rubberrat wrote:Having shared a campsite with two others last week and usually (other than our meet up) only seeing one other a year I must conclude that they are becoming more popular.
.
Not yet, but they will be...
Back when we imported Tischers we sold them through the Volkswagen dealer network as well as numerous specialist motorcaravan and camper dealers. You didn't need find a specialist like Nolan or ourselves back then, you could find them everywhere. Some of the dealers were really successful with them and almost certainly sold more individually than are sold nationwide today. The secret of those early Tischers was the fact that they were made specifically for the Volkswagens of the era, in strict accordance with Volkswagen technical approval. The trucks carried them well (although you had to be very careful how much you loaded in the little Caddy of course). A T3 Syncro DoKa with an elevating roof Tischer of the day must still rate as one of the greatest combinations ever.
Since the arrival of the generic Japanese double cab it's all gone rather pear shaped. Initially it looked as though it would be a bright new dawn for the demountable concept but the trucks proved far from ideal and there's been a tendency for manufacturers to build 'universal' cabins. Many have fallen in love with the idea only to find that in real life that the cabin they selected was horrendously overweight with no consideration given to weight distribution or driving pleasure.
The good news is people are starting to have more realistic expectations as to what they can have on the back of a small pickup, and buying smaller, more sensible bodies. That might mean fewer are sold but those that are do at least live up to the owner's expectations. It was never really possible to stick a four berth caravan in a 3 foot square pickup bed no matter what the brochure said! But the really exciting news is that aircraft and racing yacht technology has found it's way into our world and is making some amazing new campers possible. A perfect example is the new Camperhit which is the first of a whole new breed of campers using this hi-technology to the full. These cabins are light enough to sit happily on almost any double cab, pretty well bomb proof but with comfort, space and features that will knock your socks off. The demountables of tomorrow are going to be a whole new ball game and do everything they need to become really popular again - I just hope they don't ban our dirty, smelly trucks before we can get to enjoy them!
Best wishes
Gary
PS: We travelled around 2,400 miles last week through 7 countries (UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland and Holland) and, outside of Bad Kissingen, saw only one other demountable.