When we in France a couple of years ago, we spotted an odd looking caravan
that appeared to be connected to the tow car by a very short connection (so
that the front of the van was very close to the rear of the car) and the van
extended up and over the roof ov the car where there was some sort of
roof-rack mounted frame & hitch.

I guess that the roof hitch was mostly to transfer "noseweight" load to a
central point on the car although it wasn't at all clear just where about
the whole thing pivoted.  It didn't appear to be a firth wheel arrangement
as the car appeared to apply the tractive load through the rear mounted
towball rather than the central roof mounted pivot.  I was darned if I could
work out how it turned corners. ;-)

Does this make sense to anyone?  Does it have a name?  Does it have any
practical advantages over a conventional hitch?

Tim

Tim Downie wrote:

> When we in France a couple of years ago, we spotted an odd looking caravan
> that appeared to be connected to the tow car by a very short connection (so
> that the front of the van was very close to the rear of the car) and the van
> extended up and over the roof ov the car where there was some sort of
> roof-rack mounted frame & hitch.
> 
> I guess that the roof hitch was mostly to transfer "noseweight" load to a
> central point on the car although it wasn't at all clear just where about
> the whole thing pivoted.  It didn't appear to be a firth wheel arrangement
> as the car appeared to apply the tractive load through the rear mounted
> towball rather than the central roof mounted pivot.  I was darned if I could
> work out how it turned corners. ;-)
> 
> Does this make sense to anyone?  Does it have a name?  Does it have any
> practical advantages over a conventional hitch?
> 
> Tim

Something like this:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~coo_petra/bretagne/clipc-50.jpg

How it works:
http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US5348329&F=0
(You can get the full details by using the 'Save full document' link 
near the top of the page.

I'm not sure that Clipcar Industrie are still in business - most 
possible links die!

Dougal wrote:
> Tim Downie wrote:
>
> > When we in France a couple of years ago, we spotted an odd looking
> > caravan that appeared to be connected to the tow car by a very
> > short connection (so that the front of the van was very close to
> > the rear of the car) and the van extended up and over the roof ov
> > the car where there was some sort of roof-rack mounted frame &
> > hitch. I guess that the roof hitch was mostly to transfer "noseweight"
> > load to a central point on the car although it wasn't at all clear
> > just where about the whole thing pivoted.  It didn't appear to be a
> > firth wheel arrangement as the car appeared to apply the tractive
> > load through the rear mounted towball rather than the central roof
> > mounted pivot.  I was darned if I could work out how it turned
> > corners. ;-) Does this make sense to anyone?  Does it have a name?  Does 
> > it have
> > any practical advantages over a conventional hitch?
> >
> > Tim
>
> Something like this:
> http://home.hetnet.nl/~coo_petra/bretagne/clipc-50.jpg
>
> How it works:
> http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=US5348329&F=0
> (You can get the full details by using the 'Save full document' link
> near the top of the page.
>
> I'm not sure that Clipcar Industrie are still in business - most
> possible links die!

That's the one!  I've looked at the drawings and *still* can't work out how 
it goes round corners. ;-)

As you say, the company seems to be defunct.

Tim

On Mon, 12 May 2008 23:59:42 +0100, "Tim Downie"
 wrote:

>When we in France a couple of years ago, we spotted an odd looking caravan
>that appeared to be connected to the tow car by a very short connection (so
>that the front of the van was very close to the rear of the car) and the van
>extended up and over the roof ov the car where there was some sort of
>roof-rack mounted frame & hitch.
>
>I guess that the roof hitch was mostly to transfer "noseweight" load to a
>central point on the car although it wasn't at all clear just where about
>the whole thing pivoted.  It didn't appear to be a firth wheel arrangement
>as the car appeared to apply the tractive load through the rear mounted
>towball rather than the central roof mounted pivot.  I was darned if I could
>work out how it turned corners. ;-)
>
>Does this make sense to anyone?  Does it have a name?  Does it have any
>practical advantages over a conventional hitch?
>
>Tim
>
>
Hi,

That would be the ClipCar!

IIRC they were being sold from somewhere on Canvey Island a few years
ago.  I've got loads of their info on the hard drive here somewhere.

Basically it doesn't pivot - it can't pivot because it's actually
connected by two towballs, the other being in the conventional
position there is a small amount of movement of the roof mounted ball
I believe, to compensate for the movement of the tow vehicle's
suspension.

A certain amount of type slip is the way it goes around corners.  I
guess it's like several axles parallel as on a HGV.  I loved the
opening rear hatch option!

Neil

(Reply via NG please)