Purchased New by Members of the Vanderbilt Family with Bespoke Details
Stored in Original Family Ownership from 1971 to 2015
Retains Original Sleeping Bags, Towels, Side Tent, Matchbooks, Glassware, and More
Extraordinarily Well-Preserved and Rare Coachbuilt Aluminum Reisemobil
One of the Most Unusual and Fascinating Discoveries in Recent Memory
1,489 CC Austin Inline 4-Cylinder Engine
Solex 32 PICB Carburetor
In 1959, Hungarian Count Anton Szapary and his family visited the New York Auto Show, touring the displays and eventually happening upon an extraordinary creation. It was a coachbuilt camper by the German firm Mikafa, clothed in an aluminum body with innovative details. The count was so impressed that he comissioned the firm to build a “Landyacht” for his family. The family was accustomed to luxury, since the countess was the granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II, and was raised in The Breakers, the legendary 62,482 square-foot Newport, Rhode Island, mansion built by her grandfather. This camper would become a Vanderbilt home on wheels.
Mikafa, a former aircraft manufacturer, was known for its hand-built trailers and reisemobils (campers). A propane stove, refrigerator, heater, and high-fidelity Becker/Blaupunkt radio were fitted. Mikafa focused on reducing weight, even using lightweight German-made cookware. The landyacht weighed only about 4,500 pounds, and was built on the chassis of a Tempo Matador truck, powered by a 1,500 cc Austin A50 Engine.
The Szapary family chose a blue and yellow color scheme that carried into the seating, curtains, and even into a set of sleeping bags and towels. The camper was equipped with etched glassware depicting wildlife scenery, bone-handled cutlery, and soup bowls from Biarritz, France. They named it Czigany, and had the word painted on the side of the camper. A handwritten note in the documentation hints that, as equipped, the vehicle’s cost may have been upward of $15,000. At the time, a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster was priced around $11,000.
The Szapary family took delivery in 1959 in Germany and embarked on the first of two three-month journeys throughout Europe. The Landyacht was then shipped to the US, where it traveled between the family’s home in Pound Ridge, New York, and The Breakers. It was parked in 1971 with 13,000 miles in a garage that the family custom-built for it, and remained there until the consignor purchased it from the Szapary family in 2015.
The camper reportedly had been untouched, but the consignor was not prepared for what he found. Original auto club badges, a guest book, and a 48-star American flag remained, among other treasures, along with extensive original manuals and correspondence. Even the coasters and matchbooks printed with “Czigany” survived, as did the cookware, glassware, sleeping bags, towels, and fitted camping tent.
It is believed six examples of the Mikafa Reisemobil may survive in Europe and one in the US, according to the consignor. This example probably the most well-preserved and significant of all. It is a completely intact and rolling Vanderbilt family time capsule. It offers a very personal and highly detailed window into the lives of one of the wealthiest families in history.
-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection
In the United States and Canada, the history of travel trailers can be traced back to the early 1920s, when those who enjoyed their use were often referred to as ‘tin can tourists’. However as time progressed, trailers became more livable earning its new name, the house trailer during the 1930s and 1940s. By the 1950s and 1960s this industry began to split, creating the two types that we see today, the recreational vehicle (RV) industry and mobile home industry. Very little information can be found of the original Terry Coach Industries, Inc. the initial producers of the Terry Travel Trailer that resided in El Monte, California. That’s because its success was overshadowed by John C. Crean and the takeover of the Terry Travel Trailer line in 1964 by his mobile home company, Fleetwood Enterprises, which went on to produce six traveler trailer brands and eight motor home brands, staking its claim as the RV industry leader at a time when an ever increasing number of U.S. outdoor enthusiasts wanted to travel. The company’s line of travel trailers included sleeping, eating, and bathroom facilities. This pre-Fleetwood Industries Terry Travel Trailer is restored back to its original condition boasting the all of these same home-style amenities proving itself as a precursor to future industry benchmarks far beyond its inception in 1955.
-On loan from The Mike Malamut personal collection
In 1939, Don Boles, an enthusiastic young southern Californian, was one of the first thirty seven candidates chosen for a new four year tool and die apprenticeship program being initiated by the US Department of Labor under President Roosevelt’s plan to assist in bringing the country out of the effects of the Great Depression. He was assigned to work and study at the Lockheed Aircraft Company plant in Burbank, California, where he learned all aspects of aircraft design and construction and how to build tools and component parts. During his time in the program he earned a number of awards for designing and building various tools to enhance the way in which aluminum parts were fabricated.
When he was released from the Navy following VJ Day, he hooked up his trailer and the family took a traveling vacation on their way back to California. When they arrived at their California home, he parked the trailer in his driveway with a “For Sale” sign on it. That very day, the first lookers bought it and actually at a profit for the Boles, but several other customers continued to stop by to attempt to purchase it. Boles quickly recognized the post-war pent-up demand for good trailers so, while reemployed at his civilian job, he began, with his aircraft training, to design an all-riveted, lightweight, all-aluminum top quality trailer. With financial help and moral support from his father, he began to build his first trailer in his single car garage while they searched for a factory site. The residential garage-manufacturing site limited the size of the first trailers to only nine and one half feet in length. They quickly found an available and affordable site and began construction of their trailer factory.
Shortly, a friend of Don’s became interested in the venture, and they formed a partnership as B and R Manufacturing, to build a trailer they dubbed the Roadrunner. Upon completion of the first, garage built, unit, the “For Sale” sign was again applied and this time, the trailer was parked on the street in front of their incomplete factory, next to the mason’s supply of sand and bricks. Once again, the first customer to look at it purchased the trailer for the asking price of $675.00. A neighbor’s father was also impressed with the design and quality of their new products and soon placed an order for 10 trailers to use in his business. He, however, required twelve-foot long units, which would have to wait for the completion of the factory, as they would be too long to build in the family garage where the first units were being built.
The strains of business start-up and factory construction and the related financial problems shortly caused his partner to pull out of their arrangement and Don Boles took full control of the company changing the name to Boles Manufacturing and then renaming the trailer the Boles Aero. As production accelerated, the trailers were so well received that the early problems soon began to fade, and at the end of 1946, the first year in business, over 300 trailers had passed out the doors of the new factory. By this time, the rapid success of the trailer business had eliminated any time or need for Don to maintain another source of employment and he left the outside job he was holding to make ends meet. Production of various models of the Boles Aero high-line travel trailers continued for over thirty years until the company closed its doors for good in 1980.
-Part of the Mike Malamut Personal Collection
The Spartan Trailer Company was launched by wealthy industrialist J. Paul Getty. He converted the Spartan Aircraft factory in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to build high-end travel trailers for wealthy clients. They soon earned a reputation as the “Cadillac” of the industry, and their price tags—often as much as the cost of a small conventional house—reflected the quality of their materials and construction.
This fully restored 1953 Spartanette Tandem 131 represented the entry-level Spartan trailer, with an original price of nearly $4,400 when new. The fully polished exterior shines brilliantly, as do the polished aluminum propane tanks. The exterior features tandem axels and two doors on the same side. Additionally, a rope-and-pole awning offers protection from the sun, with a set of tables and chairs providing a wonderful outdoor dining area.
The inviting interior features original birch wood refinished to a wonderful luster. Period appliances are found throughout and are in wonderful condition, including the heater, Dixie oven and range, as well as the Philco refrigerator. Air-conditioning provides an escape in the warmer months, and an on-demand water heater is fitted under the kitchen sink. The living area features a sleeper sofa and pull-out dining table, and the entire cabin is well lit and features beautiful mid-century decorative touches. The sleeping quarters feature a queen-size bed. Ample storage is found in built-in cabinetry throughout. The bathroom features a sink, toilet, and shower. This beautiful example was an award winner at the 2015 Modernism Week Vintage Travel Trailer Show, in addition to receiving awards in 2014 and 2016 at the Pismo Vintage Trailer rallies.
Photos by Patrick Ernzen ©2019 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
-Part of the Mike Malamut Personal Collection
Part of the Mike Malamut Personal collection
-Part of the Mike Malamut Personal Collection