Last fall when I was in England I saw Ford Focus Station wagons pulling
Lotus/Caterham 7's.
Original Message -----
From: "James A. Crider" <autojim@worldnet.att.net>
To: <autox@autox.team.net>; <stuart@strickland.net>
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 6:29 PM
Subject: Re: Tow Vehicle Question
> Dr. Stuart Strickland <stuart@strickland.net> asked:
> >
> >After putting another unnecessary 600 miles on my Elise this weekend,
I've
> >decided to start towing to events far from home. Not ever having done
this
> >before, my question is this:
> >
> >What sort of relatively inexpensive vehicle would be appropriate for
> pulling an
> >open trailer with about 1500 lbs of car? My only other car is an MX-5
and I
> >don't think she's up for the job.
>
> Hmmm... things that are available in Europe and can tow a car... Land
> Rover, Gelandewagen (not inexpensive), M-Class (not inexpensive), BMW X5
> (not inexpensive), old DAF lorry, Unimog, Tatra, Volvo, MB lorry
tractors...
>
> Believe it or not, I once spent part of a summer driving up mountains in
> the American Southwest in a variety of vehicles, including a Renault
Espace
> 2.5 TD, which pulled close to 5000 lbs, if not comfortably or speedily, at
> least without causing major problems, even up steep (9%) grades. We also
> had an Audi 100 that towed a lesser amount (I want to say around 2000-2500
> lbs) without drama.
>
> Of course, were you here in the States, I'd encourage you to buy one of my
> employer's Dodge Ram Cummins TurboDiesels, which wouldn't even notice a
> little open trailer/Elise combo behind it at all... even though the new GM
> Duramax turbodiesel/Allison automatic is probably the best thing on the
> market right now for Tow Beast duties in a pickup truck. I'm working on
> the next Ram heavy-duty right now, so I get to drive all the new stuff out
> there. :)
>
> Jim Crider
> autojim@att.net
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