In Which We Fall in Love with Apaches and Find Our Eagle, Part I

After seeing that sweet local 1967 Apache Eagle for sale Kerri and I started doing a little more research. A few websites into our search it was easy to see glory of these vintage tent trailers.

Apache trailers were made in Lapeer, Michigan by the Vesely company beginning in the late 1950s. (And ending in the late 1980s.) Vesely made a number of different sized tent trailers with graduated levels of comfort/accommodations. Early on, Vesely produced three models, the tiny Scout, the mid-sized Chief and the full-sized Eagle. (I found this advertisement from a Florida newspaper dated 1962.)

By the late sixties, Vesely was producing more elaborate pop-up "tent" trailers, the forerunners to today's modern pop-up trailers. One of the best early examples of what was to become the standard for the industry was the Golden Buffalo. I really like this model... Just so happens there is one for sale here in Portland as of today, May 25th, 2012. Would love to restore it to its original glory!

Vesely is maybe best known as the company that introduced solid-state pop-up tent trailers. That is, pop-up trailers with all hard-plastic walls rather than canvas. While I admire all the hard work and thought that went into these transformer-like trailers, my preference is still for the canvas trailers. Here are a few photos of the hard-sided Apaches...

 I'm sure to return to the subject of Apache's history in the future. If you need your history fix right away you can read about the history of the Vesely Company here. Vesely was a pioneer in the field and during the sixties and seventies it appears they were the biggest manufacturer of soft and hard sided pop-up trailers. (A big thanks to Joe Silvey, who has collected and maintains the best source of pop-up camper related historical information available anywhere on the web! I encourage other enthusiasts to check out his site, www.popupcamperhistory.com. Thanks, Joe! Your site has been a big help in our search.)

At the heart of their appeal is their ease of use and mobility. These classic canvas Apache trailers weigh less than 700 lbs. They can be towed by vehicles other than trucks. In my search I found photos of people towing their Apaches behind cars as small as Honda Accords and Volkswagen Beetles...

Also, it is not that difficult or time consuming to erect your Apache after you find a camping spot, as reflected in this vintage print ad for the Chief...

...and this video

Once we could see that these Apaches were great fits for our needs and wants we began searching for one in our area. As LUCK would have it...we found TWO EAGLES for sale in the area (other than the $1600 1967 Eagle).

Here is a couple of old pics of (roughly) the Eagles we went out to see...

and...

We love these old ads...

I gotta go do some other homework... Coming up next, I tell you about our 1972 Apache Eagle and show you some great photos from our Apache Summer 2012, so far!!!!