Not a Boler – a Triple E Surfside
Until this tiny beast showed up in our neighbourhood just a few days ago, I had never heard of this Boler look-alike. It’s called the Triple E Surfside but given it’s more squared lines I thought it was a similar looking Trillium at first (the most common Boler-ish brand seen). Regardless it’s still a cute little guy, very worthy of inclusion here. These, as I understand, were made in Manitoba in the 1970s (the newest I could find was from 1980). Given this is our first spotting, they must be quite rare…at least in this part of the country anyway.
This beauty was seen in Calgary AB in May 2013 and in fact, I can see it from my back window. Triple E still makes recreational vehicles, but certainly none like this.
Boler: A small cute-as-a-bug fibreglass travel trailer made in Canada in the 1970s and 80s. Very collectible and a we make a fun game spotting them on road trips. We also include other similar trailers here, those from other manufacturers who are close in appearance to Bolers.
If you wish more information, by all means contact us!
Our first Triple E Surfside.
Another interesting fact – the designer of the SurfSide was the original designer and builder of the Beachcomber. The travel trailer manufacturing community in Winkler/Morden was rather close knit, helping each other out at times. The owner of Beachcomber sold the business and Triple E wanted a small fiberglass trailer to compete with the Trillium, and so the Beachcomber II / SurfSide was born.
Thank for adding to the story! Interestingly on this weekend that just passed, we spotted an example of each out in the wild. And within a few clicks of each other too!
Looking at one 1986 15 ft water jet ? Surf side .what do I look for when buying ?
Find someone local who knows about these things and let them go over the trailer. There’s lots that can go wrong, so someone with a bit of expertise can help prevent a costly mistake.
Interesting to find this information about the old Surf Side trailers! My dad bought one of these in 1976. We lived in Altona Mb, not far from where these were built (Winkler or Morden, I think). As a teenage boy, i hated the cross country drive and overnights in this thing as we drove to Niagara Falls to visit realtives…but aside from that, even I appreciated its smart design. Totally lightweight for trailering and hooking up and smart use of space. Was actually hoping to inherit it one day for my own use but Dad sold it about 20 years later…quite faded from the sun. Sometimes I wonder if that old girl is still traveling and providing another family a cozy shelter along the road.
So cool! Thanks for sharing.
I bought a Triple E Surfside 2 years ago. I chose it because it has a wider bed. The small boler has a 48″ bed which is somewhat cramped when you are used to a 60″ in the house. The Surfside bed is 60″ on one end and 48″ on the other. The 48″ is ample for the feet. I took out the bunks on the other end of the camper and put a small table in its place. The seat on one side holds the batteries and inverter, and on the other side it hides the port-a-potty. I also replaced the 12 volt fridge with a 120 volt with a small freezer. Since it is more energy efficient it runs longer on a full battery even though the voltage has to be inverted to 120 volts.
Sounds like you did your homework. Bravo and happy camping!
We have the same Surfside here in Charlottetown PE! Bought it from an elderly couple and renovated it this past Sumner. It is seriously sweet.
Awesome, sounds nice. Enjoy using it!
I just bought one of these. Love it 🙂
It’s a 1977 🙂
Awesome, they’re cute little trailer.
Hi Rachel. I just bought one of these trailers this week. I have to have a hitch installed on my truck and the automotive places are saying I have to have the electric brakes hooked up also. Very costly. Do you run on the electric brakes? The previous owner did not have them hooked up and says they don’t need to be if you are hauling a trailer under 3500 lbs. Does anyone know if this is correct?
We messaged you on this. In simple terms, if you’ve got trailer brakes, use them…
We are the owners of a pristine 1979 Surfside and I was told by experts that Trillium molds were used to make it. We’ve parked ours next to a Trillium and it’s almost a perfect match.
Interesting! I just found out that Triple E, the maker of the Surfside, also at one time made Bolers under license.
I’m putting a screen door on our surf side trailer, and I’m wondering if the side panels are hollow. Any advice you may have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Afraid we have no advice to give. We’re small fibreglass trailer aficionados but know little about the nuts and bolts end of things. You might ask around enthusiast groups – there’s many on Facebook and elsewhere on the Internet. Someone there can likely help. Best of luck.