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Open Roads Forum > Toy Haulers

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jpmustblaze

Texas

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Joined: 01/20/2012

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Posted: 01/20/12 01:18pm

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Hi,

My name is John and I wanted to introduce myself and my new old toy hauler. From this article, it appears to be the first ones ever manufactured. I have the 15', but I cannot post pics. Anyone have any info on this. Thanks in advance.

[image]

Skyhawk
Ever since the first issue of ToyHauler Magazine was printed, we have received dozens of e-mails from people staking their claim to owning “the first toyhauler.” Unfortunately, most of these rigs, while innovative, were not going to get a date to the prom. They covered everything from travel trailers with the back cut off, horse trailers with the stalls removed, and we even saw a mobile home with the sliding doors removed from the side. UGH! When it came to actual factory produced rigs, the oldest we had ever come across was from a lady in Quartzsite, Arizona, who owns what looks like an early 80’s “Terry” trailer with a vertical lift hatch on the rear giving access to a large storage bay for loading toys. But she could not give us any details on the exact type of rig it was or who produced it.

On a recent trip to Indiana to visit the RV capital of the world, we were talking with Brandon Ambris, who manufacturers Hyper Lite Trailers, when he asked the $64,000 question: “Do you know who built the first toyhauler?” Having been asked this question many times over the years, I confidently responded with Alpha Leisure and their “Toy House” as the first actual factory builder to produce these rigs in any real numbers. Just as confidently and with an ear-to-ear grin, he said, “Nope!” I then described the lady from Quartzsite’s rig and again he said, “Wrong!” Realizing he clearly knew something that I did not, I asked, “Then who?” He responded, “My grandfather.” With that, he handed me a piece of memorabilia from the production of what we now believe is the first factory toy- hauler.

Known as the Sky Hawk, they started being produced in 1974 by Sky Hawk Industries out of Marcellus, Michigan. These units were available from 15’ to 23’ in length and in both single- and tandem-axle versions. The pictures you see in this feature are from the original full color, full size brochure used to market the trailers. You can see that innovator James Conde was way ahead of his time with this build and the marketing of it. I can only imagine what a full-size, full- color, tri-fold brochure must have cost in 1974. Brandon tells us that the models in the photos are his mother, aunts, uncles and other family and friends. Incredibly, the fold-out couches were called “gauchos”; the kitchen had stainless steel sinks and the stove was a three-burner version, all things that remain in many of the builds today. Check out the motorcycles being used! These vintage bikes laid the foundation for everything we have today and Mr. Conde saw the RV tie-in before anyone. Ironically, almost 35 years later, his grandson Brandon would start producing his Hyperlite line of toyhaulers designed for the same buyer his grandfather was marketing to all those years ago. I guess it’s safe to say that the toyhauler lifestyle is in the family DNA.

-THM

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Jerrybo66

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Posted: 01/20/12 07:19pm

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This brings back memories. Years ago I got an idea to build "toyhaulers". I didn't have a name for them yet but I drew scaled plans, layouts, material lists, costs, etc. I was going into the trailer business. On the way back home from meeting with a shop who would do the fabricating I passed a trailer sales yard selling, toyhaulers... [emoticon]

Too little, too late.. The story of my life... [emoticon]

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2003 Sierra SP 26'Toy Hauler
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