How many Barth's were produced? How many still on the road? Any numbers like that? What was the original selling price? And so on. I do have the original paperwork there is a page showing original purchase 249k. Is that right? Sounds like too much money.

The number of Barths is some where in the 4000 range. My guess is that 2/3rd of are still being used. If you go to the Data Tag area you can get some ideal of number per year and types of unit built.

Your original selling price is probably correct. Barth's are high end coaches.

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Sounds like too much money.

Meric, just to affirm what Doorman said, Barth was in the same category as Newell, Foretravel, maybe Bluebird, in terms of quality. Back then, you could have bought a 'stick and staple' offering from various companies, and those units are now in a junk yard or rotting somewhere. And you got one of the best of the best.

Meric, my 1975 Barth sold for over 27,000.
That was a lot of money in 1975. It is still intact and will be at Milford in June 2014. It is mostly original and has never left me stranded (yet ).

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Originally posted by Jim and Tere:

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Sounds like too much money.

Meric, just to affirm what Doorman said, Barth was in the same category as Newell, Foretravel, maybe Bluebird, in terms of quality.

Maybe I could agree in terms of Barth Diesels on Spartan or Gillig Chassis, but NOT the Barth's on P-thirty-something chassis. But it depends on the year or maybe the "era". The late 80's and the 90's Bluebirds and (gas or diesel) Foretravels I looked at seemed to be in a much higher league than any gas Barth I have seen. I have never seen a Bluebird that was not overbuilt like a motorcoach meant to go 500K+ miles. The Foretravels I am acquainted with, from late 80's and on up, are not the old boxes but rather the Grand Villas, UniHomes and the like.

I had a 1977 29' 454 gasser. It had what appeared to be some extras and all indications were that it retailed at around $90,000.00

The Barths on P32 chassis were mostly gas powered and shorter in length. Correct me if necessary, but I thought most Bluebirds were over 30' as were the Foretravels and Newells and most of them were also diesel pushers.
So, when talking about Barth motor homes quality on P 32 chassis, you should look at other motor homes that used those chassis. It was not the chassis that distinguished Barth. It was the aluminum cage construction, aluminum skin, and the beautiful solid wood cabinetry. Think Airstream. Anybody think anyone was making better travel trailers in the 70s,80s and 90s than Airstream? I stand by my claim that Bath stood alone.

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Originally posted by Jim and Tere:
The Barths on P32 chassis were mostly gas powered and shorter in length.

Yeah, 21 to 34 ft or so. I think there were a few 36-footers.

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So, when talking about Barth motor homes quality on P 32 chassis, you should look at other motor homes that used those chassis. It was not the chassis that distinguished Barth. It was the aluminum cage construction, aluminum skin, and the beautiful solid wood cabinetry. Think Airstream.

We ruled out Airstream because of twin beds, poor storage, lack of an air bag tag, and no tag on 30 footers.

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I stand by my claim that Bath stood alone.

Holiday Rambler and Foretravel made nice Pee coaches. We bought a Barth, because of what was available in the year we were looking. However, we have seen a few of the above mentioned since, and they seem pretty close.

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I stand by my claim that Bath stood alone.

I agree with that (Barth that is).
After all, they were patented.
As for Airstream, I have owned old Airstream and Avion travel trailers. I worked in Benton Harbor when Avions were built there. Avions always had FAR better interiors than Airstream. Airstream was lighter weight cabinetry that utilized a lot of trouble-prone tambour doors. Ironically, Avion interiors were much more like Barth interiors.

http://silveravion.com/brochures.html
http://silveravion.com/history.html

Thanks for the info. I have been working on vehicles since I was 9 years old. Professionally for over 20 years. I can honestly say this coach was built with care and thought. Blown away with 5 huge hand drawn blueprints. All the electrical on one, plumbing on the next etc. Very cool. It's the most luxurious coach (for it's day) I have ever seen. You could eat off the motor. It's that clean. I use to work at an auction that specialized in campers. Never seen anything like it.

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We ruled out Airstream because of twin beds, poor storage, lack of an air bag tag, and no tag on 30 footers.

Bill, I meant the Airstream travel trailers, not their motor homes.
' Holiday Rambler and Foretravel made nice Pee coaches. We bought a Barth, because of what was available in the year we were looking. However, we have seen a few of the above mentioned since, and they seem pretty close.'
Didn't know about the Foretravel and Holiday Rambler coaches. Did they use aluminum construction for the house and outer skin aka Barth?
'Avions always had FAR better interiors than Airstream. Airstream was lighter weight cabinetry'
And all these years, I thought Avion was made by Airstream. What other improvements did they make on the Airstream design?

glad to hear that you are so pleased, Meric.
Some members have gotten into the nitty gritty of a newly-acquired Barth and were as disappointed (upon finding rot, corrosion etc) as you are impressed. I'm glad to see that you are among those who are skilled and motivated to make changes and do upkeep. By so doing, you can be even MORE proud of your Barth.

Heater boxed in.

Thanks for keeping us posted. But, looks like you posted pic direct instead of at photobucket -- a no-no.
Is it a heater you added enclosed in there, or one that had been under the couch?
Why does the counter top not follow the same contours of the bench, or the other way around (instead of reversed to each other)?

Since Meric's a new member, I've cut him some slack and have resized and move the pix to Photobucket.

However, since I don't always have the bandwidth to deal with folks who attach photos, the tolerance will go away.

Meric, at least resize your pix before uploading. Thanks!