Caravans (also known as Recreational Vehicles or RV's) are featured on Top Gear, usually for the purpose of being destroyed to the glee of the presenters. The principal reason the presenters hate caravans is the obstruction they present to fast motoring; caravans share this characteristic with another much hated class of transport, the horse box. One example of caravan destruction was when Hammond and May played car darts. The dislike of the presenters for the vehicle is clearly demonstrated and in one year alone, 13 caravans were wrecked by different means. The episode Car Darts celebrates the 19th caravan destroyed in the show at that time.
During the Caravan Holiday challenge, Jeremy, Hammond, May and the Top Gear Dog went on a trip with an Elddis Shamal XL caravan to Dorset. Jeremy apparently burnt down their caravan and its neighbour. The presenters decided that there were no upsides to caravan holidaying and Jeremy declared jokingly that when the Top Gear Team rule Britain, caravanning will be banned.
As well as destroying caravans, Top Gear has also tried many ways of re-inventing and adapting them to other uses; in one episode they modified several caravans so they could be driven on a train track as carriages, and most recently, James May attached a caravan to an airship as a means of getting caravans off Britain's roads. Like most other attempts, the idea ended badly as the short-lived caravan airship was wrecked upon landing.
Hammond wrote the book 'A Short History of Caravans in the UK', which reveals Richard Hammond's surpising personal affection with this odd mode of mobile home designed for holidays.
Caravan Episodes[]
- Car Darts
- RC Cars
- Caravan Conkers
- Caravan Holiday
- Caravan Airship
- Caravan Jump
- Caravan Speed Challenge