A caravan is a trailer fitted out for living or sleeping that is towed behind a car or other vehicle, typically used for holidays, touring, or as a mobile home; it differs from a motorhome, which has its own engine built into the same chassis.
.jpg)
The world's first leisure trailer was built by the Bristol Carriage Company in 1880 for Dr. William Gordon Stables, a popular author of teenage adventure fiction, who ordered a "gentleman's caravan". It was an 18-foot design, based upon their Bible Wagons, which Gordon-Stables named Wanderer. He travelled around the British countryside in it and later wrote a book documenting his travels in 1885 called The Gentleman Gypsy.
The word "caravan" itself comes from the Persian term "karwan," meaning a group of travelers, originally describing merchant convoys that crossed deserts together for safety along routes such as the Silk Road.
In 1897 Prince Oldenburg of Russia became the first person to hitch a caravan to a vehicle when he attached a two-wheel trailer to a steam tractor. He used it as his base on the tour of the Caucasus and travelled at speeds up to 15 MPH.
Britain's caravanning hobby was formalized early on, with the Caravan Club founded in 1907 to bring together enthusiasts of the growing pastime.
The jazz musician Django Reinhardt (below) was born on January 23, 1910, in a Gypsy caravan in Liberchies, Belgium. He was forced to give up the violin after a caravan fire in 1928 mutilated his left hand.
The Eccles company launched the first commercially produced touring caravan in 1919, shortly after the First World War, though at roughly £90 it remained a luxury few could afford until cheaper designs arrived in the 1930s.
Britain's static caravan holiday boomed after the Second World War, with the 1950s and 1960s seeing families rent or buy caravans on seaside and countryside sites as an affordable holiday alternative.
A Mercedes Benz S600 driven by South African motoring journalist Eugene Herbert reached a record-breaking speed of 139 mph towing a standard caravan at Hoedspruit Air Force Base, South Africa, on October 24, 2003.
The fastest speed a caravan has ever been towed was 142 mph (228 kmph), by Jason Sands in California's Mojave Desert on August 23, 2012. Sands drove a GMC 2500HD and towed a standard Carson Kalispell with tires with a racing tread, surpassing the previous record set by Eugene Herbert.
Australia holds the record for the longest caravan convoy, set in 2019 when 868 caravans travelled together in a procession stretching over 9.5 km.
The word "caravan" itself comes from the Persian term "karwan," meaning a group of travelers, originally describing merchant convoys that crossed deserts together for safety along routes such as the Silk Road.
In 1897 Prince Oldenburg of Russia became the first person to hitch a caravan to a vehicle when he attached a two-wheel trailer to a steam tractor. He used it as his base on the tour of the Caucasus and travelled at speeds up to 15 MPH.
Britain's caravanning hobby was formalized early on, with the Caravan Club founded in 1907 to bring together enthusiasts of the growing pastime.
The jazz musician Django Reinhardt (below) was born on January 23, 1910, in a Gypsy caravan in Liberchies, Belgium. He was forced to give up the violin after a caravan fire in 1928 mutilated his left hand.
The Eccles company launched the first commercially produced touring caravan in 1919, shortly after the First World War, though at roughly £90 it remained a luxury few could afford until cheaper designs arrived in the 1930s.
Britain's static caravan holiday boomed after the Second World War, with the 1950s and 1960s seeing families rent or buy caravans on seaside and countryside sites as an affordable holiday alternative.
A Mercedes Benz S600 driven by South African motoring journalist Eugene Herbert reached a record-breaking speed of 139 mph towing a standard caravan at Hoedspruit Air Force Base, South Africa, on October 24, 2003.
The fastest speed a caravan has ever been towed was 142 mph (228 kmph), by Jason Sands in California's Mojave Desert on August 23, 2012. Sands drove a GMC 2500HD and towed a standard Carson Kalispell with tires with a racing tread, surpassing the previous record set by Eugene Herbert.
Australia holds the record for the longest caravan convoy, set in 2019 when 868 caravans travelled together in a procession stretching over 9.5 km.
No comments:
Post a Comment