On Saturday June 15th the team at Kempton Caravans decided to brave the cold renowned in the Fouriesburg area and take advantage of the long weekend. We selected three caravans for individual testing and embarked on a “marketing”, “team building” weekend.
My tow combination consisted of the Ford Ranger 3.2l 4×4 with manual transmission and the Vagabond Drifter, a tear drop trailer with some unique and stylish features. With a Tare mass of just 550kg’s I was regularly having to check my mirrors to ensure the unit was still attached. With its axle set way back the Drifter makes for an exceptionally true towing experience, stable to say the least. The dead weight on the nose measured 90kg’s but bare in mind I had packed lightly, one would have to take into account that when the rear mounted fridge and cooler compartment is packed and the water tank is filled that the nose weight would lighten somewhat.
With it’s a tear drop shaping the fuel consumption was hardly influenced, a huge factor to take into account when we consider our ever increasing fuel prices.
The Vagabond is manufactured from fibreglass, a material perfectly suited to the purpose, flexible and strong enough to handle harsh off road conditions, a poor conductor of heat keeping the sleeping cabin warm in winter and cool in summer, also fibreglass is unaffected by hail and rust.
We did some extensive gravel road driving seeking that dramatic “marketing pic” with the dust kicking up the rear, here the photographer and Director at Kempton Caravans, Larry Kreuiter did some exceptional work. (See pictures below) The sleeping cabin and numerous hatches were dust free I’m happy to report, but the rear kitchen however did have some minor ingress of dust that required a wipe down, a problem that the manufactures assure us is being addressed.
The Vagabond is a niche product and certainly not for everybody, but for the adventurous at heart, for those seeking to travel, for those true campers whom love to tour and experience our beautiful earth, this compact, cleverly thought out and well-designed unit is for you.
The true test of this product would be an African expedition, with corrugated dusty roads and African thunderstorms, a test I believe the Vagabond would pass with flying colours.
The product is new and requires some finer detail refinement, but the concept of the Tear drop style trailer is tried and tested. Details of the Vagabond can be found on our Website here: https://www.kemptoncaravans.co.za/new-products/vagabond-caravans/drifter
Should you wish to enquire about this product please click on the link above and complete the form, our friendly sales team at Kempton Caravans will assist you shortly.
Kempton Caravans has multi-franchised, and the team consisting of Directors Larry Kreuiter, Bee Wolmarans and myself Clive van der Vyver in conjunction with our dedicated sales and aftermarket service team are confident that we are partnering with strong, reliable products, ones which we will personally test and review for you our valued customer.
