The Caravan (British for camper) towing world record is held by a Dodge Viper. Below is the Press release after the record was achieved.
The awesome power of a Chrysler Viper sports car has been used to pull a caravan to a new world speed record.
The 8000cc V-10 engined two seater Viper, towing a standard Abbey Iona caravan, was driven to a maximum speed of 127.8 mph on the main runway at RAF Alconbury in Cambridgeshire.
Driven by motoring journalist Mark Walton, the Viper and caravan combination narrowly passed the previous record of 126.76 mph, which was set by Charlie Kovacs behind the wheel of a Ford Falcon at Mangalore Airfield in Victoria, Australia in 1991. Details of the record attempt are published today in the November issue of Car magazine and have been passed to the Guinness Book of Records for confirmation.
Every ounce of the standard Viper s power was needed to reach the record speed. When driven unhitched, the 415 brake horse power car is capable of more than 170 mph, but the aerodynamic resistance of a caravan towed in this way means any slight increment in speed is hard earned.
After breaking the record, Mark said: "I knew the Viper would be up to the job and that s why I decided to use it for this attempt."
There were three main hurdles for him to overcome. "First, there were a number of sheep, rabbits and seagulls which we had to clear from the disused runway before starting our runs. But more seriously, we had to contend with the tremendous drag from the caravan and the potentially unpredictable nature of the combination at such extreme speeds," he said.
"The caravan was remarkably stable however and it was only reaching the end of the runaway which prevented us from going even faster," he added.
The rules for the record attempt state that the caravan should be in standard form and so the 9,000 Abbey Iona unit, supplied by Swift Caravans of Cottingham, near Hull, hurtled down the runway complete with comfy cushions, cooker, shower and even the kitchen sink aboard.
It was RDF Eurobars of Peterborough who rose to the challenge of making a towbar to fit the Viper. RDF supply towbars for Chrysler and Jeep vehicles in the UK but it was the first time anyone had asked the company for a 170 mph supercar to have one fitted!
"We may not be able to win the Ashes but it was particularly sweet to ****** this record back from the Aussies," joked a delighted Richard Mackay, Managing Director of Chrysler Jeep Imports UK. "Seriously though, it took an exceptionally powerful motor car, a highly stable caravan and a driver with nerves of steel to travel faster than the previous record."
Althogh i would NEVER do it.
