1958 Caravan Design

1958 Caravan

10ft., Ensor Kiwi 10ft. 3in., Eccles Nyraphette 10ft. 6in., Cresta Kozy lift., Fairholme Gem lift., Picador Petite lift. 6in., Fairview Fairy lift. Sin., Marston Caravclle 12ft, And one must not overlook the Sprite Ariel and Alpine, and the Stirling 10, pioneers of this new vogue and still virtually new.
Remarkable planning is seen in some, for example the Sprite Alpine, which gets four berths, end kitchen and toilet, and two doors, in only lift. 6in. A similar layout in the Willerby Kyte, with 6in. more, manages to look quite spacious.
In the interests of weight saving and a low centre of gravity the headroom of one or two of these lightweights Is cut to 6ft. or less. While this seems a retrograde step, it is perhaps fair to 'say that ultra- lightweights have got to get nearer to camping and cannot afford the house-type comforts which larger vans have developed.

It will be interesting to see whether sales to British caravanners, who do not think of themselves as campers, will justify this burst of activity by the industry, or whether the dealers will still find it difficult to sell small size plus good performance against larger and more inviting vans, even to buyers with small cars.
The Picador Petite, Marston Caravalle, lift. 6in. and 12ft., are both five-berths. The Fairholme Gem fits a quite roomy toilet in the middle without spoiling the layout. Weights are not all as low as one might like. Unconventional and more costly methods of construction will probably be needed to make bigger savings. But there is now a real choice around lOcwt. The Thomson, in its version for Germany, without brakes, weighs only about 8cwt.
The Continental demand for high speed towing is reflected also in suspension systems, the principal technical development. Sprites have always had this feature.
Of the new assemblies the most interesting was that of the Thomson Glen, designed in consultation with the German distributor Wilk. For export to Germany it has a German T-shaped foundation compming a tubular drawbar-backbone attached to a transverse tube containing twin torsion suspension bars. This is a system almost universal on the smaller German vans. It would be costly to import except for re-export, and it will be interesting to see what Thomson's put on this model for the home market.

Cheltenham have introduced independent suspension on their largest model, the 15ft. 8in. Springbok, which is exceptionally light for its size, about 17Jcwt. They are using coil springs and dampers. The same basic system but with a different layout, a triangular plate taking the place of the lever, was introduced by Pemberton at the 1957 Show, and is used on the interesting integral construction all-aluminium Siarlette described in THE CARAVAN of last June and shown at Earls Court.
The new 15ft. Normandie touring van, the Mascot, has independent suspension by rubber, the Bramber Flexitor system. Tl Cresta Kozy, also uses rubber torsion. Bramber's stand in t gallery had a new assembly Flcxitor combined with an Arnj strong Rotaflow shock absorber.
Independent suspension 1 especially intcresung for the light] vans. Vans of a ton or more firmly down on the road, bi really light short vans often have a tendency to hop or wag.
One of the few really big var| for which a fault less road performance is claimed, the 22ft Carlight Colonial, has been redesigned with a monocoque construction as in the smaller Continental. Thanks mainly to the strength of the box floor, the conventional chassis frame has gone, and t only visible steel is the drawbar and one transverse angle section Yet Mr. W. R, Earl, the managing director, says it Is even stronger and there is a saving of 4cwt| making this luxuriously equipe van only 34cwt.
A still heavier duty axle provides for I0cwt.

Article in THE CARAVAN 1958

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