Vintage trailers turn back time for campers in Victoria
Rebuild of 1971 Trillium travel trailer inspires RV rental business
It might be Victoria's most unique Airbnb listing: an old camping trailer that has been painstakingly restored and customized.
The 1971 Trillium has also become the inspiration for a new RV rental business that hopes to capitalize on nostalgia for vintage camping trailers.
Sheldon Kitzul and Nathanial Poole are behind the venture called Time Travelers Vintage RV Rentals. The hardest part of getting it off the ground, though, has been finding vintage campers to fix up, they said.
"It's really hard to track these kinds of units down, especially in Canada. They are not made to last," said Poole. "And when they do pop up, they are gone within half a day."
And it turns out the wet West Coast is not the best place find old travel trailers.
"Because you have so many joints in these metal trailers, rain gets in them because the sealant fails...the wood rots out," said Poole.
That 1971 Trillium is available for rent now, but Kitzul and Poole plan to offer more vintage rentals in the near future.
They travelled as far as Saskatchewan and bought three more vintage trailers this summer in various states of disrepair. By the spring, they hope to have their fleet of retro trailers on the rental market.
Poole says renting the vintage units is more satisfying than selling them.
"This way we get to spread the joy around," he said. "It's just something that keeps on going, and keeps on giving."
Khalil Akhtar from CBC Radio's On The Island dropped by their work yard for a look:
With files from Khalik Akhtar