the world. |
