Friday, July 10, 2009

Who doesn’t want a safari condo??

By now you know about my love for all things mini, especially mini houses and campers, so I had to show you the cool Alto 1713 from Safari Condo (don’t you just adore that name?) that I just discovered. It’s bigger than the SylvanSport (which you can read about here) but still under 2,000 pounds so it’s towable by a normal car. My car. The Alto has a king sized bed plus an additional twin bed, a small but efficient kitchen, and a private toilet.  Aside from its cool retractable roof, there are some optional features that turn this bad boy into the ultimate, well, safari condo. We can add the additional pullman bed for Sam, the extra screened room, and the of course bike rack. With the 2 optional solar panels we’d be styling.  At around $20K, this is a great option to have if we ever decide to downsize. We could live in it – could you?

alto

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10 comments:

  1. WOW , my bf is really into this...we've thought about getting something like this in the past...this one is super nice.

    Jen Ramos
    'Cards & Prints You'll Love...'
    www.madebygirl.com
    madebygirl.blogspot.com

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  2. Is this available in the U.S.?

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  3. Jen - glad you liked it! Love your work, linked to your site. :)

    Anon - seems this is only being sold in Canada right now, but if you get in touch with them I'm pretty sure they could work something out.

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  4. NOT available in US, sadly. They are in their nascent stages and have insurance issues with selling in USA. BUMMER.....

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  5. I don't understand how their corporate brochure actually shows a Pontiac Vibe (our car) towing the trailer but the Vibe's towing capacity is only 1,500 lbs. I wonder if the Vibe has a higher towing capacity in Canada. (I've heard they can vary by country.) Most passenger cars in the U.S. are limited to towing 1,500 lbs and under.

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    1. Weight is only one factor, principally at startup when the tow vehicle is moving dead weight from a standstill. At speed, a much greater factor is wind resistance that your typical box shaped camper imposes on the tow vehicle. The Alto has a streamlined profile that hides in the slipstream shadow of the tow vehicle that reduces drag. In addition, the trailer weight on the the hitch if too heavy can destabilize the tracking of the tow vehicle, especially in side winds. Again, the low profile of the Alto minimizes this force.

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  6. Often cars sold here have lower tow limits then the same car (same engine/transmission) sold in other countries. I believe this has more to do with liability concerns then vehicle capability. My Suzuki SX4 (2.0 liter 4 cylinder) apparently can not tow anything in the US, but in Europe, (same car, same engine) can tow about 2,000 lbs. Thank all the ambulance chasing lawyers in the US.

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  7. I noticed you had this priced about 20K or so, however I've only been able to sign it at CANAM RV in London Ontario listed at 30K. Do you know where else it might be available?

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  8. Maybe the conversion of 30k(Canada) is close to $20k American??

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  9. What what is the pricing on these pull behind trailers and can you pull it behind a 02 Wrangler Jeep

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