The above photograph shows our family holiday caravan for the period 1965 to 1985. (the car belonged to a visitor). The caravan was a single axle Donnington Castle of body size about 28ft x 8ft. It was delivered by the dealer using the only 4×4 made at Longbridge (an Austin Gypsy). This was quite illegal. I only had this van moved with a transporter.
Compared with this caravan the only technological advance concerned with towing that we now have (apart from the hydraulic damper for the over run brakes) is that the tyre inner tubes have been replaced and we now have tubeless tyres. (ADDENDUM August 2007; ALKO have announced that they will start fitting their new electronic/electric stabiliser to complement the over run brake system on new caravans. However they could import the electric brakes that have been in use for over 30 years in the USA, and at current rates of exchange the electric brake system would be cheaper than the over run system plus stabiliser.
