Remnants of an Aztek Civilization

Shimmering in Sunburst Orange

 It wasn't long after I arrived back in Flint for my annual trek that I began to notice them- Azteks. Azteks everywhere. Yes, Pontiac Azteks, those hideous little "Sports Activity Vehicles" that the grossly misinformed seem to love to include on their woefully misbegotten "Worst Cars" lists. Because while they're pretty hideous stylistically, they're actually very good and reliable transportation, and apparently very affordably priced and thusly very much in demand in Flint because the horrible little blobs are everywhere. Surprisingly plentiful is the Sunburst Orange, seen above, which is one of six orange ones I have spotted in the last week.

If course the greatest concentration was at the local discount big box retailer, who will go nameless. There were so many in the vicinity I couldn't capture them all, including a white one that a couple was using for amorous intentions- Sports Activity indeed, right Pontiac? I missed the red one peeking out of the slightly scary apartment complex and the claret red one at the bank, but made a stop at the muffler shop for the Walter White Memorial Edition in Light Driftwood. They're plentiful on Craigslist as well, with most offerings showing mileage well over 100,000 and some near the 200,000 mark.

So without further pause, enjoy the Remnants of an Aztek Civilization.

Smurfing it on the Freeway

Is the monochromatic white almost too fashionable?

Aztek on Aztek action at the Big Box Retailer.

Locking horns outside the Big Box.

Smurfing It. 

The one that wasn't being used for Amore...

The Walter White Memorial Edition

In a Patriotic Setting

Sad cousin, a neglected Rendezvous

The Cool Cool Trailer- Shasta Reissues the Iconic 1961 Airflyte

How many times have you been asked, if you could bring back one car from the past, what would it be? Of course, the question is moot, and with the stratospheric cost of tooling and all the safety regulations it simply could not be done. But it makes for some darn good dreaming.

Well recently a fellow named Mark Lucas had just such a dream- except as the President of Shasta RV, he’s in a position to do more than dream. He’d been watching the classic RV and camper craze and wondering the best way to step into the water himself, so he went out and bought a 1961 Airflyte 16’ trailer and brought in a few engineers to study it and and they came up with an idea- they decided to reissue it.

It’s the exact same iconic shape from 1961, complete with the trademark Shasta winglets on the sides. It’s exactly the same size and roughly the same layout as the original, with the same one-piece roof skin and while there are mechanical improvements and modern A/C, and there were updated safety regulations that had to be met, in spirit and execution it’s as darn close to the original as you can imagine. He calls it a “90% replica”- true to the original design, but 100% modern in technology and usable with no safety or reliability concerns that you might have with a real 1961 trailer. It's even got a replica of the magazine rack (remember those? ) with the Shasta logo.

They’re making a run of 1,941 (the year they went into business) of the special Airflytes as a commemorative edition to celebrate their 75th Anniversary- although they’re only seventy-four for 2015. But hey, don’t let math skills get in the way of the coolest idea I’ve heard all month. They come in three two tone schemes- Seafoam Green, Buttercup Yellow, and Matador Red. Expect pricing to come in around the $15,000-$17,000 range. Production begins in September.

Best of all, wouldn’t it look perfect behind a certain Cadillac? Hats off to Mark and the team at Shasta. This is the coolest thing I've heard of all summer.

Check out this cool video tour of the reissued Airflyte: 




Now if they'd do one in pink to match the Cadillac.

Info and Photo credits: Shasta RV, Retro Renovations and Mount Comfort RV.