Well interesting one isn't it.Why does everyone think that you need a Chelsea tractor to pull a caravan eh,simple reason for this is as follows.Years ago when caravan was caravan and not as it is today with your electronic must have's,caravans weighed EXACTLY THE SAME SO WHAT HAS CHANGED.
It is simple my friends what has happened is quite elementary,nowadays the caravans can only carry a maximum of around 200lbs inside them simply because the ovl weight is the same!!!!!
Because of all the gizmo's you have what you can put inside them is far less,how many cars have you seen towing with suitcases inside the cars,picnic tables,Barbie's and the kitchen sink,whereupon in days gone by you could put everything inside and away you go.What has basically happened is with the intervention of modern cars etc the ovl weight of the towing vehicle has gone up thus reducing it's towing capacity,thus misguided thought of must have a 4x4's.
there is a simple soloution for this think ahead and buy an older vehicle,ah ha cries of anguish get rid of my 4x4 YES go out and buy a OMEGA est or a VOLVO these will out pull the majority of 4x4';s and they are by far more economical.I tow an old Europa which is a 4 berth caravan complete will all the food for a week and awning and everything i need and still get 40+ to the gallon and usually it is the 4x4 that hold me up,and I don't even use one of those namby pamby anti snake devices either don't need it cos my van is allways perfectly balanced and allways with a 75lbs nose weight.
So to those of you out there with the misapprehension of needing a 4x4 think again there are much cheaper alternatives out there and of course much better for the environment as well
Stavros