How cool is this !

[Southwest Dave]

I have just watched this film from 1974 of a camping trailer ! I've not seen or heard of anything like it on the road. Goodness knows why it didn't catch on, I think it's kinda cool !

Check out the '360' manoeuvre.



Dave.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Whoa, that's very cool.

Mark

[Lifemagician]

Decades ago there were a few of these on the road here. I have seen them, though I could not now say what make of vehicle was pulling them.

Think I could even tow one of them.

Lifey

[AZBuck]

This may have evolved into fifth-wheel type towing. One problem I see with this type of set-up is that it puts the 'tongue' weight of the tow on the roof of the car (towing vehicle). This could have been a serious problem back in the '70s, but would be less so today when even convertibles are required to have a roll bar capable of supporting the weight of the vehicle during a roll over accident. Also, There's really no way to secure the towed vehicle to the primary vehicle in the event that the roof rack hitch breaks loose

AZBuck

[Peter Thody]

... but it looks to me as if the entire thing could flip at speed, lifting the towing vehicle off the ground and throwing it over the back!

[Southwest Dave]

I would have thought it would actually be a lot more stable than towing a caravan with a small car under normal conditions. I would think it would have been designed so that any fixed weight [such as the kitchen cabinets, table etc] would be evenly distributed over the axle to make it balanced and as lightweight as possible at the front where it mounts to the roof. Of course you can't account for people who don't think things through before deciding to load the front bunk space with heavy suitcases and the like ! lol

I agree the whole tow point could potentially be a huge problem as the support bar would only be clamped to the roof rail either side, rather than be bolted to the Chassis by a professional. And yes I can see problems with the tow point being high up, if you were to swerve to take evasive action things could get messy real quick !

Still kinda cool though ! ;-)