A look at weird and funny caravans
Inspiration
Top 7 weirdest and craziest caravans we’ve ever seen
Caravans aren’t just boxes on wheels, they’re canvases for big ideas, engineering and – for some – art.
From flying tourers to pubs on wheels, here’s a tour of the seven craziest caravans we’ve come across.
Macaulay Nichol Content Editor: Caravans
Macaulay Nichol Content Editor: Caravans
The flying caravan (the caravan airship)
Part blimp and part tourer, this airship holds around 100,000 cubic feet of hot air, with a fully equipped caravan beneath. When in air, it reaches a top speed of 17mph.
The interesting part is its interior: flight instruments fold out from the dinette, the cooker becomes the gas burners for flight, and everything still works as a caravan when you’re back on land. In many ways, the caravan airship offers the most surreal views imaginable.
The Catavan
When a stray cat wandered into Cosford Caravans in Wolverhampton, staff took her in and an idea formed – a custom-built ‘Catavan’.
Bailey heard the message and built a bespoke Orion 430-4 for the dealership’s newly adopted moggy: a cat-sized mini tourer scaled and specced to accommodate all the needs of a cat. It’s a one-off design and proof that caravanners will design around whoever – or whatever – is part of the family.
The Shebeen: a pub you can tow
After a long festival weekend, a new idea was born – a caravan pub. The Shebeen is a 30-year-old caravan transformed into a snug Irish bar. Handcrafted with Irish oak, pine floors, vintage mirrors and pub memorabilia – essentially everything you see at your local.
Over time it’s grown into a small fleet: The Burren (slate roof), The Connemara (thatched), and The Hay Shed (farm-themed with extra headroom). However you like your beer, these caravans offer it and then some.
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The 54-foot Rural Emperor
The Rural Emperor is a custom built 54ft caravan, constructed for an RAF officer sometime between the 1940s-50s, sold for £1,100 (back then) and coloured to blend with RAF sites. It’s a reminder that caravans weren’t only for holidays, as throughout wartime Britian and the Cold War, they often doubled as mobile accommodation, outreach and even diplomatic showpieces on international NATO tours.
De Markies (The Awning)
Dutch architect Eduard Bohtlingk’s award-winning concept looks like your standard caravan, until you drop both sides and, all of a sudden, the floor space triples in seconds.
One pavilion becomes a bright living room, the other forms a separate bedroom and the centre holds the kitchen and washroom. Few prototypes were built, but the idea feels part modern and futuristic: a light, efficient and smart caravan concept.
The Rainbow Sheikh’s Globe Caravan
At the Emirates National Auto Museum sits a caravan that’s a 1,000,000th the scale of the Earth, spread over three floors with nine bedrooms and nine bathrooms.
It’s not your standard caravan design and is more of an artistic piece – being a key highlight of the Auto Museum.
The Globe is parked alongside other gigantic creations from one of the world’s most eccentric vehicle collections – with 200+ auto vehicles on display.
The QTvan: the world’s smallest caravan
Standing at just 2.39m long and weighing only 131kg, the QTvan is officially the world’s smallest caravan.
Built in the UK, it comes with a bed, kettle and TV and can even be towed by a mobility scooter. Its name is a nod to three British obsessions: queuing, tea and caravanning (which makes perfect sense).
Show us yours
Do you own a quirky caravan? Home built, refitted, historic or completely over the top with customised wrapping? We want to see it.
Send three to six photos, plus 150 to 300 words on what you built/bought, why you did it, and what you love about it.
Please include your name, location, base model (if any), email and a contact number.
Email: [email protected]
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