Fleetwood/Coleman low repairs

[austinado16]

Have to agree about the care and storage part of the equation.

When I paid $250 for mine, I contacted the previous owners who'd donated it to the thrift store/people's kitchen place I bought it from.  They had owned it since brand new in 1987, when it was a $6,750.00 top of the line camper.  It had been completely cross-country 3 times IIRC, plus umpteen hundred other camping trips with their kids (now grown).

But for all those years, mileage, and outings, the inside was in fantastic shape, other than the roof damage from caulking letting go.  Had it been stored covered, it would have been a near perfect camper.

I've seen the same models on ebay, and the next model up from mine, and when they've been cared for, they are still looking like the day they were built.....not bad for 20 years!  And yet I've seen much newer models of all brands, looking even worse than mine did due to abuse and bad storage.

[McCampers]

A universal truth has been spoken.  The camper manufacturer doesn't matter nearly as much as the care it is given.  I know that is very, very true.  If you let the sun and moss have its way with anything it will take it back to dust eventually.  I'm partial to Fleetwood because I own one, but I dig the whole concept of the folding trailer.  I suppose a day will come that I will dig the idea of not having to set it up, but that is not today.  I like to camp, and I feel more like I am camping in a folding trailer than I do when I'm in a manufactured home.  I like to camp and not to tinker with my camper.  So I guess I probably like any new camper that I don't have to work on.

[Tim5055]

Is a Fleetwood really a true Coleman?

Rich

Up until 2004, it was as much a "Coleman" as any other product.

In the beginning (1900 to be exact) , Coleman rented lanterns built by someone else because he was unable to sell them.  He purchased the patents and manufacturered and redesigned them to his specs and began building "his" lantern in 1914.  By the end of this decade (1920) Coleman had an organized sales force, a research and development department, and factory output had increased from 120 lamps in 1909 to 50,000 by the year 1920.

Now, in the 60's (I think, Mike help me out here) Coleman began building their own folding campers.  In 1966 by Coleman Co. founder Sheldon Coleman opened  what is now the Fleetwood folding-camper assembly plant in Somerset, Pa. At first, the facility produced snowmobiles, sport bikes and sleeping bags in addition to folding campers.  Coleman continued to build them, but in 1989 sold the factory, the patents, the designs and the rights to the Coleman name on any camper (in perpetuity) to Fleetwood.

Until 2004 Fleetwood Folding trailers (FFT) built pop ups and branded them as Coleman.  At that point FFT and Coleman got into a licensing dispute (read that as fight over how much money Coleman got for each unit built, including the newly introduced "Coleman Caravan") and hired lawyers.

When the dust settled Fleetwood had to pay millions of dollars to Coleman, but couldn't use the Coleman name anymore.  But, even though they wanted to rent (license) the name to Coachman, FFT was able to enforce the original  

[prncssgeek]

(Tim and I were obviously posting at about the same time)

This is what the Fleetwood webpage says about the history of Coleman and Fleetwood.

The following text is taken directly from Fleetwood Site

In 1967, as families in large numbers discovered traveling with recreation vehicles, The Coleman Company began building folding camping trailers in scenic Somerset, Pennsylvania, in a state-of-the-art factory designed to produce the highest quality camping trailers available anywhere.

By 1979, Coleman camping trailers, through innovative thinking, skillful engineering, meticulous manufacturing, and caring customer service from the Somerset facility, along with the industry

[Tim5055]

From what I can gather (and I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV) Coleman wanted to license the Coleman name to Coachman. Fleetwood basically said "No, we bought it, its ours." Coleman said "The purchase agreement was screwy, we are going to license camping trailers with someone else." Fleetwood said "Fine, lets go to court". The court ruled in two ways. The first part of the ruling the judge ruled in Fleetwood's favor. Basically the ruling said that if the Coleman name was going to be on campers, Fleetwood would be making them. The second part of the ruling was in Coleman's favor (though I can't seem to find out what exactly this part of the lawsuit was about) and ordered Fleetwood to pay Coleman $5.2 million.

The whole reason the suits started was the "Coleman Caravan", which was a hard side trailer with hard side bunks that slid out the ends.  FFT considered this a folding trailer and paid Coleman the same per unit license fee as a pop up.  Coleman felt it was a new type RV and wanted more money per unit.

When they couldn't come to an agreement, Coleman said fine, we will take the name back I guess forgetting about the original

[prncssgeek]

The whole reason the suits started was the "Coleman Caravan", which was a hard side trailer with hard side bunks that slid out the ends.  FFT considered this a folding trailer and paid Coleman the same per unit license fee as a pop up.  Coleman felt it was a new type RV and wanted more money per unit.

When they couldn't come to an agreement, Coleman said fine, we will take the name back I guess forgetting about the original

[mike4947]

Just to add a few facts to Tim's explanation.
 
The settlement was $12M.
 
And this wasn't the first disagreement over the license. I can't remember the year the original license expired but for around 7 months Fleetwood relabeled trailers they sold with a Fleetwood label, until the new agreement was signed. A neighbor had a Fleetwood Fairview, that what started me looking into it.
 
Coachmen started and built a new plant from the ground up with the expectation of "building a complete line of trailers bearing the name Coleman". There was actually a signed agreement between American Home, the current owner of the Coleman brand name, and Coachmen. Which BTW there is another lawsuit over damages incurred by Coachmen when the courts invalidated the agreement by the original settlement. I haven't kept track of the progress of that one.
The Futura Line of folding trailers by Coachmen is the left over from that one.
 
Oh and one last one. Fleetwood Corporate has left the Folding trailer division to settle the claim. In other words any monetary transfers come from that division, not corporate.

[Tim5055]

Thank's Mike.  I knew you would be able to fill in the little details.

[McCampers]

Everyone would probably be surprised to know how many brands of things are just names on the same product as several others.  Most major brands now days are just "private brand labels"  That is a marketing term for putting another name on virtually the same product to be able to sell more of the same thing made in the same manufacturing facility.

Having stated that, its all about the camping.  Not about the working on the camper.  Give me the campfire and the steaks and beer.  Not the grease and electrial connectors and the drilling and cutting etc.  I've got a good friend who camps in a 72 VW Bus.  He's all about the wrenches and the tinkering.  Even when he camps he's turning a wrench and tinkering with his bus.  I told him he could do it in his garage alot easier than the woods, and alot cheaper too.

[goforit75]

What I gather from all this is that from 1967 until 1989 a Coleman was truly a Coleman.

Bingo...that's the point I was trying to make.

Rich