Second Scotty added to the fold; a 58 "repro" Scotty Junior teardrop!

Photos, from top down: Builder Tom Scott stands beside his just-finished gem; rear-galley opened to show storage space for camping gear; front cabinets are nice addition to the interior; view of center of sleeping area, with nice cabinets in rear (not pictured); the Scotty body, during Tom's building of the trailer.

Who would have thought it, but, in midst for planning a June/July trip east (for a bicycle ride of the Gettysburg battlefield and the path of Lee's retreat, with side trip into Washington, DC), I discovered on eBay the coolest little Scotty.

A "repro" 1958 Scotty Junior teardrop, built by Tom Scott, a W. VA. shop teacher in 2011, it looked too good to resist. So, I contacted Tom, asked if he would hold it for a month, paid half down, and picked it up on the way to Gettysburg in mid-June.

We then towed it along as the "sag vehicle" on our bike ride, then to New York City/Long Island, and back across the country with stops in the Badlands, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and more. A lovely little trailer, very well made, and tows easily behind our five-speed 2013 Ford Focus Hatchback, acquired just for that purpose (26 MPG certainly beats the 8-10 MPG that most giant pickups get towing their over-sized fifth-wheels)!

Enjoy the photos; builder Tom Scott started with a Scotty torsion axle and two Scotty hubcaps, and built all the rest, working from a couple photos. Happy to have it; we have several trips planned in September and early October, then I will get back to the 1964 Scotty Sportsman, sitting forelornly in my garage!

Tow vehicles, small and big!

So, about to get back to my Scotty project after a couple months "off" (too cold in central CA, too many other retirement projects, and, as a member of the Dodge Ridge National Ski Patrol, working to get my patrol days in - tough duty, of course!).  In last two months, think I have acquired about every item needed for the rebuild, some through Amazon.com, like roof and running lites, some off Ebay, like a Humphrey's gas lamp and sink hand-pump; and quite a bit on visits to a true old trailer resource, RVDoctorGeorge.com (and company in Sacramento, with about everything one might need that can't be found elsewhere).  There, I found a good Jalousie window, almost a perfect fit, a set of four dinette cushions, the right color scheme and only $200, and other miscellaneous objects.

 

And, just bought, maybe, a new tow vehicle, a 2013 Ford Focus SE hatchback, five-speed stick shift, a spry, quite-sporty car with peppy 160 HP engine.  The older Focuses, smaller and with less HP, were listed at 1,000 lbs. towing capacity, though newer models (with the variable speed, high-tech automatic tranny) are not listed to tow anything.  But, bought the stick shift model to avoid that problem, and just installed a Hidden Hitch receiver on the back end.  That purchase caused me to sell my lovely 95 Nissan 300 ZX, which towed a tear-drop, and the Scotty, quite handily. 

On the rebuild, I am also planning to trim 50 to 100 pounds of the original 975 pound dry weight of the Scotty (remove the water tank, use lighter-weight interior panel replacements, roof joists, and probably drop the propane tank and a few other "less-than-necessities").  Will also explore trailer brakes, after getting some good advice from two local trailer specialists.  Our Focus, and the departed Nissan, are pictured above...

With temps warming up, will get back on the Scotty this weekend (only a few more old aluminum screws to Dremel off, and I can pull all the aluminum skin and roof and find out just how extensive my sides and rear-panel replacement will be.  My wife retires in four months, and, we have reserved a spot at a vintage trailer rally in early June at Lake Tahoe.  By September, we want to begin doing some Scotty treks, the first up to the Northwest; so, the time-clock is begining to tick!