Head to any campsite and chances are you will see that the vast majority of caravans that are pitched up are white. It’s likely to be the same story if you’ve visited one of the NEC Shows or headed to a dealer forecourt recently. This could leave you thinking, “why are caravans almost always white”?
A quick look at some of the recent tourers I have reviewed would back this up too – for instance, both the Bailey Unicorn Deluxe Cadiz and the Coachman Lusso III are predominantly white. So why is this the case? It’s a good question, and it’s also one that doesn’t have an immediately obvious answer.
I have often gone for a walk after settling in at a caravan park, looked back at the site from some nearby hilltop, and wondered about how much more amenable locals might be to campsites if they weren’t just rows and rows of white boxes (with the occasional decal) that will often clash with the surrounding greenery.
The best explanation for the colour choice I have had is that a mostly white caravan will be easier to repair if you ever dent it, because the repairer doesn’t have to worry so much about getting an exact colour match.
But it may well be a case of, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” After all, caravans have almost always been white for as long as anyone can remember.
That doesn’t mean you have to stick to white if you want a tourer with more colour, though. There are some makes of caravans that you can consider that provide more colourful exteriors, which you may also have seen when you’re at the NEC Show.
For instance, Barefoot Caravans offers its monocoque models in a range of eye-catching shades, including dusky pink, soft green, Cotswold green, pale grey and duck egg blue. Freedom Caravans also does some of its models in silver – a colour that also features, at least on the side panels, in many other manufacturers’ more upmarket models.
Another topic I recently considered was “why are there so few L-shaped front lounge caravans?” – it’s an arrangement which has its own pros and cons, and I think there’s a good reason for the lack of tourers with this arrangement.
Lead image: Philip Russell
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