UK EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK at the all-new 2021 Airstream International 25IB

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

NOTE: In the video I quote the European spec for the weight limit, I've since learned that the weight for the UK model will be 2750kgs fully laden and 2412kgs unladen. All this information and more is on the Lowdhams website: www.lowdhams.com/new-airstream-tourer-caravans

[@andrewjditton]

Well I might as well hang up my hat and retire. That was absolutely brilliant Cameron. Beautifully presented, well researched, and you have clearly demonstrated the logic better than I ever could. I’m not too comfortable with ‘exclusive first look’ as a certainly bald bloke did cover this model in Düsseldorf last year! But you have gone into far more detail and I’ll grant that this is the first one in the U.K. Excellent job! 👍

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

Thanks Andrew for your lovely comments ☺️ I won’t be taking your job any time soon though 😂 Getting up close with this Airstream made me see exactly why you love them so much. I’m sorry about the “exclusive” thing, I was just going off what I was told. Apparently there’s a lot of changes that have been made since the German prototype shown at Düsseldorf. I’ve edited the title to say it’s the UK exclusive 😎

[@paultoplis1761]

Cameron - Thank you! what a superb piece. I'm glad you love it as much as we do!

[@lwood9624]

Saw this last Airstream reviewed last year on another UK channel - and that had the washbasin and the tv fitted.

[@HereWeTow]

I do love an Airstream, heavy piece of kit to tow but lovely 😍 Karina

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

They are lovely but certainly need a big car! Thanks for watching 🥰

[@Venomator.]

Simply love, love, love any Airstream, but this one looks as though it would be perfect for us once Lowdhams have done their excellent work… ✅😉💚 Brilliantly presented Cameron, thank you for walking us through this UK spec model that I believe I could convince SWMBO we need in our lives… 🥴👏🏻 Now there’s just the small matter of selling the house to fund it… 🤑 🤢 😵‍💫

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

And it comes with a solar pack, so you wouldn't have to go to town moving all your kit over from the Coachman! ;) It is a lovely caravan, I feel like it's an investment that you make for the long haul, but the quality of it is such that it should last you the long haul!

[@Venomator.]

@@NotAnotherWhiteBox Ah but does the solar pack include a couple of awesome Lifos batteries? Easy enough to swap mine out in any event and I would swap it in a heartbeat… ✅

[@CaraVanOlogywithBecky]

I really liked the Sir Sam Vimes (check out Terry Pratchett, particularly "Men at Arms" and his quotes about expensive vs cheap boots) approach to long term value calculation ;-) There is of course a price point at which 20% depreciation exceeds (in absolute terms) 59% depreciation on a cheaper asset over the shorter term but lovely lifetime ownership point. Also how is servicing, parts, etc.? Is that sensible or are customers regarded as premium and thus charged in line with those expectations... and of course insurance on a much higher ticket item??? In my mind the ideal less consumerist approach to caravanning would be to invest in a super robust shell like an airstream which could be reconfigured relatively easily inside for changing circumstances; then you can (if you can of course, the long term investment approach isn't enabled by normal life point financial statuses!) invest when younger, maybe with kids, have a cheaper materials, super practical layout then as any kids fly the nest have the interior reconfigured to e.g. a luxury land yacht. I could see it being done with modules that fix to some sort of internal high/dado/skirting rail type fixtures and occasional designed in floor hatches to reconfigure, waste, etc. water systems... Then like a house the trailer itself could be passed on to subsequent generations to reconfigure to their needs... Weight is a really big issue though especially as we need to move our approach to tow vehicles because towing something that heavy certainly isn't sustainable fuel wise. What we might minimise in fewer materials manufactured we'd emit in pollution! Hopefully Airstream are looking at super light composites, etc. at least for the interiors. Aluminium is light but that much aluminium + rivets aren't! Anyway, pleased to see that the colours look so much better in daylight than they did when Andrew D presented his (world?) exclusive from inside a Dusseldorf hall, I hated (odd for me as I typically love Airstreams!) the look then, it was sort of Tommy Bahama but not quite... nevertheless also an excellent presentation by Andrew D. But that rear window from the outside - looks non central and the squared off plate around it looks messy. Hopefully just the angle of the sun not showing it off to it's max! Anyway, absolutely love the super video, wonderful to see, great compliment to the channel's portfolio and thanks :) Becky

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

Thanks Becky for the nice comments and I agree with your sentiments about sustainable caravanning. I've already cracked that code... buy a vintage one! I have the 1966 Sprite 400 that my Grandparents bought in 1972. It's essentially still as it was when new, but was suitably adapted over the years as necessary: 12v added, mains electrics installed, the front bench raised to allow a porta potti to be installed underneath... I'm about to add a fridge to it, which my grandma always wanted but they were prohibitively expensive in the 1970s, but it was an option when it was new. Sprite engineered the kitchen so that you could simply remove a cupboard door and slide the early Electrolux gas-only fridges in and use the existing gas point by the cooker. They took it all over Europe, and another family enjoyed it for 20 years after them. When I bought it back, the chassis was still sound, exterior still reasonably straight, a few damp repairs carried out but a solid floor still... I have no concerns about it lasting for another 50 years. This is on a lightweight cheap caravan that cost £250 when it was new! I see your point about caravans evolving with you, this is something I see on vintage caravans a lot, because their real wood interiors and complete absence of moulded plastics make it easy to change and adapt things. Their fully supporting chassis mean that the weight of any additions can be accommodated. We should perhaps go back to this principal of a cheap, lightweight, low-frills caravan that can be specced up as necessary.

[@CaraVanOlogywithBecky]

@@NotAnotherWhiteBox brilliant, the Dutch (another great caravanning nation) approach to caravanning isn’t that a caravan is for life not just Xmas ;-) I’d be confident refitting an airstream (in fact that’s on my one day bucket list) or an older one where you’d just have to worry about overall weight and balance (not sure how that squares with the modern day requires for IVAs/type approval) but with the more modern ones where it’s furniture 1st and walls built around I guess it’s a no, no. In terms of making it work for the masses, being presented with a blank sheet of paper is a bit much so maybe it’s a location A in the trailer, choice of module, 1, 2 or 3, (say dinette or fixed bed or bunks with seating) location B different set of choices, etc. might be more mass market friendly. Bet it would be a manufacturing pain though but keeping it to known modules means fairly easy assembly and options to keep customers for life as they come in once in a while and just swap modules out... anyway there’s a business plan for someone ;-)

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

@@CaraVanOlogywithBecky Funnily enough, this is exactly what Sprite did back in the 1960s and 1970s. All their furniture broke down into standard 4ft and 6ft seat bases, a standard wardrobe that didn't meet the ceiling (so placement in the caravan didn't matter), a standard 4ft kitchen that through clever design of the worktops extended out to give you at least 6ft of workable space and the only thing unique to each caravan was the bathroom unit. Funnily enough, although the range bore a strong resemblance, each of the four main models had a very unique body style that remains instantly identifiable 50 years on. They even went one step further in 1973 and made a standard bathroom unit which had a cheaper plastic piece to bridge the gap to the ceiling, depending on the model. You could buy all of the furniture from the Sprite parts catalogue and add extra cupboards, units and side tables etc... as well as adding bunk beds. As I said before, the kitchen came as a standard unit with a sink and two burner hob, but the easy option to add running water, a fridge and an oven, should the customer want it. It worked phenomenally well for Sprite back then. I wonder what changed?

[@CaraVanOlogywithBecky]

@@NotAnotherWhiteBox Brilliant! I'm clearly well behind the times ;-) Sounds like it disappeared with the drive to lean manufacturing and having everything as uniform as possible. Mind you these days automation and computer control on the massive throughput e.g. car lines means customisation is easy because the computer just delivers the exact part at the exact time for the vehicle that's in front of the robot/technician. Of course the caravan industry isn't there so having modules means either holding lots of stock or moving people around too much I guess. Sounds great though does it ;-)

[@Andy-eo3mq]

Out of interest, roughly how many caravans does Airstream typically manage to sell in the UK each year?

[@robbieg2007]

What do you need to tow it?

[@paulamorrison759]

Looks fantastic. Old time America

[@andrewensor317]

Beautifully made, but no matter how you talk it up, it's still a static price.❤x

[@SilverShieldcollector]

Can you buy in the UK?

[@simonwright9916]

Airstreams are nice, but even in the US the prices are outrageous. The old ones had really cool radios and stereos.

[@PabloTBrave]

£100k and no soft close drawers the spec states the cupboards are but the drawer you opened certainly wasn't

[@daviemaxwell]

wow.. the UK sure get fucked when it comes to Airstreams vs the US...... Most of the US have options for solar or the microwave/combo n thats about it... The uk ones dont even come with TV's.....

[@DavidHall-ge6nn]

Another video up to your usual professional standards, and a math tutorial to boot. A posh caravan, to be sure. Boggles the mind to think of towing something costing that much. Add in a commensurate vehicle, and the national debt seems quite manageable. Your shirt is killer, by the way.

[@NotAnotherWhiteBox]

Thanks for your lovely comments David. I think I would be worried about towing something worth so much too! It needs a hefty tow vehicle for sure. But it’s the last word in cool luxury 😎

[@michaelhayward107]

The UK interior specification for the 25IB is all wrong. Bathroom in the back, poor bedroom placement, the list goes on and on. They should just stick with the US interior layout and be done. Regardless of the new front door arrangement. Shambolic.