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Schäfer Orion floating caravan
Germany · Trailer · built by Schäfer (Detmold)
| Also known as | Schäfer-Orion Schwimmwohnwagen, Orion I |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Schäfer (Detmold) |
| Country | Germany |
| Type | Trailer |
| Status | Production |
| Use | Civilian |
| Propulsion | |
| In water | None |
| Hull | GRP |
| Dimensions & performance | |
| Weight | 560 kg |
Specifications need checking. Some figures here were taken from the archive and have not been confirmed against a source.
The Schäfer Orion was a floating caravan made in the 1960s by Schäfer of Detmold, a builder of polyester (glass-fibre) caravans. The firm's brochures showed it being towed across a lake by an Amphicar, and it was used to promote the company's polyester caravans.
Design
The Orion was based on the Suleica F430 caravan and had the same interior. A grease-sealed axle and a double floor filled with closed-cell foam made it unsinkable and resistant to capsizing, and the doorway had a 30 cm sill to keep water out. It weighed 560 kg.
A German retrospective describes it as a childhood dream of the 1960s: the chance to spend a night bobbing on a lake instead of listening to a neighbour snoring in the next tent, even if taller occupants were easy to spot on campsites by their stoop under the rounded sides.
Related vehicle
The Orion name was also used for a self-propelled floating camper of 1968; see the separate record for the Orion amphibious camper.
3 Photographs
26 photographs in the archive folder. Click any image to view it full size.
4 Related vehicles
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