2026 Sunset Park RV Retro Betty 196 vintage-style travel trailer review
2026 Sunset Park RV Retro Betty 196 vintage-style travel trailer review
Today’s RV review is of the 2026 Sunset Park RV Retro Betty 196, a single-axle travel trailer that has the appearance of a vintage trailer but with all the conveniences of a modern travel trailer. What you have here is a simpler travel trailer wrapped in a retro style but with some noteworthy features.
You may have remembered the name Retro on another band of trailers that we had looked at in the past from Riverside. In 2024 Sunset Park RV acquired the Riverside brand along with the manufacturing facility that that company had used to build the Retro line. In fact we did a full review of a Riverside Retro 145BT.
Since the change of ownership, some things have changed, others have not.
Start at the road with the Retro Betty 196
These new Retro trailers ride on a torsion axle suspension and use whitewall tires on steel wheels and “baby moon” hubcaps which really fits their retro style. Interestingly the models we saw featured skirts over the wheels.
Something we marveled at when we last looked at the Retro line was the welded aluminum cage construction used in building these trailers but that’s gone, replaced with a more traditional wood-frame construction. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as long as you do due diligence and make sure all the seals on the exterior of the trailer are maintained, but this is true of all RVs.
This does feature an aluminum exterior and a TPO roof membrane.
Something different are the new acrylic windows. In fact when we were looking these trailers over the company that makes the windows was on-hand to tell the story of the windows. Essentially the idea is that these are lighter than glass but I also caution anyone to be cognizant of recommendations for cleaning them - you can scratch this material more easily than you can with glass. The larger windows have inserts that open for air flow with integrated screens.
The windows are from a company called EckCo and these are AirLITE windows. The company claims that minor scratches can be simply buffed out of these windows and that they provide significantly better insulation and are lighter in weight. I don’t know why I thought it was funny, but EckCo also makes cremation urns. Interesting mix of products.
There are a lot of retro touches on these including the marker lighting which carries the vintage look forward. Okay.
This did use more traditional locks on the baggage doors as more and more companies seem to be moving toward slam latches, not really a big deal but what I didn’t like was the traditional plastic stay latches. These always break in short order - I would much rather see magnetic stays.
When I talked to a few of the people who work at Sunset Park they seemed to universally feel that these trailers are better made than they had been under Riverside.
Something they were talking about was the fact that the flooring in these is a man-made laminate but I didn’t get the details of what that product is. Sometimes these laminates can be great, sometimes not. If I find out I’ll update this article but they haven’t been that great at replying to my multiple inquiries.
Inside the Retro Betty 196
This is a smaller trailer and does not have a slide so there are some compromises that have to be made to be able to put everything in that you’d want.
The first of those compromises, and one that is a deal breaker for some shoppers, is the east-west bed in a corner at the front. This measures 60” x 74” so it’s also a “short queen”. I also know plenty of solo campers that have zero issue with this but it’s good to know.
And, once again, this is the ultimate incentive to use an RV Superbag sleep system as we’ve been doing for years now.
There are a couple of drawers under the bed as well as a little cubby cabinet on the road side. The drawers have nice drawer glides that are under the drawers and feature soft-close mechanisms. I also thought the drawers were nicely finished.
There’s also a hatch where you could toss things into the front pass-through compartment arguably for a laundry basket where you could simply dump your laundry into the space. It’s a nice touch.
Kitchen and dining in the Retro Betty 196
At the back of the space here is a dinette that is actually rather spacious - definitely a good seating arrangement for someone who’s “fluffy” as comedian Gabriel Iglesias would say.
The upholstery, too, is different in that it’s got a two-tone appearance to match the exterior colors. We saw three examples at the show; a black-and-white model, a turquoise-and-white example and the red-and-white model we’re looking at here. With the two-tone exterior color choice the interior upholstery colors match. They’ve also upholstered above each window so it really does stand out, especially with that knotty pine wood.
The kitchen is toward the back of the trailer on the road side and features the typical three-burner propane RV stove top with the unfortunate 17” RV oven. Sigh. There’s also a smaller microwave overhead.
There’s a larger sink and a 12 volt fridge.
There is a decent amount of cabinet and drawer storage in here. There is also a surprise in one of the cabinets in the form of a drawer that comes out and features a cutting board on top of it that can serve as a sink cover. This also has drawer space but, even better, there’s a paper towel roll holder in the drawer. Nice touch!
Bathroom in the Retro Betty 196
The bathroom spans the center of this rig and is a dry bath with a pretty decently-sized sink. There are storage cubbies but not necessarily cabinets.
The headroom in the shower was pretty impressive as there’s a large skylight over the shower. I honestly expected a wet bath in a trailer of this size but, nope, dry bath and with a sink and everything.
Final thoughts on the Retro Betty 196
There are a lot of little details in this that show that Sunset Park is paying attention. For example, there is a propane water heater with a tank rather than the tankless water heater which seems like a good idea but really isn’t in an RV. The standard water heater is propane-only but you have the option of choosing a propane/electric model instead.
There is also the option of a high-performance vent fan which regular readers will know that I like quite a bit.
There’s 100 watts of solar with a larger solar panel as an option.
One area that I almost guarantee you won’t like is the plumbing which uses PEX-style clamps of nylon braided hoses. This is very, very common in the RV industry and is a huge failure point over time. Some RV builders have gotten away from this, but Sunset Park hasn’t and it’s going to spell trouble down the road for owners. I guarantee it.
Overall I like this trailer and I think it could be a great value option with a lot of style. I can see this being popular with solo campers or maybe couples but something that would appeal to those who also like to entertain but don’t want some monster rig.
Who is Sunset Park RV?
In 2005, founding owner, Merle Schmucker, started a construction company in Florida when he was just 17 years old. Schmucker specialized in building multi-million-dollar homes that featured domes and other unique architectural features. Two years later, in 2007, Schmucker moved back home to Shipshewana to raise his family and started an RV company.
In the last 18 years, Schmucker has partnered with his brother, Marlin Schmucker, and industry veteran, Jonathan Yoder, to grow Sunset Park RV and its dealer partners.
Fast forward to today – this strategic growth has enabled Sunset Park RV to rise to the rank of the fourth largest manufacturer of travel trailers in North America. Sunset Park has dedicated their efforts to produce ultra-lightweight, price-point trailers.
Unfortunately for the fourth largest RV company in the business you’d think they’d hire someone who could build a halfway decent website. Theirs is awful and it’s unfortunate.
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