The Spartan Imperial Mansion

While at an estate sale last weekend, Gary discovered this 1955 43ft Spartan Imperial Mansion travel trailer in the back yard of the house that was having the sale. He took these pictures, and then inquired about it. The trailer is owned by someone other than the family that owns the house. After repeated attempts by them to reach the trailer's owner, he has not responded. The house will be going back to the bank that holds the mortgage on it, so the Spartan's future may be in peril. As you know, Gary is a sucker for old travel trailers. He's never paid much attention to large trailers before, but this one has really caught his interest. He is hoping to acquire it, but due to the circumstances, it may be difficult. The Spartan is currently being used for storage. It is packed full from front to back with junk of all kinds. During a second visit to look it over, Gary managed to get inside. The interior of the Spartan apparently is pretty pathetic. While the kitchen remains intact, minus the refrigerator, the bathroom no longer exists. Various leaks have taken their toll on the once beautiful birch plywood ceilings and walls. Gary tells me that the smell of rat urine is overwhelming. I'll take his word on that, as I don't care to ever experience anything so gross. The cigarette and dog smells and nicotine covered walls inside of me was bad enough. Gary wouldn't touch anything inside my interior when he first brought me home without latex gloves. If he gets this Spartan, he will probably be investing in a haz-mat suit. The exterior of the Spartan is pretty decent, with the exception of a large dent in the right front corner. One door has some damage in the door lock area, and there are a few broken or missing windows. All of that is fixable. The trailers is most definitely restorable, but it would cost a fortune to do so. If, and that's a BIG if, it is brought here to Green Acres, Gary plans to park it and use it for storage. A lot of cleaning and weatherproofing will be necessary first, of course. It's possible that Gary may someday restore the Spartan. But, with all he has to do, and a bunch of Scotty trailers already here and waiting for rebuilds or renovations, the Spartan would have a VERY long wait. Just getting the 8,000 pound Spartan here would be a MAJOR job. There's a lot to consider, and I hope that Gary thinks things over carefully before he jumps into this. At this point, it's hard to say what will happen. Time will tell, and I will update you on this subject as things progress. That's the latest news.