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Around 1970 we purchased a second hand Trailer Tent called the Lillebror (Little Brother) Chateau Mobile and have since used it on many holidays. It is much more comfortable than camping in a tent and, being quite substantial and off the ground, can be used in most weathers. It also trails very well and, unlike a caravan, does not obscure the view in rear view mirrors. We have taken it to France without problems.
After 40 years or so the canvasses of the awning and the main tent inevitably became weak. In 2006 we finally dispensed with the awning and replaced the main canvas. We had the new 'tarp' made by http://www.simpers.co.uk/ in Cambridge, who did an excellent job at a reasonable price. The whole thing looks rather like a traditional gypsy caravan and is now regarded as a 'classic'. EVERY time we take it on holiday we have people coming over to have a look and ask us about it.
There is a thriving Owners Club on Yahoo at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chateaumobileowners Occasionally you see them for sale there or on Ebay and recently one went for £700. One of our better purchases !
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For more detail and history of the trailer tent see http://www.norsk-lillebror-forening.piczo.com/?cr=7 Click translate to read in (machine translated) English The CM ( as it is affectionately know by owners) was built in Oslo, Norway by the Wideroe Aircraft Company. Pictures of all the models built can be found at http://norsk-lillebror-forening.piczo.com/?g=4362804&cr=7 From this I conclude that ours is a 1967 model, so 43 years old !
The Lillebror (Little Brother) Chateau Mobile Trailer tent story (translated from a Norwegian website)
Patents on the prototype were taken out in 1955 by Knut Rambol, Oslo. Production began in 1957 and finished in 1971, although the remaining stock was sold until 1974. The factory was the Wideroe Aircraft Company, Alloy Department at Fornebu, Oslo. Some production and assembly also took place at Bjorkelangen. Altogether around 6000 were built.
Chateau Mobile is about 260kg. 153cm wide, 280cm long. Height (open) 185cm. It came with an awning making and area of around 16m2. The chassis has torsion bar suspension. Earlier models had 8" wheels. Later one had 10". Although they all have a chassis number they are not all sequential.
Because production was not automated there are many different variations. Sine had 3 windows at one end, others had two. All of them had the position for a bunk each side, with poles slotted into sockets in the walls at either end. Until the last production all had varnished plywood walls. 1971 models used Respatex plastic. Original costs were £450 in 1967 but that was without any of the extras: awning and bunks.
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