美國人的生活故事：復(fù)古房車

Cuddle Up in This

復(fù)古房車，令人著迷的時(shí)間膠囊

Sitting in a tiny room wrapped in birchwood the color of honey on a rainy afternoon last week, Kelle Arvay had a look of deep contentment. “It’s hard to describe the feeling of being inside here,” Ms. Arvay said. “It’s comfortable. It’s a real safe-feeling space.”

上周一個(gè)雨天的午后，克勒·阿爾沃伊(Kelle Arvay)坐在一間包裹著蜜色樺木的溫馨小屋里，臉上流露出深深的滿足。“我很難描述待在這里的感覺，”阿爾沃伊說，“這里很舒服，真的很有安全感。”

Ms. Arvay wasn’t describing her two-story house just north of Toledo, Ohio, which she said she finds too big. Instead, she had invited a visitor into her little domestic getaway: a 1955 Bellwood travel trailer. The 13-foot-long trailer sits under a carport in Ms. Arvay’s side yard, its rounded aluminum shell exemplifying all that is sleek and sturdy about midcentury design.

阿爾沃伊描述的，并不是她在俄亥俄州托萊多(Toledo)以北的那棟兩層樓的房子，她說她覺得那里太大了。相反，她邀請?jiān)L客來到了她的迷你家庭度假屋：一輛1955年產(chǎn)的Bellwood房車。這輛13英尺(約合4米)長的房車停靠在阿爾沃伊家側(cè)院的一間無墻車棚里，它那圓弧形的全鋁車身，彰顯出復(fù)古而又結(jié)實(shí)的世紀(jì)中葉設(shè)計(jì)風(fēng)格。

The only thing cuter than a tiny house is a tiny house on wheels.

只有一樣?xùn)|西比迷你小屋更可愛，那就是帶轱轆的小屋。

“Sleeping in one of these is just great,” she said, nestled into the trailer’s dinette, which has booth seats and a foldable table that convert into a bed. “Especially at night, if it starts raining. It’s a great sound, the rain on the roof.”

“睡在這種車?yán)锏母杏X真的很好，”她蜷身在房車的小餐廳里這樣說，餐廳當(dāng)中，有卡座沙發(fā)和一張已改裝成床鋪的折疊桌，“尤其是在晚上開始下雨的時(shí)候。雨點(diǎn)打在屋頂上的聲音聽起來很有氣氛。”

Ms. Arvay, 44, bought the Bellwood for $3,500 from someone in Arizona and had it shipped to her home. Her interest in trailers started six years ago, when she purchased a 1968 Shasta Compact from a couple in Indiana. She had planned to buy a new R.V. to go camping with her husband and three children. But the Shasta’s diminutive size (just 10 feet long) and vintage styling, she said, “instantly spoke to me.”

阿爾沃伊現(xiàn)年44歲，她從亞利桑那的一個(gè)賣家那里花3500美元(約合人民幣21675.5元)買下了這輛房車，把它運(yùn)回家里。她對房車的興趣始于六年前。當(dāng)時(shí)，她從印第安納州的一對夫婦那里買下一臺1968年產(chǎn)的Shasta Compact。她本來是打算買一輛全新的露營車(RV)，以便跟丈夫和三個(gè)孩子去露營的。但是她說，那臺Shasta的迷你尺寸(只有10英尺[約合3 米]長)和復(fù)古風(fēng)格“一下子就吸引了我。”

It wasn’t long before she was buying more trailers to refurbish and decorate (and sometimes sell), and chronicling it all on her blog, littlevintagetrailer.com. Fellow trailer enthusiasts wrote to ask questions or share stories and post ads for models they were selling, and a community formed. Ms. Arvay, it turns out, was early to what has lately become a travel trailer craze.

沒過多久，她就開始收購更多的房車，重新配備家具并加以裝飾(有時(shí)也會賣掉)，同時(shí)，她會在自己的博客 littlevintagetrailer.com上記錄整個(gè)過程。一些趣味相投的房車愛好者開始留言提問、分享故事，或者發(fā)布廣告來宣傳自己售賣的車型，由此形成了一個(gè)圈子。事實(shí)證明，阿爾沃伊是后來流行起來的“房車熱”的先行者。

These days, design blogs are full of photos of vintage trailers gleaming in the sun, decorated in styles ranging from high-end modern to retro kitsch. On Pinterest, one trailer in particular, a 1957 Sprite painted green and white and photographed in an English garden, has achieved fantasy-object status, appearing on dozens of users’ pinboards.

在那段時(shí)間里，設(shè)計(jì)博客上到處都是復(fù)古房車的照片，這些房車閃耀在陽光下，展現(xiàn)出多種多樣的裝潢風(fēng)格，有的高端現(xiàn)代，有的復(fù)古媚俗。在圖片社交網(wǎng)站 Pinterest上，有一輛房車尤其引人矚目，那是輛1957年產(chǎn)的Sprite，綠色和白色涂裝，拍攝于一座英式花園里。這輛車已經(jīng)成為一個(gè)帶有夢幻色彩的事物，許多用戶的pinboard頁面上都轉(zhuǎn)載了它的照片。

Originally intended for camping, vintage trailers are being repurposed in all kinds of ways: as a roadside bakery stand, as vacation homes on a rustic piece of land, as backyard writing or painting studios.

最初，復(fù)古房車只是用于露營的車型;而如今則被賦予了各式各樣的用途：有的用作烘焙路邊攤，有的用作鄉(xiāng)村度假屋，有的用作后院寫作室或畫室。

J. Wes Yoder, a writer who lives in Nashville, bought a ’63 Shasta on eBay for $1,900, fixed it up and parked it in his backyard as a little guesthouse. He began renting the trailer on Airbnb, and it has been booked nearly every day this year, he said.

J·維斯·約德(J. Wes Yoder)是名居住在納什維爾(Nashville)的作家，他以1900美元(約合人民幣11640元)的價(jià)格在eBay上買了一輛63年產(chǎn)的 Shasta，將它裝修好后，停在了自家后院里，作為一處小客房。他開始在Airbnb上出租這輛房車，據(jù)他說，這臺車今年幾乎每天都有人預(yù)定。

“A lot of people who stay here talk about how simple it is,” said Mr. Yoder, 35. “No TV, no Internet. It’s something different.”

“很多來這里住的人都說它很簡約，”現(xiàn)年35歲的約德說，“沒有電視，沒有互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，是一種不同的體驗(yàn)。”

Anna Scribner, 38, who runs Flyte Camp, a Bend, Ore.-based vintage trailer restoration shop with her husband, Justin, credits the Tiny House movement that grew out of the financial crisis for sparking the comeback, in part.

安娜·斯克里布納(Anna Scribner)現(xiàn)年38歲，和丈夫在俄勒岡州的本德市(Bend)經(jīng)營著一家房車翻新店——Flyte Camp。她認(rèn)為，由于金融危機(jī)而興起的小屋運(yùn)動(Tiny House movement)，部分導(dǎo)致了房車的卷土重來。

"People love the idea that they own something that nobody can take away from them," Ms. Scribner said. No matter how small it is.

斯克里布納說，“人們都希望自己能夠擁有某樣別人拿不走的東西，”不管這件東西有多小。

Ms. Arvay, who owns a vacation property in northern Michigan that contains three tiny houses, also sees similarities between them and travel trailers. "It has to do with the small, cozy feel they give you," she said.

阿爾沃伊在密歇根北部擁有一套包含三間小屋的度假房產(chǎn)，她也看到了小屋和房車之間的相似性。“它們都能給你以小巧玲瓏而又溫馨的感覺。”她說。

With their propane stoves, lofted beds and mini iceboxes, trailers make clever use of limited space. “Everything you would need if you were living in it is there,” she said.

配備了丙烷灶、懸空床和迷你冰箱后，房車一族就巧妙利用了有限的空間。“你生活所需的一切都在這里了。”阿爾沃伊說。

This fall, in one sign of the renewed popularity, Shasta reissued its 1961 AirFlyte, a model well known among trailer aficionados for its chrome wings and “canned ham” shape. The Indiana company has updated the appliances and added a bathroom (many older, smaller trailers lack a toilet), but has preserved the classic styling, said Mark Lucas, Shasta’s president.

今年秋，作為“房車熱”再度流行的標(biāo)志之一，Shasta重新推出了其1961年生產(chǎn)的AirFlyte。這是一款在房車發(fā)燒友當(dāng)中非常有名的車型，因?yàn)樗鋫淞隋冦t翼板，而且形似“罐裝火腿”。據(jù)Shastad的總裁馬克·盧卡斯(Mark Lucas)說，這家位于印第安納的汽車公司，更新了AirFlyte內(nèi)的設(shè)備用具，還在車?yán)镌鲈O(shè)了一間浴室(許多款式較老、規(guī)格較小的房車?yán)餂]有廁所)，但仍保留了其經(jīng)典的設(shè)計(jì)風(fēng)格。

That’s because for many people, vintage trailers (or vintage-looking ones) are something of a time capsule. “They’re trying to replicate a lifestyle they grew up with,” Mr. Lucas said. “Or get back to a simpler time.”

(房車復(fù)興)是因?yàn)?，對于很多人來說，復(fù)古房車(或復(fù)古樣式的房車)就像時(shí)間膠囊一般。“他們在試圖再現(xiàn)自己成長過程中曾經(jīng)體驗(yàn)過的生活方式，”盧卡斯說，“又或者是為了回歸到一個(gè)更簡單的年代。”

That was how Ms. Scribner and her husband found the trailer world. Mr. Scribner, 42, grew up camping with his family in trailers; soon after the couple married, in 1998, he surprised his wife with a ’58 Shasta AirFlyte.

斯克里布納和丈夫就是這樣看待他們的房車天地的。她的丈夫現(xiàn)年42歲，從小就跟家人在房車?yán)锫稜I;夫婦倆1998年結(jié)婚后不久，他就用58年產(chǎn)的Shasta AirFlyte給了妻子一個(gè)驚喜。

“I wasn’t sure if it was a good surprise or a bad surprise,” Ms. Scribner recalled. “I thought trailers were trashy.”

“我當(dāng)時(shí)也不確定那個(gè)驚喜是好是壞，”斯克里布納回憶道，“那時(shí)候我覺得房車挺沒用的。”

But she had always appreciated vintage design, and very quickly, she said: “I fell in love with the cool lines. It had incredible drawer pulls, and the upholstery on the booth seats was original.”

但她一直很欣賞復(fù)古的設(shè)計(jì)，而且據(jù)她說，沒過多久，“我就喜歡上了它那酷酷的線條。它的抽屜拉環(huán)很精巧，而且卡座沙發(fā)的墊子也很獨(dú)特。”

In addition to owning Flyte Camp, the Scribners are the stars of “Flippin’ RVs,” a new reality show on the Great American Country network. Viewers follow the couple as they meticulously restore rare trailers for themselves and for clients. Like the 41-foot, double-decker trailer from 1956 that Ms. Scribner found languishing in a field and bought over her husband’s objections to its size. (She called it “a great party pad.”)

除了經(jīng)營房車翻新店Flyte Camp以外，斯克里布納夫婦還是鄉(xiāng)村音樂電視網(wǎng)(Great American Country)新推出的真人秀《Flippin' RVs》的明星人物。觀眾們可以在節(jié)目中見證斯克里布納夫婦一絲不茍地為自己和客戶翻新稀有房車，比如那臺1956年產(chǎn)的41英尺(約合12米)長雙層房車。斯克里布納當(dāng)初在一片空地上看到它風(fēng)雨飄搖的樣子，便不顧丈夫反對，將它買了下來。她的丈夫覺得它太大(她把它稱為“派對殺器”)。

The business and TV show grew out of the couple’s trailer-collecting hobby, Mr. Scribner said: “I was buying these things for $500 or $600, fixing them up and posting them online. They sold in two or three days. It dawned on us that other people appreciated these trailers, too. It’s amazing how fast it grew.”

夫婦倆之所以開店、上電視，都是源自收藏房車的愛好所致。斯克里布納的丈夫說：“那時(shí)候，我花500到600美元(約合人民幣3063到3675 元)買這些車，把它們翻新后放到網(wǎng)上賣，兩、三天就賣出去了。于是我們意識到，其他人也喜歡這些車。房車業(yè)務(wù)發(fā)展壯大的速度十分令人驚嘆。”

Now a new generation of fans is beginning to appreciate the same virtues that he and his wife recognized 15 years ago, Mr. Scribner said. “People are thinking: ‘Look how cool I can make it, and I can personalize it. And I can do it right in my driveway.’ ”

斯克里布納說，如今，新一代的發(fā)燒友正開始像他和妻子15年前那樣，從同樣的角度欣賞房車的優(yōu)點(diǎn)，“人們的想法是：‘看看我能把它造得多酷，我還能讓它與眾不同。而且，我還能在自家車道上做到這一點(diǎn)。’”

Refurbishing a vintage trailer can be fairly easy or a work-intensive grind. Pete Whitley discovered this after he saw a Craigslist ad for a 1964 Shasta AstroFlyte (which is similar to the AirFlyte, but with a cab-over bunk) and paid $1,000, sight-unseen.

翻新一輛復(fù)古房車可能很容易，也可能是件高強(qiáng)度的體力活。皮特·惠特利(Pete Whitley)對此深有體會。他在Craigslist網(wǎng)站上看到一則售賣1964年產(chǎn)Shasta AstroFlyte的廣告(這個(gè)車型跟AirFlyte類似，但里面有一張懸空床)。于是，他在沒有事先看過貨的情況下，就花1000美元(約合人民幣 6126元)買下了它。

Even well-preserved trailers can have body dents and water damage from sitting for years. But when Mr. Whitley’s new trailer arrived at his house near Atlanta, he said: “There were dead mice in the drawers and damage where water had leaked through the back window. I got a crowbar and started ripping into it, rotten piece of wood after rotten piece of wood. Next thing I know, I had the whole back end off.”

即使是保存完好的房車，也會因?yàn)殚L年累月的閑置而出現(xiàn)車身凹陷和水漬。但據(jù)惠特利回憶，當(dāng)他的新房車運(yùn)到位于亞特蘭大(Atlanta)附近的家時(shí)，“抽屜里有死老鼠，還有水從后窗漏進(jìn)去造成的損毀。我拿了根鐵撬棍開始往里面挖，挖出一塊又一塊腐爛的木頭。接著我就發(fā)現(xiàn)，自己竟把整個(gè)后部都卸了下來。”

Mr. Whitley, 50, a mechanic for Delta Air Lines, consulted online forums like Repairing Yesterday’s Trailers, and had the original aqua paint color matched at Sherwin-Williams. A year and a half and $6,000 later, he and his wife and two children were taking the trailer on camping trips to the north Georgia woods.

現(xiàn)年50歲的惠特利是達(dá)美航空(Delta Air Lines)的機(jī)械師，他在“修理舊日房車”(Repairing Yesterday's Trailers)這類在線論壇上求助了網(wǎng)友，然后在宣偉涂料公司(Sherwin-Williams)配到了原本的水綠色涂漆。在花費(fèi)了一年半的時(shí)間和 6000美元(約合人民幣36757元)之后，他帶上妻子和兩個(gè)孩子，開始坐著房車去喬治亞州的林間露營了。

In the end, Mr. Whitley said, his Shasta was cheaper to restore than a vintage car would have been, and turns more heads on the highway. “Trailers are like a little house — nothing is that expensive,” he said. And “you see a lot of vintage cars around. This is still an unusual piece.”

惠特利說，到頭來，他翻新Shasta的開支還是要比翻新一輛復(fù)古轎車便宜，而且在高速公路上也能吸引更多目光。“房車就像一個(gè)小屋子——沒什么特別貴的東西，”他說，而且“你平?？偰芸吹胶芏鄰?fù)古汽車，但這一輛依然很出眾。”

As with vintage cars, there seem to be two schools of thought about vintage trailers: keep them original or transform an old shell into something new.

談到復(fù)古汽車，人們對復(fù)古房車的看法似乎分成了兩派：一派認(rèn)為應(yīng)該保持原本的樣子，另一派則支持舊貌換新顏。

Mandi Gubler took the latter approach with the 1972 Bell trailer that she bought last April and named the Nugget, because, as she put it, “It’s just so teeny and adorable.”

曼迪·居布萊(Mandi Gubler)采用后一種思路，改造了自己那輛1972年產(chǎn)的Bell房車。她是去年(2013年——譯注)四月買下那輛車的，將它命名為“小東西”(the Nugget)，因?yàn)閾?jù)她說，“它真的很小、很可愛。”

Ms. Gubler, 31, was captivated by the vintage trailers she saw on Pinterest, which evoked “a different time period and a life that seems really charming.” When she found the Bell after an extensive search, she was won over by its tiny house-like footprint and, on a practical level, its roadworthy condition.

現(xiàn)年31歲的居布萊，在Pinterest上一眼看中了這輛復(fù)古房車。它令她腦海里浮現(xiàn)出“一個(gè)不同的歷史時(shí)期，和一種看起來真的很吸引人的生活。”當(dāng)她經(jīng)過大量搜索，找到這輛Bell時(shí)，就被它看似小屋的外形吸引了。而且從實(shí)用角度來說，它的狀態(tài)也很好，可以開上街去。

Remaking the interior has been “pure excitement,” she said. “The pattern I did on the walls is this white-diamond geometric shape from the ’60s. I have penny tile in there. The stove I had painted in a two-toned color, white and cantaloupe. You walk in and it’s almost like you’re in another world.”

重新設(shè)計(jì)車廂內(nèi)飾，“完全是件令人興奮的事，”她說，“我設(shè)計(jì)的墻面圖案，是一種60年代風(fēng)格的白色鉆石幾何形狀。我在里面鋪上了小面磚。我把爐灶涂成了兩種顏色，白色和蜜瓜色。你走進(jìn)去后，就會覺得這里幾乎是另一個(gè)世界。”

Since she writes a D.I.Y. blog, Vintage Revivals, Ms. Gubler was no stranger to renovation projects. Still, she said, the Nugget presented unfamiliar challenges. She had to be mindful not to add too much weight, which would make it unsafe to tow. “I handmade this amazing wood floor,” she said. “And instead of using a heavier type of wood, I used pine, because it’s lightweight.”

作為D.I.Y.博客“復(fù)古翻新”(Vintage Revivals)的作者，居布萊對裝修項(xiàng)目并不陌生。不過她說，“小東西”還是給她帶來了不甚熟悉的挑戰(zhàn)。她必須小心不要讓車身過重，否則拖起來就會不安全。“我手工制作了這些神奇的木地板，”她說，“我沒有用更重的木材，而是用了松木，因?yàn)樗茌p。”

For the last six months, the Nugget has been parked in Ms. Gubler’s driveway in Utah, but now that it’s done, she plans to take it to her family’s cabin and rent it for photo shoots: “I just want it to be available for whatever people can dream up using it for.”

近六個(gè)月里，“小東西”一直停放在居布萊在猶他州(Utah)的私家車道上。但現(xiàn)在既然已經(jīng)翻新完了，她就打算把它帶到自家的農(nóng)場小屋去，將它出租，用于拍照。“我只是想讓它能夠派上用場，讓別人用它做自己夢寐以求的任何事情。”

That adaptability explains much of the appeal. Consider what Marsha Heckman, a decorating writer in Mill Valley, Calif., dreamed up for the 29-foot 1969 Airstream International that she and her husband found in Northern California, way up a dirt road.

這種靈活適應(yīng)性，就在很大程度上證明了其魅力所在。來自加州米爾谷(Mill Valley)的裝飾/裝修話題作家瑪莎·赫克曼(Marsha Heckman)對自己的房車就抱有這樣的期待。那是她和丈夫在加州北部一條土路上看到的一輛29英尺(約合9米)的1969年產(chǎn)Airstream International。

“It really came out of a creative way to expand the space in our home without building an addition,” Ms. Heckman, 68, said. “We were asking ourselves, ‘Should we add on? Go up with a dome?’ It was just so expensive.”

“這真的是種很有創(chuàng)意的方式，可以讓我們在無需擴(kuò)建的情況下增加家中的空間，”現(xiàn)年68歲的赫克曼說，“我們當(dāng)時(shí)就在考慮，‘要不要擴(kuò)建?要不要加蓋一層圓頂房間?’可就是太貴了。”

One night at dinner, she recalled, “My son said, ‘We could put a trailer back there.’ ” Ms. Heckman had never owned a trailer and didn’t want to, she said, unless it met a specific condition: “I wanted an Airstream.”

據(jù)她回憶，一天晚上吃飯的時(shí)候，“我兒子說，‘我們可以在那里放一輛房車。’”赫克曼從沒買過房車，也不想買。她說，除非它滿足一個(gè)特定的條件：“我想要一輛Airstream。”

The Heckmans hired a crane to airlift their trailer over two neighboring houses and into their yard, and Ms. Heckman’s son and husband, Floyd, a retired contractor, gut renovated the dingy interior, while she handled the décor.

赫克曼夫婦叫了一輛起重機(jī)，吊著他們的房車從半空中越過兩個(gè)鄰居家，放到自家院里。赫克曼的丈夫、退休建筑承包商弗洛德(Floyd)帶著兒子對邋遢的車內(nèi)進(jìn)行了徹底翻修，而赫克曼則負(fù)責(zé)內(nèi)部裝飾。

“I have decorated other people’s houses and I never, ever had so much fun,” Ms. Heckman said. “I could do exactly what I wanted. I did a red kitchen, because every girl wants red shoes and, once in her life, a red kitchen.”

“我裝修過別人的房子，但是從沒體會到過這么大的樂趣，”赫克曼說，“我可以完全按照自己的想法做。我裝修了一間紅色的廚房，因?yàn)槊總€(gè)女孩都想要紅鞋子，而且一生當(dāng)中也總有一次會想要個(gè)紅廚房。”

Like Mr. Yoder, Ms. Heckman is now renting the trailer on Airbnb — in her case, for supplemental retirement income — and she couldn’t be happier with the sight of it in her yard. “It looks like a streamliner train pulling into a station,” she said. “The Airstream has so much movement in the design.”

和約德一樣，赫克曼現(xiàn)在正在Airbnb上出租房車，以補(bǔ)貼自己的退休收入。每每看見它停在自己的院子里，她就感到喜不自勝。“它看起來就像一輛準(zhǔn)備進(jìn)站的流線型火車，”她說，“Airstream的設(shè)計(jì)太靈動了。”

Vintage trailers, Airstream or otherwise, can become addictive.

復(fù)古房車有可能讓人上癮，不管它是Airstream，還是其他品牌。

Ms. Scribner, who runs the restoration shop, estimates that she and her husband have owned some 50 trailers over the years (they’re currently at three, with six more waiting to be restored). Mr. Whitley is renovating his second, a 1956 Silver Dome, which is roomier and rarer than his Shasta.

房車翻新店店主斯克里布納估計(jì)，她和丈夫這些年來購置過50多輛房車(現(xiàn)有的數(shù)量是三臺，還有六臺正待翻新)。惠特利也正在翻新他的第二輛房車——一臺1956年產(chǎn)的Silver Dome，它比他那輛Shasta更寬敞，也更稀有。

And Ms. Arvay, the blogger who has bought, renovated and sold several trailers over the years, recently bought another, a ’63 Yellowstone. While she has kept her ’55 Bellwood spare and original-looking, she tricked out the slightly larger Yellowstone, installing a retro-style tile floor and filling it with kitschy accessories like a canned-ham tin.

而阿爾沃伊，也就是近年來購買、翻新、出售了好幾輛房車的那位博主，最近又買了一輛63年產(chǎn)的Yellowstone。她雖然將55年產(chǎn)的 Bellwood留著備用，并保持了它原本的模樣，但是對規(guī)格稍大的Yellowstone就做了些裝飾，鋪設(shè)了復(fù)古風(fēng)格的地板磚，在車內(nèi)放置了一些花里胡哨的配飾，比如一個(gè)火腿罐頭。