Camper Trailer Information - A Brief History

The car revolutionised our lives. It enabled us to travel further, see more and expand our cities.

Everyone had a family car

By the 1950s most Australian families could afford a car. By 1955 there were two million motor vehicles on Australia's roads and by 1969 this had risen to 4.8 million. By this time families were now buying two cars and houses were being built with garages.

The growing number of cars helped growth in the outer suburbs, as people were able to commute further. It also enabled people to travel of a weekend and so was born the caravan. The first form of mobile home that could be towed by a car.

A form of caravan had of course been around for years. We have all heard the stories of the travelling gypsies who pulled their caravan behind horses. That was a form of life style, where the car enabled caravans to create a form of holiday.

Caravans enabled people to holiday more

The new caravan of the 1950's and 1960's was not a way of life as such. It was more a way of improving ones quality of life and enabling the average family to holiday and see more of the country.

People were packing up for the weekend or for their annual holiday and travelling by car to camping grounds or friends back yards where they would set up in their caravan - their home away from home. These holidays were affordable to most families and became very popular.

Camper trailer evolved from the caravan

As time has progressed so has the mobile home holiday. We have seen the caravan, motor home, camper van and now the camper trailer.

Over the years the mobile home has varied in price with some costing many tens of thousands to purchase. The camper trailer is a much more economical way of holidaying. It offers everything that a caravan offers and more without the expense. Yet it offers much more comfort and convenience than a tent.

Most camper trailers have a large spacious canvas area, full size double bed and a fully functioning kitchen complete with the kitchen sink. One of the main advantages of the camper trailer is it is compact and easy to tow. The reduced weight of the average camper trailer means it can be towed by most family sedans.