1956 Spartan Imperial Mansion For Sale
While our focus has always been the automotive barn find, on occasion in the barns we find other things with wheels.
During our recent Alabama expedition we stumbled into a truly impressive vintage trailer..
An incomparable Spartan Imperial Mansion...the biggest shiny aluminum thing I have ever seen.
The Spartan Aircraft Company has an impressive history dating back to the late 1920s.
Founded by William Skelly of Skelly Oil in Oklahoma. Starting with open cockpit planes
and eventually emerging as one of the top firms in the business after its acquisition by J Paul Getty
in the late 1930's. The "Spartan Executive" aircraft was built for the wealthy executive, a true limousine
with wings that would travel at 200 mph and had a range of 1000 miles, which was groundbreaking for the time.
WW2 came calling and Spartan answered the call of course and created aircraft to fight the war.
Post war with a large factory and workforce and a reduced demand for planes, the company shifted to
recreational use vehicles, namely travel trailers...again with the focus of producing the finest in the land
for the client that had the budget to support it.
This 1956 Spartan Imperial Mansion was near the top of the model line, one of the largest they produced
and filled with class through its whole 45' length.
Finding one of these in any condition is a challenge at this point, but finding a true survivor that has not been
exposed to the elements and destroyed by neglect and age is another level of hard.
This one fortunately has had the luxury of long time inside dry storage that has protected the rig well.
The body appears very straight and without any major damage.
Glass is all intact and the rig seems very complete and original inside and out.
As a protective measure, a rust prohibitor has been dabbed on any exposed steel screws or hardware
Being an aluminum finish, these respond well to an acid bath and can also be polished to a high
shine. The dark marks on the top and hardware will come off with the right chemical and a little scrubbing.
It is my feeling that this trailer will clean up impressively well.
Glass is all intact and complete which has keep the interior in excellent shape.
A little wear to the inner panel of the entry door, but once past that original screen door
the state of preservation is pretty pleasing.
Still all original lighting, reflectors and emblems are present.
Many of these have been changed and modified over the years.
Its been sitting for many years and tires are flat.
Fortunately its been in a great dry storage space and does not appear
to have any rust issues that I could see, and the floor fees solid and sound.
I believe this will be a pretty easy one to make road ready for transport.
The fantastic original pressed name plates are all in great shape.
The original production tag in the door jam dates the model to a 1956 production.
The interior is full of all the period magic touches that satisfy someone like me that loves vintage stuff.
Original lighting I'm quite sure here and it is just so cool.
The original woodwork in here looks like it will clean up impressively and I dont see any signs of
heavy water damage from roof leaks which are common on these old trailers.
There are some boxes of this and that that have been stored in the unit, but nothing that is leaking, greasy or
nasty, As you can see here that flooring looks to be in pretty impressive shape.
The bedroom cabinets and mirrors all look great.
I saw this one seam that is separating on a roof panel, but it looks
like it will reconnect nicely . Honestly I think all the original wood in here is
usable as is and with a nice cleaning and treatment with your favorite wood polish
that it would be very impressive.
Kitchen cabinets and counters look great.
The gold tile wall is fantastic...soo cool!
Looks like all the original 50's hardware on the drawers and doors.
The items in here of course will be removed before sale.
I was hopeful to be able to get this all out of here and get the trailer out in the sun
for better photos, but the timing and logistics of doing that was not in my favor during my visit.
I did the best I could with limited access and a flashlight to allow for decent pics,
Love these lights
Even the Magic Fold door is here!
I know these pics dont do it justice
but hopefully they give you a good peek into what we have for sale here.
That gold tile! Pure 50's class!!
I just love this original lighting...this is a time capsule for sure.
Looks like just a little water staining at the top of this wall, not horrible but that
does mean some wise checking of the roof is ahead before putting this out in the rain.
Its not flawless of course, but this is totally as-found. Nothing has been cleaned, restored or messed with in any way.
If it looks this sweet as your "before" picture, think of how amazing the "after" will be.
This white streak on the door on the left looks like it will come off to me.
Some spilled soap or something?
The Avocado green fridge looks a bit out of place to me for 1956
but everything else in here "feels" right to me.
I'm certainly no expert on these Spartan trailers so I'm just telling you what I see.
Overall though this to me appears to be an incredible start to a true showpiece trailer.
This is not a "gut it to the walls" and rebuild project.
This is best for preservation minded folks...keep it original, make it the best it can be
and then enjoy the historic space wherever you park it.
Being the massive 45 footer, this is probably not a good camping trailer to pull behind your
SUV and hit the KOA. These have been highly prized by vintage loving fans as
great guest houses and even air bnb units for travelers wanting a fun space to stay.
This unit is located in Alabama and its being sold as-is, where-is.
Its long time collector/owner has realized that its time to thin the herd a bit
and this will be the first item to go to give some working space in the building.
Price?
The owner has dreams of it being a valuable item (of course)
but we have told him that in the end its value is only what someone is willing to pay.
Ive seen prices ranging from just a few thousand for badly beaten empty shells
to upwards of $70,000 for pristine fully sorted examples.
This one is probably in the middle of that range I would think... what do YOU think?
I urge prospective buyers to make an offer
and the owner and I will discuss it. The goal is to sell it
not just show it. With that in mind it is not available for casual inspection.
Only truly serious buyers making a solid offer in an acceptable range
with the knowledge and ability to move and handle it will be allowed
access for full inspection prior to purchase.
We are hopefully going to return to the warehouse for further photos and clean up
at a future date...until then, what you see above is what we have.
Please direct all inquiries to
bugnbox@earthlink.net
or call 951 795-1175
Thanks so much for the interest...hopefully this bit of history on wheels finds the perfect home.