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Pete’s 1964 Shasta trailer — an Astroflyte — a gorgeous restoration

pam kueber - Updated: August 31, 2021

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

1964 shasta astroflyte trailerSince pretty much Day #1 of this blog, readers have been hocking me to write about restoring vintage travel trailers. Just like remodeling a midcentury house, right? Except all the rooms — kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom — are all crammed into one small space, on wheels, and you get to go on vacation in it.. 

shasta trailer restored interior So here I am, finally, with a story — and it’s a fabulous one: Reader Pete shows us his 1964 Shasta Astroflyte travel trailer, which he gut-renovated inside and out. Wow, you must admit this baby has the va va voom goin’ on! Click on through to read Pete’s story…and to get to links of more photos chronicling the entire restoration process.
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Shasta interior restoredPete writes:
Hi Pam,
. 
About five years ago we (wife Cindy, daughter Charlotte and Lane) were in the North Georgia mountains near Clayton, Ga., and I saw this strange looking trailer parked in the Walmart parking lot. It had large silver wings on the back, and I thought it looked awesome. Being a fan of late 50’s early 60’s cars with fins (I have a 1961 Comet) I did a u-turn in the street and pulled into the Walmart to take a look. It was an early 60’s Shasta Airflyte. After marveling over it, my wife and I decided that one day we would get one of these.. 
pete working on the shasta trailerAfter doing months of research on all types of vintage trailers, we decided that we had to have a Shasta with wings, so we found one on Craigslist in Virginia. It was not an Airflyte but a 1964 Astroflyte, which is just like the Airflyte but it has a cabover to sleep two more people, which we needed with our family of four. Living in Atlanta I didn’t go up to Virginia to look at it (mistake), but had it shipped down. I knew that it would be a restoration and would be in rough shape, but when the courior pulled up to the house and we walked in the trailer, we were horrified. It was totally trashed. Dead mice on the floor, infested with ants, and the biting stink bugs were all over the place. It stunk like nothing else and rotted wood was everywhere.. 
Renovation in progress. Look familiar to RR readers?

I thought, “I just spent $1,200 on this.” We talked about selling it, but I decided to give a restoration a try. I’m a mechanic at Delta Air Lines and like working of things, but I’ve never restored anything of this magnitude. I worked on the weekend shift, so I had four days off during to week to work on it. A year and a half and $6,000 later it was all finished as of June of this year.. 

shasta astroflyte restored interiorWe have camped in the North Georgia state parks about six times and LOVE the trailer.  It really gets a lot of attention, and it is great, inexpensive activity to bring the family together. On Wednesday we take our longest trip yet to Disney World Fort Wilderness and are really looking forward to it.
Shasta Astroflyte 1964
The Shasta Astroflyte all set up at Disney World Fort Wilderness. Don’t try to tell me you don’t Wish You Were Here!

[Update: Photo live from Disney World, provided Friday, above. – Pam]

original shasta astrolyte wall light and magazine rackRestoring this trailer is the best decision we have made. It’s not perfect and I make plenty of mistakes but we enjoy it. I received a lot of help from the internet, especially Repairing Yesterday Travel Trailers.

interior of vintage shasta trailer
Congoleum vinyl-type tile

Thanks to YOU for giving me the flooring idea [slubby retro Congoleum tiles] !. 

1964 Shasta Astroflyte restoration
What an amazing job, Pete — thank you. And I have to say, this is yet another example of: Disasters make for better stories. I love, also, how you talk about how the trailer brings the family together. It’s those trips in the vintage trailer that the girls will remember — not more toys.. 

How many readers have a dream to buy and restore a vintage travel trailer? (Me!)
Or do you have one already?

Reader Interactions

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210 comments

Comments

  1. Nora Stengrim says

    This is a beautiful job of renovating this trailer. You mentioned mistakes, but I believe if you did, they are well hidden. I love it when they are restored to be like they were originally, which it appears you have done. I would love one day to have a vintage trailer of some sort, a Holiday House would be the dream, but they are rare. Thank you for sharing this beauty and the sites you found helpful. Hopefully I will have need to research those sites one day. Job well done and enjoy your outings in this beauty. That is the most important aspect of a project such as this.

  2. Dave Alley says

    I have the identical twin to your Astro. It currently is exactly as how you described yours upon arrival. Still mulling whether to tackle the project or pass it on…

  3. Gary Phillips says

    I have just purchased a 1969 Shasta Loflyte . Would like to find the stove as it is missing. Do you have any good suppliers. Thanks Gary

  4. Sherrie says

    Hi there,

    I saw the article you have on the restoration of your Shasta trailer, it is awesome! We are currently restoring a 1967 Aloha trailer and I was wondering if you could tell me what the exterior aqua color you used was. There are so many out there and I love the one on yours.

    Thanks for your time,

    Sherrie

  5. Kathy Redding says

    I have this exact camper… Mine is in really good shape but on a trip to sturgis the original oil light fell & broke. Are these easy to find do you know? Thanks for any info

  6. peter russell says

    I have just started working on my 64 Astroflyte and have a few questions for you. Where did you find the Birch plywood… I was able to locate some at one local distributer but they want 39.00 per sheet. Seems like a lot since I need between 10 and 17 sheets. Depending on just replacing celing or celing and walls..

    Did you remove the roof panels or do most from inside?

    Im in Danvers Ma if anyone out there is local and wants to talk campers..

    Peter

  7. Kathy Redding says

    I have this exact camper. Needs a bit of work but is in remarkably good shape. I am looking for a couple of the light fixtures. Any info greatly appreciated. Kathy

    • Pete Whitley says

      Do you want the Humphrey gas lights that are original to the camper or are you looking for just a cool light?

      • peter russell says

        Peter I just picked up a 1964 astroflyt… it needs a lot but she’s all there… I have a question… it does not seem to have a furnace… would they have sold one without heat… anyway I will be starting on her next week once I finish up fixing some rot on the Ace we have… hope to chat about the work you did soon… peter. ..peter.russell09@gmail.com.

        • Pete Whitley says

          Hi Peter,

          They all had a furnace. In different years they were in different locations. It should either be a floor furnace or on the side of the closet.

        • Pete Whitley says

          I take that back Peter. I just learned that not all of them had a furnace. Yours might be one on those.

  8. Shawn says

    WOW that looks great you wouldn’t happen to live any where near Seattle would you I have a 1962 Layton that could use some of your love. 🙂

    • Tracey says

      Shawn~ I live in Sequim, WA…….I have a 1961 Shasta that needs love! It’s being delivered tomorrow so I can start taking everything out to see what I have to work with. Hope I made a good decision or the hubby will kill me :).

  9. Amy says

    Love what you did to the trailer!! I was lucky…10 years ago I picked up a 63 Shasta in very good condition!!! Just missing her wings. 🙁 But I love it and wouldn’t part with it!! She’s my little Chickadee!! Enjoy your baby!!!

  10. Tracey says

    Hey Pete~ Wow, wow! She is a beauty, you must be soo proud! I have been all over the internet the last few days after just purchasing a 1962 Shasta compact trailer. She’s arriving this weekend and I couldn’t be more excited to get in there and start really checking her out. Gosh, I hope she’s as good as she looks. She for sure needs some tlc and some work but I think I’m up for it. All this coming from a mom of 5 and a grandma to 3 lol. This should be interesting so say the least. My hubby says this is my empty nest project :). Now understand, I have no experience in any of this, but I am a mean cleaner and a great decorator. I do have a question: I need to have the bed/dinette set cushions made because there are none. Where can I have those made? Yours are beautiful! An upholsterer, an rv place, a boat place, I haven’t a clue. Luckily they kept the original table that was in it and it is in good shape. The birch inside seems to be in good condition (that’s what everyone thinks lol) with only a small amount of a previous leak (that they said they fixed right away) in the roof vent. Any advice would be helpful! Mines red/white