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What and when was your first touring caravan?

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Old Oct 3rd, 2017, 21:08   #11
hindol
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First van a 12ft ace globetrotting in 1965 towed in with a Renault 16ts, first time out the tail wagged the dog. Swapped the 16 for a Renault 30rd, that was a great motor.

1982 saw us buying our first Volvo a 245fly towing a Cavalier 520, since then we have had seven more Volvo estates, heaven knows how many towing miles but all have been great.

Now have a D4 V70 p3 163 geartronic and a Sterling Eccles Moonstone, superb the pair of them
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Old Oct 4th, 2017, 02:00   #12
c_lee
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Ah yes, gas mantles and floor foot pumps - I remember those, they were the only lighting the Bailey we bought as our first caravan had.

DO NOT TOUCH THE GAS MANTLE ONCE IT HAD BEEN USED OR IT FELL APART - CARRYING A SPARE WAS ESSENTIAL.

The Piper had them too but also electric lights.

The Piper also had a fridge and a full oven but no shower in the toilet compartment that held our transferred Porta Potti 33.

In about 1982 I bought and fitted myself a Carver Cascade 1 water heater ( it had a flying saucer shaped copper cylinder above the burner ) and a shower tray to make us self contained on French sites where we often used Municipal sites in the '80's.

Those Municipal site toilets in the 80's were - erm, basic.

We have just had 2 weeks in South Wales - first time in the area for us.

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Old Oct 6th, 2017, 00:02   #13
mike95
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Ours was a 1976 Sprite Musketeer which cost us exactly a grand. Great van that gave us loads of pleasure.

We had it for several years towing it initially with a Saab 99, then 99 Turbo and a couple of 900 Turbo's.

We eventually sold it to some friends who also had it for ages. We moved onto a twin axle Chateau Victory.

Since then we have had a few different vans and currently have a Bailey Unicorn Cadiz.

We spend most of the spring/early summer touring on the Continent and our Volvo's have always performed perfectly. Roll on next May and we will be off again.

Mike
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Old Oct 23rd, 2017, 20:54   #14
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My parents first one (the first I towed at 17) was a 1975 Monza 1000. Gas mantle was only light. Towed it around the scottish highlands with a Vauxhall Astra 1.3 Estate. 4 of us and 2 dogs.

My first caravan was a Bailey Pegasus 646, completely opposite ends of the size scale lol. It had blow air, air conditiining, motor mover, amazing the difference!
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Old Oct 23rd, 2017, 22:02   #15
Whyman
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First tow was a Sprite Alpine behind a Capri 1.6 petrol in 1971.

4 up with the inlaws of to France with a short stop at relatives in Devon and then the Plymouth to Roscoff ferry and a short hop to La Baule in Brittany. All went well apart from running out of gas only 2 small Calor butane and battery acid spilt on the floor - don't ask great holiday which we now do every year but for 4 weeks rather than the first 2 weeks.

The return trip was a bit of a problem. As we approached Roscoff we picked up the shipping forecast that gave force 8 to 10 gales in the channel. Pretty rough crossing but we booked a cabin and escaped the worse of the sick in the rest of the ship.

Never looked back since.
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Old Oct 26th, 2017, 11:31   #16
seasidehousewife
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Our first is a 1969 Bluebird Europe, we brought her under 2 yrs ago

When we brought her, she was full of damp, rot and holes! Almost got all the jobs done. We are trying/looking for a 240 to tow her with
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Old Oct 28th, 2017, 15:45   #17
hennabm
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My first venture into caravanning was back in 1986. I think it was an old Thomson 4 berth. It had gas lamps and I used a Renault 18GTS to tow it.

Sadly no pictures of the van but I have one of the car - somewhere!
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Old Oct 30th, 2017, 03:20   #18
canis
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Ours bears the name "Charisma", just about. It's an awful mess. It's covered in green algae, and isn't entirely watertight. It has a broken window, no toilet, and I wouldn't trust the gas.

I'm hoping to fix it up. Solve the leaks, replace any damaged walls, rip out the gas entirely and just use it as a weekender. I think I might paint it forest green, which will match the car approximately.

I'm also gonna rename it. On account of the way one neighbour criticised it's shabby appearance, I'm gonna call it "Temerity."
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Old Nov 10th, 2017, 18:06   #19
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Caravans have always been in my life but to simon he hated them until we got our first one about 12 years ago a 1969 Cheltenham fawn. We now have a 1967 Cheltenham Nyala so still have the foot pump, gas lights,
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Not forgetting 1967 Cheltenham Nyala (caravan)
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Old Nov 10th, 2017, 18:23   #20
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What was the one at the very bottom of the early 70s Sprite range - below the 400? Whatever it was, one of those, towed with a Viva 1256cc by my dad. Vivid recollection of the car boiling its coolant as we crawled along the top end of the M6.

Unhappy days indeed. I got a tiny tent and slept outside as soon as I could, away from parents and twin brothers!
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