The riveted aluminum travel trailer holds a special place of wonder in American RV culture. People are willing to pay well over $100,000 to sleep in a shiny metal tube without slides. But, what if your tow vehicle doesn’t have a great tow rating? The lightest Airstream is the 2,650-pound Basecamp, too heavy for Volvo’s latest wagons and will even exceed a Subaru Forester’s tow rating with some gear and a full tank of water. One solution comes from Japan with the X-Cabin 300. It looks like a vintage riveted aluminum trailer and weighs just 1,600 pounds. But, most of us can’t have it just yet, and if you could, you might faint at the price.
If you want a new riveted aluminum camper today, your choices are pretty limited. Riveted aluminum campers look great, and they’ve been proven to stand the test of time, but you don’t really find particularly tiny versions of them. Airstream is an obvious choice, and Bowlus has been revived in recent years. There’s also that crazy expensive Living Vehicle, Kimbo truck camper, or the Mammoth Overland camper. I’m sure there are startups out there I’m missing, but you get the point. And if you want that riveted aluminum trailer to have a classic style, your choices are basically just Airstream and Bowlus.
X-Cabin is a new face from Japan, but started from an established company. Its trailers take on a classic riveted aluminum style, but at a low 1,600-pound weight, allowing the trailers to be towed by wagons, small crossovers, and even a Suzuki Jimny!
Tiny Trailers From Japan
This company has actually been around since 2020. Its parent company is the Effect Meiji Corporation. Founded in 1895 as a clock manufacturer, the company is known for its LED lighting, UAV photography (drones), and some lighting construction projects. So, this is a well-established firm with a ton of experience. Effect Meiji Corporation also has some interesting subsidiaries including some warehouses, a cafe, and the Free And Easy Camp Resort in Komono in the Mie Prefecture.
Opened last year, the luxury campground is open to tent campers and RVers alike, but also features cabins that are really X-Cabin travel trailers fixed in place. Amenities include a dog park, BBQ, a sauna, a nearby hot spring, and pastry chef Hirohiro Tsujiguchi.
So, Effect Meiji Corporation has a lot going on from LED lighting to campers and a resort that in part advertises said campers. As for those campers, X-Cabin is looking to expand into new markets. Right now, the company is targeting European customers. X-Cabin rolled into the Düsseldorf Caravan Salon looking for a partner for European distribution. At least for our European readers, you might see these rolling across your roads soon.
What you’ll be getting is a trailer with vintage riveted aluminum style. A lot of the press on the trailer has been comparing the trailer to a vintage Airstream, and I can see the resemblance. But these may be even closer to the squarer Silver Streak. To my eye, these are like an old riveted aluminum camper mixed with U-Haul trailer and I can get behind the look.
X-Cabin says the body is made out of aircraft-grade riveted aluminum and that the trailer rides on a galvanized steel chassis from German automotive supplier AL-KO. All other parts are aluminum with marine-grade stainless steel fasteners designed to resist salt damage. The trailer’s overall length is 15 feet and its width is 6.95 feet wide. Completed, the empty weight is about 1,600 pounds.
Those specs make this trailer a couple of feet longer than the smallest fiberglass trailers, but also about 500 pounds heavier.
For an interesting note, it’s also two feet larger than the super cheap Coleman Rubicon 1200RK while weighing a little less. X-Cabin does not state interior height, but the trailer sits 7.1 feet tall, so an average American might actually be able to stand up in it.
Inside the X-Cabin is where things get funky. There are four versions of the X-Cabin, all inspired by boat and airplane interiors. The X-Cabin 300 below nets you what is more or less a couch that turns into a bed, a sink integrated with some cabinetry, plus a 1,800Ah portable battery.
Next is the X-Cabin 300 GLAMP, which trades the boring gray couch for a convertible teal couch.
The X-Cabin 300 SOLO is next with a bed for one and a lot more storage cabinets in the space opened up by the smaller bed.
Finally, there’s the X-Cabin 300 FT, which is a food truck platform, and the X-Cabin body kit, a bare trailer you fill up yourself. All of the camper versions of the X-Cabin come with the aforementioned portable battery and sink.
The options list is a bit interesting and it includes the ability to get barn doors instead of a hatch, stools to enter the trailer, a ladder to reach the roof, a luggage rack, and an emblem to put on your luggage rack. Interior options get bizarre, like the ability to get an engraved wood clock and a wood cupholder.
Thankfully, there are practical options like bigger batteries, solar-powered ventilation fans, a cooler, and an outdoor shower system. Apparently, this trailer is also meant for you to finish to your liking using the huge list of options. So, if you want an air-conditioner, shore power, solar panels, Wi-Fi, a table, an awning, or a floor that’s nice to look at, all of it can be purchased as options.
The Shocker
You’d think that the price of the base trailers would be pretty low. After all, if you want to chill food, that’s an option. If you want a table to eat that food on, it’s also an option. Well, the base X-Cabin 300 costs ¥5,800,000, or the equivalent of $39,300. Apparently, this price does include tax, but that’s still pretty hefty! The X-Cabin 300 GLAMP is the equivalent of $42,000 (¥6,200,000) while the SOLO version is about $48,790 (¥7,200,000) and the food truck is $31,170 (¥4,600,000). X-Cabin notes that the food truck trailer price does not include any equipment. If you order just the bare trailer with nothing in it, that will set you back about $16,700.
X-Cabin has uploaded a promotional video for its presence at the Düsseldorf Caravan Salon.
To order an X-Cabin like the one in the video and promotional images will set you back $66,600 after you dial in the options. Amusingly, you can get a package deal on these. If you buy nine or more X-Cabin 300 kits, the per unit price goes down to $15,600 each.
I do like what I see here. The trailers look neat and should last a long time. X-Cabin even puts out a bold claim that the trailers will last 100 years and that you’ll be able to pass them down from generation to generation. The company also says you’ll be able to ride out emergencies in the camper. According to that promotional video, the kit version also exists as a way for people to import these trailers into countries without having the trailer classified as a vehicle. I’m not entirely sure how that may work in the United States, but X-Cabin pitches it as a fun way to build your own camper.
Still, those prices seem far too high for such a tiny trailer with so little in it. I’d say knock about 50 percent off of those prices and it would be a winner. But, maybe I’m wrong and X-Cabin will find plenty of buyers in Europe and perhaps beyond. At the very least, I’m glad that at least one more company is playing with riveted aluminum bodies.
(Images: Manufacturer.)
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Let’s see… $16,000 for the rolling shell or $39,000 outfitted with cupboards and a mattress. So that makes it $23,000 for the cupboards.
Those are pretty expensive cupboards!
I just optioned out an Airstream Basecamp. $65k
I guess looking at the fitments and quality of construction, I don’t understand why the shock about the price?
You regularly feature 6 figure goosenecks a that have the build quality of your average McDonald’s sandwich box, with no qualms about the buxx. Also, this is not entirely incomparable with the price of Airstream brand name goods. You know they’re charging something for the brand name, so you’d expect small vendors to have to eat a little margin to deliver the same quality.
Also, PLEASE provide metric units!!! Japan is metric, they certainly provide the specifications, no? How hard could it be to add it to the article?
For most of the world, the provided units mean f*** all.
For everyone constantly ragging on “hurr durr dumb Americans and units!” the only dumb ones are people unable to Google three freakin’ numbers.
15ft to meters
6.95ft to meters
7.1ft to meters
“But, but Japan is metric!” and this site is American catering primarily to their American audience. Again, not rocket science.
I suppose the autopian doesn’t want paying members from developed countries then…
Would I buy this for 66k or a much cheaper American one that’ll rust, leak, and disintegrate before even arriving at the dealership?
Sign me up for Japanese quality. Has its price, it’s justified.
66k buys a LOT of hotels i don’t understand Campers/RVs. lets spend 1/3 or a decent house on a box with wheels that’s smaller than the average prison cell and take it on VACATION!
66k is too high but I would gladly pay 5-10k to never have to deal with bedbugs again.
I’m pretty sure I can kit out a cargo trailer and have a comparable product for less.
That really looks more like a converted cargo trailer, than it does an Airstream.
With posters concerned about the build process, Mercedes perhaps you can do a factory tour and expense it to Autopian? In the Japanese / European context where space is super premium, I am sure part of the cost of the trailer / camper is just the factory space. Heck even in North America it is getting expensive to find shop space in urban areas.
At least the indoor wooden fixtures look less horrid than general American ones.
First off the box shape has the aesthetic of a cargo trailer converted to a camper and not an Airstream or Bowlus. Second, at over $60,000 you can get an actual Airstream since a new Basecamp is under $50,000 and a Bambi is close. This also means you can get a similar effect way cheaper with a converted cargo trailer. Get the price down to $40,000 fully equipped and we can talk
Hold on, if my math is correct that is a massive battery. Like bigger than a lot of PHEVs big. Half of the cost of these is in the battery if that number is right, which seems silly since you definitely do not need that much battery for most camping setups. Stick a normal 200 Ah lithium battery in it (which is still 5x the capacity of my trailer) and you could probably get these into a more reasonable price range.
I think Mercedes slipped a decimal point. A 180 amp-hour portable battery is appropriate for a travel trailer.
My guess is that it was supposed to be Wh. Not Ah.
Per the X-cabin website linked in the article the battery options are:
1,800Wh (¥220,000)
2,400Wh (¥308,000)
an Anker 767 2048Wh (¥299,900)
and an Anker 760 2048Wh (¥189,900)
Yeah, that’s what I figured.
FFS!
Two things:
that truck has LITTLE D on the hood.this camper might be bigger than some Tokyo apartments
All trucks that are not used for hauling or towing should say “LITTLE D”.
aw man the formatting failed. So much for numbered lists.
test item 1test item 2test itme 3grrr
Small lightweight campers are expensive. No way around it unless building one yourself. They’re a niche product in the States since most camper people buy the biggest and cheapest they can. The labor is similar and material needs to be higher quality so it’s more expensive than luan, 1×1’s and fiberglass.
This may find a market in Europe where everything is smaller and a small lightweight camper stores/tows more easily than a larger one.
It’s why they build in Indiana – poor labor protection laws afford them cheap prices. Sad, really.
True, but ain’t a Scamp significantly cheaper than this? I thought a Scamp 16 maxes out at like $40k and a Scamp 13 at like $30k.
You’re right. Even a used 2023 Scamp 13 equipped decently is listed for $25k. That’s darn reasonable considering what occurred to RV prices the last few years.
I’d have to see the construction process to get a real idea of the value these represent.
They don’t *look* all that special – like every other enclosed utility trailer a lawn service has – but I think this might be one of those things like swords: the katana you can buy from the mall ninja depot has almost nothing to do with a real katana, except that they look similar.
Agreed. The interfaces between the galvanized steel frame and the aluminum wall framing would get my attention. Wonder why they didn’t go with aluminum for the entire frame. For the price, this thing better have a trick axle, such as a Timbren or Flexiride torsion axle, decent insulation and build quality better than the boxes Elkhart, Indiana churns out.
I’d buy an riveted aluminum utility trailer, equip it and take a polisher to it.
That’s what I see in the pictures.
Yeah, you can get an aluminum cargo trailer for $15,000 or less and have a lot left over for the interior. There isn’t $50,000 in up-fit work on these. It’s cute, but is missing a lot of things that most RV buyers want, like a bathroom space or useable kitchen.