THE ADVENT OF THE MOTOR CARAVAN. Some Directions in Which This' Movement May Develop.
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MOTIOR caravanning seems likely to become a popular pastime this year. A few pioneers, who have either oonverted paivate vehicles to their ownrequirements, -or bought complete caravans from the makers, have given the movement a good start, which the recent formation of a Motor Caravan Club should help to perpetuate.
The press announcement of the formation of this
club brought between ,200 and .300 replies from people of all classes who Were anxious to have particulars, this response being another indication of the growing interest in this form of motoring.
At first sight the connection between the motor caravan and the commercial motor may not seem very obvious, but it is possible that the two movements may have something in common. Already, for instance, contractors engaged on long hauls have attached a sleeping-room trailer to their road trains, thereby saving the cost, of hotel bills of the driver and his mate. Char-k-banes owners, too, are con.idering the possibility-of letting out motor caravans on hire, the caravan bodies being quickly-detachable
and interchangeable with lorry bodies. The fact that some of the principal motor caravan builders have received a number of enquiries from people who would prefer to hire a caravan for a month or more, rather than buy one outright, also indicates that there are opportunities of catering for thisademand. At present, the caravan builders are too busy supplying actual orders to consider the possibilities of hiring out machines.
The hiring out of motor caravans certainly merits consideration. Caravans may be divided into two classes—those supplied in one unit with a chassis and those that trail astern of a touring car. They can be made to accommodate two or three adults and a, child. The cost in hotel bills for two people for a week's tour would certainly be not less than £15. In the event of a. motorist possessing his own car, the wear and tear on 'the trailer type caravan should not be great, and one would imagine that if it were hired out for £10 or 212 a week, or even slightly less, it would.be a paying proposition.
In the case of the hiring out of a complete unit, a charge of .230 a,• week is spoken of as a reasonable figure. If this weretdivided between three friends, the caravan holiday would be cheap; but then there is the question of the driver and his maintenance and accommodation. One contractor with whom we have discussed this subject is proposing in certain cases to allow motorists of proved standing to drive the caravans themselves, and it will be interesting to see how this experiment works out in practice. There is still another direction in which the motor caravan can be developed: There are already many travellers touring the country and calling at business houses either with or without samples. Hotel bills do not show much sign of reduction, and in the course of a year mount up to a considerable sum. The caravan-office-motorcar combination has Already been used successfully by one representative whom we have met and who has been on the road continualy for the last five months. By combining the duties of a driver and valet-cook in one man, and by a. suitable arrangement of curtains, the interior of this particular caravan can be converted at will into two separate bunks, into a kitchen and sitting-room, or into an office.
The production of a suitable caravan for varying purposes calls for almost unlimited ingenuity. The problems of lighting, heating, and water supply have to be solved; and how well these difficulties have been met an inspection of some of the modern cara vans already on the road will demonstrate. Added to this there are innumerable occurrences which have to be met and which are only discovered by practical exiperience. With so many commercial car operators building their own bodies nowadays, one submits operators, they
would be well advised to keep their eyes on this latest development in motoring. It may expand very much further and more rapidly than even its most sanguine supporters imagine. The call for economy will mean restricted holidays, less motoring and shorter journeys, but the caravan movement, cutting out as it does one of the chief items of holiday expenses, viz., the hotel, should, if properly handled, encourage people to use the road and the motor more than they previously thought was possible.
The gipsy spirit, as indicated by the frequently encountered motor picnic parties on the road, has as yet touched only the fringe of the developments that are possible in this direction.. Char-a-bancs picnic parties are still in their infancy. How much more pleasant to arrange a picnic at some beauty spot than to stop in company with a score or more other vehicles in some choky country town where the mid-day meal is but an uncomfortable scramble!
The picnic idea may lead on to the touring motor caravan, which is now being built in quantities and in such a manner as to afford warmth and weatherproofness and many of the comforts, if not the accommodation, of a small house. The economies to be effected by a motoring caravan holiday have been briefly ,ouched upon, but the charm, attraction and health attached to this method of living only actual experience can recount.