Jim Rockford's Trailer

Jim Rockford’s Trailer

 By Jim Suva

The trailer used as Jim Rockford’s mobile home is a 1959 Nashua House Trailer. They used one trailerfor exterior shots, mostly at Paradise Cove, Malibu. According to Rob Howe the interiors of the trailer were built on Stage 23 at Universal Studios.  It had the exterior trailer skin on one side(the front), but not the full length of the front side.  It was a set.  The fourth wall was removable, since most of the shots were shooting from behind Rockford's desk toward the door.  When Jim sat behind the desk and the camera was on him, the fourth wall would be set up behind him with the pictures on it.  Picture above is from The Official James Garner Facebook Fan Page.

Here is an add for the trailer from 1959.

 Greg Starbuck found Rockford's trailer on an episode of the Bionic Woman! Its the episode "Jamie's Shield" where she goes to the police academy undercover. Part of their training is a car chase in a movie studio backlot. During the car chase they pass by what is unmistakeably Rockford's trailer! Thank you find this!

Pat Mc Kinney is probably the most die-hard fan of the show The Rockford File. Pat owns three original screen-used Firebirds from the TV series, plus crew jackets and other props from the show.

 

This past spring Pat came across a 1959 Nashua trailer, very close to the original that was used on the TV series. It belonged to a customer that Pat was working for at the time. Pat saw it out of the corner of his eye and asked the owner if he realize he had a trailer identical to Jim Rockford’s. The owner asked Pat if he would like to look inside. Of course Pat said yes! The owner’s daughter was living in the trailer at the time. Once he looked inside he could not believe his eyes! It was set up just like Rockford’s trailer! Pat gave him his business card and told him if he ever wanted to sell it, he would be interested.

Two months later the owner called up Pat and told him his daughter was getting married and moving out. He wanted to get a new trailer for his back yard. He told Pat the trailer has been in the back yard since it was practically new. Needless to say Pat jumped at the opportunity.

In June 2011, Pat had the trailer moved to a storage facility near his home. It arrived there in perfect time to be part of the 1^st Annual Rockford File Fest. Below are some pictures of the trailer, taken at the Fest. It was so cool to actually walk inside this trailer and feel like you were in Jim Rockford’s home!

    

Below are some pictures of the interior of the trailer.

   

Pat’s plans at the time were to repaint the trailer and redo the interior to look exactly like the trailer used on the series. Pat believes the front door and windows were actually moved forward, to make the trailer on the show more accessible.  Pat’s trailer has the extra window near the front of the trailer, which needs to be relocated to the kitchen area.  Pat has been collecting items that matched those used on the show. Pat met with Robert Zilliox, the Set Decorator from the series and the movies. Robert is currently looking for his pictures from the actual set to help recreate the trailer. Pat’s intentions are to use the trailer at any future Rockford events. 

     

The trailer is on the back burner, till Pat finishes his Firebirds and a planned recreation of Rocky's GMC pickup truck from the show.

 

Comments

[lunghd]

Hello Jim,

I really appreciate you sharing this information with us. In addition to being a Rockford File's fan... I'm also a model railroader & have been searching for data on the series trailer in order to recreate a version of Paradise Cove, complete with Jim's trailer, Firebird & Rocky's truck.

Would you happen to know the dimensions of the Nashua trailer used? Or of Pat's Nashua?

Thanks!
Dwayne

[Jim Suva and The Suva Files]

Thanks Dwayne. I have forward your request to Pat via email. I will let you know what information he comes up with.

Jim

[Jim Suva and The Suva Files]

The trailer is 50 feet x 10 feet wide. The hitch of the trailer is about 3 feet. So the floor dimensions would be 47 feet long. Hope this helps.

From Pat

[Dwayne]

Hello again Jim,

Is there any chance that Pat might have a photo of the back of his trailer? A friend is building me a scale model of the Rockford trailer & he has requested that since there is next to nothing on the web showing the backside of one of these trailers.

Thanks
Dwayne

[Dwayne]

Hello again - we found a shot of the trailer's rear from, of all things, a 'trailer' for the show & were able to screen-cap a still of it.

If you want to see a scale model of Jim Rockford's trailer check it out at: http://www.trainlife.com/albums/photo/view/album_id/7867/photo_id/379781 . This one has 'new' paint & has not been toned down to the faded colors.

Bill Holman constructed it for me and will make copies if anyone is interested & can duplicate the faded colors if desired.

Enjoy!

[Jim Suva and The Suva Files]

Great looking model. Love to see the faded out distressed version, in fact when he does I would be happy to post the pictures and do a story on it for this blog. I wouldn't mine having one my self. How much does it cost?

Jim

[Dwayne]

Hey Jim - he has the distressed version up now! It's done and ready to ship. I didn't even ask him on this one but it is likely much less than the other models he's done for me. He has built some railroad stations (local for me & with odd architecture) that were $350 but keep in mind that those were MUCH larger and more detailed. Bill really caught the feel of the Rockford Trailer - even made a mold to do jalousie windows which are not available in HO scale. There are Firebirds & a Chevy truck in HO scale so those are out there to complete the scene!

Address for finished model: http://www.trainlife.com/albums/photo/view/album_id/7867/photo_id/379880

Sign up for the site & send him a 'friend request' (or me) and I'll get you two in touch. I'm tickled to death and I would like to say, again, THANK YOU for having this information online!

[Jim Suva and The Suva Files]

I just signed up. Trailer looks great. Please email me at [email protected]

Thanks, Jim

[Dwayne]

I've sent you an email with Bill's contact info. You can view a lot of Bill's work on TrainLife in his albums. He has made several "movie" houses and does great work and is FAST!

[TimW]

Fabulous, thank you for sharing. Any more recent photos?

[Jim Suva and The Suva Files]

Sorry to say Pat sold the trailer a few years ago. No new pictures.

Thanks for checking out my blog.
Jim