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1972 Shadow - a fifth wheel you can tow with your car

Tony Barthel

The Shadow fifth wheel came in a variety of sizes including one small enough to be towable by this VW.

Today’s RV review is of the 1970s Shadow, a fifth wheel trailer that actually attaches to the roof of a car. These were actually built by a company called Harmon Electronics of Warrrensburg, Missouri in celebration of that company’s 25th anniversary of doing business. The Shadow was built form 1971 through 1975 and, surprisingly, about 1,500 of them were built. 

The 1970s were an unusual time in the RV industry with an explosion of growth and innovation that has not been matched. Consider that we had RVs like the GMC Motorhome, the Corvair UltraVan, the Winnebago helicopter RV and so many others. Even toy makers were jumping into the fray with things like the Tonka Winnebago and many others. 

Wanting to get into the burgeoning RV space, Harmon Electronics decided that an unusual fifth wheel design that used a proprietary hitch that mounted to the roof of a car would be the way to go. The thinking is that this unusual hitch enabled the tow vehicle complete mobility including being able to turn a full 360° circle with the trailer attached. 

Three sizes were offered at the time with lengths of 18, 23 and 27 feet. The smaller of the two featured a single torsion axle but the longer model sported two axles. The smaller two models could also be ordered unfinished if you wanted a more DIY type project, or with a complete set of RV furnishings and systems. 

Prices ranged from $1,700 for the 18-foot Mini Shadow to $6,500 for the fully outfitted Shadow 2. With the various sizes came differing sleep capacities being able to accommodate between two and six people in relative comfort. 

Shadow trailers literature

Cool features

Being the 1970s you naturally got shag carpeting throughout. Why wouldn’t you? The carpets matched the drapes, of course, with colors like avocado and harvest gold. Those were also the colors of the included Magic Chef appliances. 

Counter tops were crafted in formica and the construction was a laminate with foam inserts much like some modern trailers. 

The cabinetry, dinette and other surfaces featured leatherette inserts. 

There was also an available AM/FM radio and even a phone. In fact there are occasional remnants of that that we come across now and then. Of course being the 1970s you could also opt in an eight-track tape player. 

Another interesting option was a rear motorcycle carrier. Curiously a spare tire, spare tire cover and even a fire extinguisher were on the options list. 

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A 1972 Shadow trailer and Chevrolet Caprice were listed on Facebook Marketplace

What happened? 

Why didn’t this idea take off? A variety of reasons. 

When you look at a modern fifth wheel or gooseneck trailer, know that it is typically attached to the frame of the tow vehicle. This provides a strong foundation for the trailer so that you have a very secure connection. 

These used the aforementioned proprietary hitch that was mounted to the drip rails of the tow vehicle. In some references I found to these trailers it was stated that some of them literally ripped right off the roof of their tow vehicle. Others caused significant damage to the tow vehicle including structural damage to the entire roof. 

Know that cars of this era were built much like trucks of today. They featured heavy steel frames and large, powerful engines. The advertisement where I saw this vintage rig for sale included a 1972 Chevrolet with a 454 cubic inch V8 engine. That’s a larger engine than even today’s Ford Godzilla V8 that can be had in one ton dually pickup trucks. 

But you’re also using 1970s brakes to stop this big rig and that might be another place where white knuckling happens. 

Consider, too, that the smaller versions of the trailer were advertised as being towable by things like the Volkswagen Fastback. Those do not have the huge engines, instead making do with a 1.6 liter four-cylinder air-cooled power plant. 

Every once in a while you’ll see one of these unusual trailers become available and the inspiration for this article was a Facebook Marketplace post where someone had the pictured unit offered at $10,000 with the car included. 

The shag carpeting and originality of the relatively well preserved specimen are intriguing but know that hooking something this large to the drip rails of a passenger car might just earn you a Darwin Award. 

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