Sam Alper - Sprite

Sprite

On the cessation of hostilities, Alper went to work for his brother Henry in his newly established caravan company, Alperson Products, in Stratford, East London. Henry soon left leaving Sam with a company he turned into the iconic vision of cheap caravanning for the masses. Materials were in short supply in the austerity of post-war Britain and Alper had to make the first caravans out of what he could get. By 1947 he had designed and made his first touring caravan with magnesium wheels and suspension and the brakes from a Spitfire fighter aircraft. The roof was made out of the material from barrage balloons.

Those first caravans were, in Alper's opinion, too expensive and he decided to try to produce a cheaper, lighter version that could be towed by an ordinary family saloon car. Within a year the Sprite was launched. Built from tempered hardboard, it sold for less than £200. One of Alper's relatives suggested the name and it soon caught on as he sold 500 caravans in the first year of production. In 1951 he towed one of his caravans to an international caravan rally in Florence, Italy as a publicity stunt. Driving via Frankfurt, Biarritz and Naples the 4,500 miles (7,200 km) trip won him an award from a French magazine, but more importantly won a reputation for his caravans that soon made the name Sprite almost synonymous with caravans.

The following year he tried something a bit more ambitious, a 10,000 miles (16,000 km) trip round the Mediterranean towing a caravan behind a 3.5 litre SS Jaguar. Roads in Yugoslavia and Greece were found to be impassable so he had to go part of the way by train, and in the Sahara he had to be rescued by local tribesman who dug him out of the sand. A 1956 test carried out at Motor Industry Research Association (MIRA) proving grounds near Nuneaton in Warwickshire, saw 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of testing produce just one broken gas mantle.

The Alperson Sprite proved so popular that production was moved to Newmarket in Suffolk and in 1959 the Sprite Caravan Owners' Club was launched.