Vintage Base Camp - Crestwood, Kentucky

Nick Laenen

The Vintage Base Camp Team were amazing. The upfit to our Airstream was everything we had hoped for. The cabinetry was flawless... as if it was factory direct. The counters and chair install were exactly as we hoped. The project was on time and on budget. Can't say enough great things about this project.

Griffin Harris

After a lifetime of traveling and camping in a progression of tents to fifth wheels, my wife and I retired, sold the fifth wheel that we had at the time and decided to restore a 1999 Airstream that we inherited from my parents.The 34’ tri-axle trailer was a downsize from what we were accustomed to traveling in, but it carried a sentiment and mystique that was intriguing. The Airstream had not been used in years, so we set about to find a company that could transform it into a roadworthy and dependable RV that we could use for long distance traveling. After weeks of searching, we found the perfect company just outside Louisville, Kentucky. Greg and Julie Penner with Vintage Base Camp specializes in all types of work on Airstreams from minor repairs to restorations and customizations, and they made us comfortable with their leadership that our project would be a successful one. Greg’s experience in working with Airstreams along with his creativity and vision were instrumental in working closely with me to create a Scope-of-Work and Budget that would balance; therefore, producing a successful project. During the restoration, Greg’s propensity for perfection was communicated to all the craftsmen on his team to produce, for us, a Vintage Airstream that is very functional, a dream to tow and one that we are proud of. Since receiving the completed Airstream a couple of years ago, we have traveled over 10,000 miles, camped in single digit and triple digit weather in many different environments, and look forward to many more years, miles and adventures to come.

Thanks to Vintage Base Camp
Griffin & Candy Harris
Montgomery, Alabama

Bob Martin

I have a 1993 34 foot Excello and Vintage Trailer replaced our vinyl stripe around the trailer. It was an excellent job and people have commented about how well it was done. It was in such bad shape that it was difficult to remove but they did it. They also pressured washed and lightly buffed the trailer giving it a new shine of which we are very proud of. They repaired a bulkhead in the shower and gave it a new siding which makes it so much easier to clean. They also replaced the gray and black water valves. All the new work gives us the opportunity to travel without having to worry about what needs to be fixed and we can enjoy our travels in style. We highly recommend the quality of work the Vintage Trailer provides.

David Stang

I have been dealing on and off with the owners and employees at Vintage Base Camp. I currently have a 2016 Flying Cloud which VBC just went through to fix a small electrical and propane issue. They took my unit right in, kept me updated on everything and fixed our issues getting things back to normal.

I feel so lucky to have a small caring operation to help with my airstream needs vs taking the unit to a dealer or a place like Camping World.
Dave S

Stephen Swiber

I can't express strongly enough how disappointed we were in our experience with Vintage Base Camp. To make a long story short, we spent over $45,000 with these people and got very little actual work in return. We terminated our project early, and now that we have our camper back we're just lucky we ended things before wasting more money with them.

Their process begins with a hefty "design fee" well in excess of $5,000. They represent that this covers regular meetings, the creation of drawings, in-depth design work, and approved drawings. This is an outright lie. First, they charge $145/hr for the design work (not disclosed ahead of time), so this is not a set fee. Even worse, we were $4,500 into billed hours with no discernible work done on design. Not only were there no drawings to speak of, every conversation we had with them was like they were looking at our project for the very first time. The camper was in their possession this whole time, but never once had they looked at our designs provided (we provided scaled drawings ourselves!) or our interior finishes! As far as we're concerned, this $4500 or so in design "work" was stolen.

This should have been a warning to us that the "estimate" provided to us in the beginning was based on nothing at all. However, we liked the examples they showed of work they'd done in the past, and we were OK with paying high prices for quality work. THis turned out not to be the case. Months and tens of thousands of dollars into the project, they call and tell us something strange: they didn't realize we wanted a *custom* build-out! We were confused- obviously this was a "custom" build out- that's why we were paying for all this design work and carpentry! They replied that anything but the cheapest, builders grade finishes and materials were some mixture of "premium" or "deluxe" in their line of work and that our fairly-expensive quote was for the barest minimum. They said if we wanted it to actually look nice (after charging $850 to think about that, of course), we'd have to spend around double the estimate they'd given us 6 months ago. The original project was supposed to last around 6 months in the first place- now we're 75% through the cost and past the completion date, and they were claiming they hadn't known what we'd been asking them to do since day 1? This is so absurd that we do not believe they miscommunicated- we believe they lied.

In the meantime, they found plenty of "extra work" to do. They were correct in that some of the work needed doing even though we'd already had most of the exterior work done. The A/C came loose in transit, some rivets needed re-doing, and the flooring we'd sent with it had been damaged in storage. However, the fact that they charge $145/hr for all personnel hours (down to the helpers and the owners' time thinking about your project) means the extra bills become exorbitant fast. $1400 to sweep out the trailer upon arrival, over $100 to put a piece of wood in the door, etc adds up fast. We ended up halfway into the estimate before our build-out ever really began.

We decided to cut our losses, terminate the project, and collect the trailer. Now that we have it back, we realize the premium rates and prices they charge are for really poor quality as well. The cheap flooring they purchased and installed is hopelessly scratched up from the way they secured things for transit (a tie-down service they charged $1000 for). The wheel wells are damaged and cause road dust to blow up into the trailer- they weren't so damaged before hand. The $16,000 interior skinning job (cheapest material available, remember) apparently didn't include replacing the old skin on the door.

Overall, we spent a lot of money with these people and ended up with a camper hardly further along than when we dropped it off. They were beyond dismissive of our complaints- they'd be happy to address all of our concerns at our cost and go over double the estimate!

Do yourself a favor, and find someone else to take on your project.

Olivia Swiber

While I can't really speak to the quality of their work, since I saw next to none, the communication here leaves a lot to be desired, and felt dishonest enough that we terminated a project early at immense financial loss.

Over the course of multiple design meetings, I found myself answering the exact same questions, and looking at an un-adjusted rendering (the original being nothing more than a digitization of a floor plan I'd provided), as if not a single note had been taken or change had been made in between meetings...meanwhile we were charged for copious design hours during this time (lord knows what they were doing), even though our contract had included a large flat design fee. This expensive standstill occurred over the course of an entire year, for a trailer that was intended to be lived in full time, so we can add rent to the cost of this whole process.

Eventually, after a year of supposed work, we were told that design and finish choices we'd discussed prior to even bringing our trailer were news to them (including finishes I'd picked out in person with Greg and Julie), and that they would be almost double the cost. Apparently anything beyond plywood and black/white plastic is a premium finish, and the many messages between me and the design team stating what our intentions were simply didn't exist. On our end, it felt like a money grab since expectations had been set since day one. At this time, we terminated the project and brought the trailer home, to find that it was more damaged than when it had been dropped off, with the exception of safety improvements in the electrical work.

My husband and I are both profoundly disappointed in the entire experience, and would hate to see someone else end up in the financial hole we have found ourselves in due to this misadventure.

Jessica Wuchterl

I had a complete renovation completed on our 1977 airstream and it was a dream to work on the project with Vintage Base Camp and their staff! They also have been great support even after we have taken it home!

Robert Schmidt

Greg was very helpful and kind diagnosing a potential problem in a phone interview. I received valuable info as a newbie just finding the places the manual didn’t describe well.