Introduction
Welcome to Caravan Road Rallying, an exciting online exhibition developed in partnership with the Caravan and Motorhome Club.
Explore these pages to discover the thrills and spills of this popular but often forgotten motor sport, organised by the Club from 1954 until 1976.
A gathering of members
The answer? ‘Rally’ can mean a number of things, but in Caravan and Motorhome Club circles it traditionally refers to social gatherings of members along with their cars and caravans.
Normally held over a long weekend, some rallies are attended by a handful of car and caravan combinations (also known as an outfit) or motorhomes, while the Club’s annual National Rally attracts thousands.
The first Club gathering of this kind took place in 1908 in Ockham, Surrey, in a time when caravans were horse-drawn.
A competitive event
In 1954, The Caravan Club British Caravan Road Rally was run for the first time.
Instead of being a leisurely social weekend, The Caravan Club British Caravan Road Rally was a competitive motor sport. From 1954 to 1976 both amateur and professional competitors hitched up caravans and pushed their driving skills to the limit.
This online exhibition is dedicated to the story of these thrilling sporting events and the people who made them possible.
Great National Rally
In the 1930s a tradition grew at Caravan Club rallies (the gathering kind, not the racing kind) for a programme of competitions in which members took part.
Egg and spoon races, sack races and tugs of war were all part of the friendly family fun and encouraged a competitive spirit. Events where adult members could hitch up and demonstrate their towing and reversing skills were also popular, along with competitions to encourage the design of innovative gadgets to improve the caravans.
Watch Caravan Club members competing in a tug of war during a 1940s social gathering:
Competitive Rally at Cheltenham
The first wholly competitive caravan rally was pioneered in 1938 by a long defunct organisation called the Trailer Caravan Club.
Members of the club gathered on Cheltenham Racecourse and, under strict instructions to stick to the 30mph/48.28kph speed limit, headed off on an 80 mile (128.75 kilometre) road section. Stopping only for an hour along the way, lunch was cooked and eaten in the van. Like early Caravan Club social Rallies, tests for skilful driving and reversing formed part of the competition.
Prizes ranged from those for the oldest competitor to the highest scoring lady. However, the most unusual award by far was that given to the parents completing the route with the youngest child as passenger.
The event drew to a close with a prize giving at the Cheltenham Pump Rooms, followed by a Dinner and Dance. It was the last wholly competitive caravanning rally held until 1954 when The Caravan Club British Caravan Road Rally was born.
Caravan history in the making
By the 1950s a hunger for competitive rallying had grown in caravanning circles as there had been no similar event since 1938.
Competitions at social rallies had grown to be a popular feature amongst amateur caravanners. However, there was no event where caravan traders and manufacturers could showcase the roadworthiness and design of their vans at a competitive level.
The then Caravan Club wanted a public platform to demonstrate the safety and stability of caravans. They also wanted to encourage caravan development and by inviting competitors from the trade. Caravan Road Rallies championed innovation.
It will be the buzz for years in Caravan Circles
In 1954 The Caravan Club announced its plans for the first British Caravan Road Rally competition.
The event created such a buzz that more people had entered than there were places available – even before the application forms had been printed.
Designed to ‘give a stiff but strictly practical and realistic test’ of cars and caravans, the competition was planned to contain a variety of sections including timed driving, fast towing, reversing, wheel changing, acceleration and braking.
The first in a long series
Caravan Club members hitched up their holiday vans, and traders set off with their newest models, all in the quest for the coveted Caravan Trophy.
The Caravan magazine reported that the event ‘was the first in what looks like being a long series’. The competition proved extremely popular with caravanners who returned year after year to compete and enjoy the friendly social spirit of the events.
Rally crews had a smashing time
By the late 1960s, the face of the rallies was changing.
From the early days, the events gave caravan manufacturers and traders a great opportunity to prove the ability of their vans along with showing new developments and gadgets.
By the late 1960s the competition was hotting up and caravan businesses went on a quest for the top award spots and created groups of skilled drivers to fly the flag for their brand.
These professional groups were known as works teams. Even well–known rally drivers such as Roger Clark, Tony Pond and Pat Moss-Carlsson were attracted to the competition in the 1970s and sponsored to take part by the trade.
Testing time for towers
Commenting in the 1970s, the former Editor of The Caravan Magazine Martin Lumby observed how the events differed from the early days.
He wrote that ‘Things have changed so much since … I first competed in 1955 … it’s all a lot more professional. Yes, and commercial too.’
When recently asked about the changes to the professionalism of the event in the 1970s, Caravans International works team driver Lyle Cathcart recalled that by 1975 a network of service crews had sprung up behind the scenes.
Not unlike today’s Formula One teams, mechanics and caterers went along to support the competitors. This was all in great contrast to the early days of the competition when the driver and co-driver undertook any work needed on their outfit.
In 1974 the rally was renamed from The Caravan Club British Caravan Road Rally to The Caravan Club International Road Rally to reflect its wider appeal.
Growing costs for competitors
As the Road Rally became more professional, the number of amateur competitors declined.
Gone were the early Road Rallies where Caravan Club members, often with some car rallying experience, hitched up their family caravan and set off on a weekend adventure.
Changes to the road section, which now took part on private forest roads, pioneered safe higher speeds but also increased the risk of damage. All drivers would be penalised for knocks to their outfits, but professional works teams did not have to foot the financial bill and often took more chances.
For the amateur competitor, the threat of damage to their caravan was too big. Between 1973 and 1976 the number of entrants had halved.
Road rally cancelled
A declining number of entrants led to The Caravan Club’s decision that there was no future for the Caravan Road Rally in its original format. The events had run their natural course and after 1976 the competition ended.
Out of the ashes came the National Track Tests. Held at Silverstone, the events included the manoeuvrability tests and Concours d’Elegance. These types of tests continued in varying forms for decades to come. The Economy Run was later introduced and pioneered the development of eco-friendly outfits, taking caravanning to a greener future.
In 1954 the Club set up the Road Rally event with an aim to encourage the development of caravans in the UK. To gain a leading edge, competitors and manufacturers alike busily modified caravans prior to the events. This led to many new innovations.
From the introduction of higher speed limits to vast improvements in van stability and safety, The Caravan Road Rallies left a lasting legacy for the holiday caravanner on the roads of Britain.
Growing the collection
On transfer to the National Motor Museum in 2006, the Caravan and Motorhome Club Collection contained only a handful of items relating to Caravan Road Rally competitions.
The Club wanted to tell the full story of these thrilling events but first needed to fill a few gaps in the Collection. Back in 2007 we set about gathering Caravan Road Rally material including memorabilia, photographs, film footage and oral history recordings along with information about the unique events.
As a result, this online exhibition has been developed in partnership with the Caravan and Motorhome Club and the National Motor Museum.
Get in touch
This online exhibition is a testament to those who took part in these events between 1954 and 1976. It contains the stories and collections of many who were involved.
We continue to seek memories or memorabilia from those connected with the Road Rallies. If you have anything that you would like to share with us then please get in touch. You can also share your own photographs from the event on our Flickr group or on Twitter.
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