Geoffrey King was the man with the practical helps and hints for the caravan enthusiast in his En Route column and in August 1980, following a breakdown of his own on the M1, he enlisted the help of his AA patrolman to uncover some of the issues that a breakdown might cause him.
Finding a spare tyre for the caravan in the middle of the night or on a Sunday was a regular theme, but there were others, as King noted with some exasperation.
“[A] fairly strong comment was made about the instability of some outfits. He recalled an incident when he was forced to tow a van behind the Relay vehicle. The owner of the outfit, when asked how well his van towed, replied, ‘No problems of any kind.’
“At under 50mph, the caravan developed a hideous snake. After regaining control of the outfit, the AA man asked the owner why he had said that the van was a ‘perfect’ tower. The reply was: ‘You’re going too fast – I rarely exceed 30 and 35mph is my maximum…’
I think that 44 years on, that chap is still on the road. I swear I was behind him earlier in the summer. Read about him here.
