An advertisement from the first year the Barth was produced depicts a happy family with what appears to be a 27-foot model. In the early years, in order to show off their all-aluminum exteriors, Barths were devoid of much paint. By the early 1980s, anodized aluminum panels added a splash of color, and a few years later most Barths were painted in an array of colors. Since many Barths were custom made, they tended to have highly individualized color schemes.

This early model is devoid of the distinctive back hump over the engine compartment that makes 1970s-era Barths easily identifiable. By the 1980s, Barth adopted a more traditional bus-like profile.