Harley hits the road with Airstream

The official Australian importer of US-built Airstream caravans, recently customised a 25ft Airstream 762 model for Harley-Davidson Australia.

Airstream Australia’s Alan Imrie said the Australian arm of the American motorcycle giant wanted an eye-catching promotional tool that could be used at special events as well as at dealerships to impress prospective 'Hog' buyers.

Accordingly, the already attention-grabbing, polished aluminium 'travel trailer' was enhanced with two 'Harley-Davidson' bright orange awnings – one on each side – to complement the two entry doors (the additional rear door on Australian-spec vans is a hangover from American versions).

The stark but striking layout makes the most of the polished and curved aluminium interior walls and roof with a large lounge setting at each end of the van and roof-mounted air-con.

There’s also a kitchen area with two fridges and a sink to take care of refreshments, white and black cabinetry for storing brochures, and a couple of TVs and DVD player for playing promotional videos.

Since launching Airstream in Australia in late-2012, Airstream Australia has customised vans for a number of corporate customers, mainly in the retail and hospitality sectors. It also recently supplied an Airstream for a new rental business called Airstream Adventures.

Although not revealing sales numbers, Imrie said there were now enough new and old Airstreams in Australia to justify the formation of an Australian chapter of the Wally Byam Caravan Club for Airstream owners.

Veteran Airstream America employee, Dave Schumann, recently spent time at Airstream Australia’s headquarters in Batemans Bay, to help with the customising work as well as provide advice to local staff on how to repair the aviation-inspired, riveted aluminium bodywork.

As well as fixing dings on new vans, Airstream Australia is also doing restorations of vintage Airstreams, including a 1966 Land Yacht Sovereign formerly owned by the late, American-born Australian TV host Tommy Hanlon Jr and believed to be the first Airstream imported into Australia.

Airstream Australia is also about to launch a smaller, third model Down Under. The new entry-level, single-axle Sport should not only be lighter and easier to tow but also more affordable than current Airstream models.

Available with two layouts, it will be priced around $90,000, making it $25,000 less than the current entry-level Airstream 624.

The Airstream Sport is scheduled to make its public debut at the NSW Caravan, Camping, RV & Holiday Supershow at Sydney’s Rosehill Racecourse from April 26-May 4.