AIRSTREAM ARGOSY – NEXT STOP EVERYWHERE

Retour 1 mois en arrière avec le Hot Rod Custom Show ( Chimay / Belgique ), où nous avons passé un weekend incroyable, et pu rencontrer Séverine & Marc originaire de Billezois ( France ) à bord de leur magnifique motorhome Airstream de 28 pieds ( soit 8,5 mètres). Oui, vous avez bien lu, Airstream ! Nous étions surpris de voir qu’il s’agissait d’un Airstream possédant un moteur, hé bien oui! Aistream n’a pas fait que des magnifique caravanes scintillantes. En voilà une bonne surprise ! Nous n’avons pas pu nous empêcher de vouloir en découvrir un peu plus sur ce monstre des routes armé d’un moteur Chevrolet 454cu pour propulser les 4,7 tonnes ! Nous voilà plongés dans l’histoire d’Airstream grâce à Séverine & Marc.

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Qui n’a jamais rêvé de pouvoir parcourir les Etats-Unis à bord d’une Airstream ? Il s’agit sans doute d’un emblème incontestable dans le monde du voyage en camping car. Celui-ci est un symbole de liberté et de fabrication américaine. En effet, il s’agit d’une création made in USA, mise en place dans les années 30 avec la célèbre caravane inspirée d’un fuselage d’avion. ( Mais si vous voyez laquelle, celle qui est ronde et brillante ! )

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Un petit bout d’histoire pour commencer… A la fin des années 20, Wally Byam, avocat de formation, construit des prototypes de caravanes dans son arrière-cour à Los Angeles et édite une revue expliquant comment construire soi-même une caravane. Celles-ci sont de conception « classique » et fabriquées à partir de masonite, une sorte de panneau de fibres de bois. Wally Byam fonde la société Airstream en 1934.

En 1935, il rencontre William Bowlus, un ingénieur en aéronautique qui avait supervisé la construction du Spirit of St Louis de Charles Lindbergh. William Bowlus a conçu une caravane en aluminium et a besoin de l’expertise de vente et de marketing de Wally Byam. Le modèle a des formes arrondies et est de conception révolutionnaire, faisant appel aux technologies de l’industrie aéronautique avec une structure en aluminium et la recherche d’aérodynamisme. La société de Bowlus vend deux modèles : la Road Chief et la Papoose.

En 1936, Bowlus fait faillite et Byam rachète une partie de l’outillage et embauche certains des ouvriers. Dès la fin de l’année 1936, est mis en vente l’Airstream Clipper, une caravane Bowlus dont la porte, qui était placée à une extrémité, est déplacée sur le côté.

Pendant la Grande Dépression des années 1930, et contrairement à la tendance générale, la demande de caravanes dépasse largement l’offre, et ce malgré un prix relativement élevé.

Mais, lors de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, en raison de la pénurie d’aluminium, le gouvernement américain décide de limiter son usage aux seules industries d’armement, ce qui contraint Airstream à arrêter sa production.

A la fin de la guerre, l’économie est en plein essor et l’attention du peuple américain se tourne à nouveau vers le voyage de loisirs. La fabrication des caravanes Airstream reprend alors en 1948.

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Airstream est une marque de luxe qui décide en 1974 de fabriquer des camping-cars. Portant le nom d’ Argosy , leur architecture est calquée sur celle de ses caravanes, avec la particularité de voir peint leur corps en aluminium. Très peu d’exemplaires sont produits par les usines Airstream car leur fabrication cesse en 1978. 

En effet, à partir de 1979, Airstream décide de revenir à ce qui fit sa renommée, une carrosserie en aluminium non peinte, et sort plusieurs modèles de camping-car dont le luxueux et célèbre « Excella » produit à 280 exemplaires seulement.

Puis, dans les années 1990, Airstream remplace ses modèles de camping-cars en aluminium par des modèles en fibre de verre.

Airstream-Argosy_01

La marque Airstream s’illustra dans l’histoire de la conquête spatiale américaine, entre autres, lors du programme Apollo, par l’usage par la NASA de modèles modifiés et adaptés. C’est ainsi qu’en 1969, à leur retour de la Lune, les membres d’équipage de la mission Apollo 11 furent mis en quarantaine dans un véhicule Airstream.

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Depuis 1984, et aujourd’hui encore, le motorhome Airstream modèle Excella baptisé Astrovan est utilisé par la Nasa pour transporter ses astronautes entre le terminal et le pas de tir avant et après chaque mission spatiale. 

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Immortalisés par Hollywood dans des films cultes (Bagdad Café, X-files, un monde parfait, Mars Attacks, Armagedon…) et par des stars de la chanson dans leurs clips (Céline Dion « tout l’or des hommes »…), le look unique des modèles Airstream crée un phénomène d’engouement international frisant le fanatisme.

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