I recently had the need to purchase an enclosed “car hauler” trailer to transport my “trailer queen” i.e. my 1963 Jaguar E-Type. For the last 15 years, I have been using a 17′ open trailer to haul my track car to track events. This was fine for a track car but not acceptable for my concour quality E-Type.
After some “looking around” on the used market, I decided that in order to get the spec I needed I would have to buy a new trailer. At some point in this process, Kaufman Trailers in Denton, NC showed up on my radar. Kaufman has a manufacturing facility in Denton where, as we will see, they build their enclosed trailers. They feature ready to go trailers in stock or you can have a trailer built to your exact specifications. Their Denton location is a part of a much larger organization that builds all sorts of trailers. Kaufman Trailers was started by a Mr. Kaufman, who has a very interesting backstory described here. As an aside, Denton hosts the annual Southeast Old Threshers Reunion, advertised as “The LARGEST Antique Tractor and Engine Show in the Southeastern US”! I have been once and it is quite interesting.
As Kaufman is a “factory direct” supplier, my purchase decision started with discussing my mission requirements with one of their sales reps, Derrick Loflin. I knew that my E-Type was about 15′ long and 5′ wide. It was clear to me that to be able to get in and out of the car when it was inside the trailer, I would need to go with a 7.5′ wide model. Although theoretically a 17′ trailer would work, Derrick suggested that a 20′ trailer was a more typical size and would have a better resale value. If you visit the Kaufman website general pricing info is immediately available. Derrick then sent me the options list, which is lengthy, where I could further fine tune my order. I kept my order pretty basic but I did spring for their Deluxe package, which includes some nice features. And I added an electric jack.
After establishing what I wanted and receiving a final quote, I made a downpayment and “got in line” for the construction of my trailer. As it turned out, they beat their time to completion estimate by a few weeks and last week I got a call to come pick up my new trailer. Denton is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from my house. I got there mid-morning and in addition to completing paperwork, requested a factory tour.
I have included some photos below. In general, the frame of the trailer is all steel construction. The trailer is completely MIG welded by workers at the factory. The metal framework is then painted. After that, the interior is lined with DryMax board and the exterior with aluminum sheet. With the Deluxe package, the roof of the trailer is one continuous sheet of aluminum. The walls are screwed together, although with their Premium package, you can have the wall panels glued with no screws visible. The exterior aluminum comes in a selection of colors. I went with plain white. My trailer is a bare box with 4 D-ring tie downs to attach my towing straps to. But while I was there, I saw some trailers getting much more elaborate interiors and features, such as air conditioning and built in generators.
My tour complete, we got the trailer hooked up to my F150 and I made the drive back to the NewHillGarage. The trailer towed nicely, although I could immediately see that I needed a higher receiver/ball in order to make the trailer level. I have an appointment with the local hitch shop to get it just right and to add weight adjusting bars.
I’m excited to be able to clean up the E-Type, load it up, and arrive at the concours site ready to show.
New Hill Garage 
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