An interesting new trailer, the Alto by Safari Condo

[B_and_D]

http://www.safaricondo.com/alto/caracteng.php

http://www.safaricondo.com/alto/1713/indexeng.php

It offers a king-sized bed and a black water tank too. To me the real drawback is the bathroom, the solid walls are too short and it's a wet bath. If you order the optional bunk it can sleep 4 in 3 separate beds. It is very lightweight, 1635 lbs., and 17 1/4 feet long overall closed.

They appear to sell for between $22K and $25K (not sure if that's Canadian or American $$).

[Bill]

Some interesting concepts there. I especially like the Features List, in which they list the dry weight of the unit, and then list the weight of each option. I think it would be great if every US manufacturer, including TM, would do that. They really have nothing to lose by informing the customer.

And it certainly is lighter than a TM (since it is quite a bit smaller). A trailer that starts at 1700 pounds, and then loads up with 500 pounds of options and the owner's "stuff", would finally make sense behind a 3500-pound-rated vehicle. I wonder how many people will do that, and then hook it up behind a 2000-pound-rated vehicle?

Bill

[OneMoBear]

Well, the yellow one would certainly be easy to spot in a campground :p
Malinda

[bfezel]

We were on a Spring trip up the east coast in 2008 and met the owner of the company in a campground near St. Augustine. He was taking one of these on a trip to gauge interest and invited us in to look at it. It was very, very well constructed and equipped. However, it was a little too small for my taste. If fuel prices go crazy again it could be the future for many folks.

[mtnguy]

Interesting. A concern of mine would be that the plexiglass top fits on the inside of the bottom part, instead of over lapping like the TMs do. Wonder how well that seals to keep the rain out.

[B_and_D]

It certainly is a "roomy" alternative and very lightweight, but not nearly as big as the TM's such as our 2720. Sometimes I sit in one of the beds and look way back at the other end of the trailer and marvel about how much space there is inside our TM, compared to how small it is when we tow it.

I hadn't thought about the seals keeping the weather out. It would be interesting to see one in person to see how they deal with this issue, I can't tell from the pictures. Perhaps there is a gutter or channel along the outside bottom of the windows that drains the rain out the front and the back, along with an inward, down-facing seal on the outside edge. That might work.

It would have been so interesting to meet the inventor and get a tour! For the past month or so there has been a bright yellow T@b parked down the street from our office (they move it around), and boy is it bright! Doesn't exactly blend it, but it gets a lot of attention.

I don't know what kind of a car that sedan is in the brochure they show towing it, but it doesn't look much bigger than our Honda Accord. Even if it had a 6 cyl., I'd be leery of towing anything with it. Maybe the Ford Taurus would work, it's a lot heavier.

[Redhawk]

That's a Pontiac Solstice....a sports car. Not a great tow car I would think. I guess it's just to prove a point.