Aristocrat Trailers - the history, collectibility and story
When I was a kid I used to remember seeing the “You’re following an Aristocrat” on the back of trailers and thinking how cool it was. Now there’s one in my driveway and I got curious about the history and features of the Aristocrat Travel Trailers.
The company was quite successful, according to a chart circulated in the 1960s showing that the Aristocrat brand was at the top of the heap sales-wise. In fact, during its lifetime over 170,000 Aristocrats were sold and it was once the largest RV manufacturer in the world.
The garageable LoLiner
One of the reasons for this success was the garageable Lo-Liner which was a low-height travel trailer that could be purchased with 12” steel wheels. When you were ready to park the trailer you would swap the 14” road wheels and tires for the steel wheels which would make the whole thing low enough to fit into most garages.
Contributing to the low height of these trailers was a “drop axle” which contributed to the low height of these little trailers.
There were actually a number of innovations credited to the company including the fold-away “gaucho” bed and the RV “potty drawer.”
The trailers were all “stick and tin” or wood-framed with an aluminum skin as was the convention at the time. This makes them very restorable but also quite susceptible to water intrusion. Furthermore the I-beam frames and asphalt undercoating means the sturdy build makes for a more logical restoration project.
Aristocrat History - Irv Perch
I.R. “Irv” Perch was a native of Philadelphia where his businessman father unofficially shortened the family's name from Perlitch. He got an early taste of entrepreneurship in 1956 when he devised one of the first pickup truck camper shells. It was fancy - it came with dinette seating and a sink, refrigerator and stove - but didn't catch on.
Still, that didn't dim Perch's dream. After a brief stint with another trailer company, he set out on his own in 1958, turning an abandoned Morgan Hill chicken processing plant into the cornerstone of an RV empire.
The company, dubbed Aristocrat, offered camper trailers hailed for their lavatories, convertible couch-beds and lifetime guarantees. By the early '60s, it became the world's largest RV manufacturer.
Demand was so high and business so hot that Mr. Perch had to add two factories. He also designed a roomy house in Morgan Hill for his family, which had grown to include three children. In 1969 Perch sold the company that made him wealthy to Boise Cascade, the paper products giant.
The interest in building RVs was short-lived for Boise Cascade and they, in turn, sold the operation to the Bendix Corporation who continued to build the trailers until the fuel crisis in 1974 at which point the operation ceased.
The family moved there from a house where a door and two sawhorses had served as the kitchen table.
Mr. Perch had one last tango in the RV dance, setting up shop at a Gilroy factory and developing the Fold-N-Roll trailer before health concerns forced him to quit in 2002.
Flying Lady restaurant
Perch was quite a character and collector having things like a Ford TriMotor plane, antique cars and even the Flying Lady restaurant that featured some of those collectibles on display.
The restaurant was named after his wife, Jan, the Flying Lady.
In 1989 - a walkway collapsed at a memorial service, injuring a dozen or so people - marked the beginning of the end for the Flying Lady. Lawsuits and red tape surrounding inspections kept the restaurant shut for a time and forced the business into bankruptcy. Hill Country is now the home of John Fry's golf course and math institute.
Aristocrat built over 170,000 units during its nearly 20 year production run meaning that there are some great resources for those wishing to restore the trailers.
Restoration resources
Those looking to restore an Aristocrat have quite a few resources available to them, not the least of which is Aristocrats Anonymous a Facebook Group founded by firefighter Beverly Emmel. This group has a number of experts and a search will reveal all sorts of great resources.
It is through this group that we scored reproduction badging for our own trailer.
Vintage Trailer Supply, which is one of our partners, also has really fair pricing on a lot of various parts that can be used in an Aristocrat rebuild.
There are some resources on the Tin Can Tourists website.
