Airstream gets new sign, entertains New Zealand customers
Staff writer
Mark Evans, the Airstream Guy, recently installed a refurbished vintage sign with new neon lighting on his building at 1003 Batt St. in Marion. He purchased it from the owner of a piano store in Hutchinson who was retiring. The sign had been there since 1953.
Evans said the 15x8-foot sign weighs over a ton. It can be seen from the highway. He said it looks orange during the day but black at night with the neon lighting. He hopes the large sign, which is pictured on his website, airstream guy.com, will attract customers.
Evans’ office follows the vintage style. It is decorated with items from the 1940s and 1950s.
New Zealand has a population of four million and is the largest importer of Airstream trailers.
That may explain why Steve Norman and his friend, Moray Grant, both from New Zealand, showed up in Marion two weekends ago to buy trailers from Evans.
Grant is a farmer and cattleman, and he loves John Deere.
“So we used John Deere as a guidepost,” Evans said. “If you can find John Deere, you can find me, I told him.”
Norman is the biggest dealer in Airstream trailers in New Zealand. He has purchased trailers from Evans in the past, and this time he was after a popular 1947 Airstream that is in demand. Evans said he gave him a good deal, but he wanted to see it for himself. He then purchased a 1955 Airstream Flying Cloud.
Evans said the two men, both 60 or so, had a good time while in Marion.
“They loved going to the ‘Pub’ bowling alley,” he said. “They also borrowed some golf clubs and went golfing.”
The two trailers will be trucked to the coast and shipped to New Zealand via Freeport, Texas.