Kip Kuiken Caravan: The Little Trailer That Wrote History With Its Innovative Design

We're spoiled for choices these days as regards towables. As long as there's a budget for it, there's also a variety of products to choose from, from lightweight and compact to oversize and tech-packed trailers that rival brick-and-mortar apartments with outstanding autonomy and off-grid capabilities. But things were different back in the late '40s when one Jan Kip began to consider the possibility of some kind of mobile home where he and his lady love could meet up. You can't say that love doesn't make the world go round!

Jan Kip was a coachbuilder from Hoogeveen, the Netherlands, romancing a young lady from across the country when the idea for a shelter on wheels came about. Urban legend has it that this love affair inspired the logo of the Kip Karavan company, which put out the first production version of the model Jan built for his own use in 1947.

During the first years of production, Kip did all the work himself, working with a small roster of clients who wanted a compact but practical family vacation vehicle. In 1954, Kip Caravan became a legitimate manufacturer, with the introduction of the Kip Kuiken, which translates to "Chicken Chick" and was directly inspired by the trailer Kip had built for himself years prior.

The company's original logo featured a rose, a chick, and a wheel, and the “Chicks" soon became so popular that they crossed the boundaries of their native country, becoming a fixture on the European caravaning scene. It was for good reason, too: the Kuiken caravans offered a design and features that made them revolutionary at the time, from the tailgate that opened up altogether, to the fact that it could provide sleeping and accommodation for as many as three people.

The Kip Kuiken was under 300 kg (661 lbs), so very lightweight, which means it could be towed with the daily without an issue and, most importantly, without the need to upgrade the vehicle. These days, the Kuiken model is often mistaken for the Krielkip, which offered a similar interior layout but a pop-up roof expansion instead of an opening tailgate. The Krielkip could have hard or canvas walls in the expansion, and the latter version could open up halfway to the elements.

The Kuiken was very compact, sitting on a single-axle trailer and measuring just 2.4 meters (7.8 feet) in total length. When it was first introduced, it retailed for ANG 2,800, which would be about US$1,550 at today's exchange rate, and a little over $17,300 adjusted for inflation.

It was the very definition of basic by today's standards but quite luxurious for the time, offering a galley in the tailgate, and a dining area inside, which became a bedroom for three at night, by lowering the table and connecting the two benches. The kitchen included a two-burner gas stove on one side, with a small sink (a basin, better said), two canisters for water, and some storage.

The same layout was preserved in the Krielkip model, with the difference that the galley no longer sat half-outside but fully inside, past the access door. In that sense, the Kuiken model was a bit more practical, if only for keeping out the odors from whatever light cooking was happening, and clearly more compact.

In the following years, Kip Caravan would add all types of upgrades to the "Chick," and eventually introduce variations to the Kuiken and its direct successor, the Krielkip, including larger towables with awnings that converted into generous basecamps and a host of other appliances.

And that's precisely what makes the Kip Kuiken such a standout: the fact that it represented the near-perfect formula for a lightweight and very comfortable, family-sized towable with an accessible price point and the basics to make do for a week-long getaway. The Kip Kuiken was the first step in the right direction for his Dutch builder, so the '60s were the peak of business, with over 10,000 units of all models leaving the Kip Caravan factory every year.

In recent years, Kip Caravan has had its fair share of ups and downs, something we can all relate to even though we're not even in this very competitive segment of the market. But they're still making towables of varying sizes and specifications, including the Panorama Shelter experiment we covered in a previous story. At the root of this incredible story that spans several decades is the little chick that could: the Kip Kuiken and its very innovative design.