Check this out...

 

Or to push one!

 

Makes it easier to get into a parking spot that way.

 

It goes even further back then a VW:

 

I worked at a camper dealer in the mid to late 70's and about a third of the campers we sold were towed by big full sized cars and never even gave it a thought. I do remember one special order 76 Torino, was a black four door with towing package and a 460 that was a nice car. Wasn't until the down sizing came along with 302's and overdrives that everyone switched to pickups.

 

Yep when I was a kid mom & dad used a 68 Ford LTD wagon with 428 to pull a 68 Hi Lo travel trailer.
Dave ----

 

In the 90's I pulled a 20' Pontoon with a 83 Olds 98, poor thing blew its engine and transmission.


In college my friends and I used a 72 Monte Carlo with a 403 to pull a small U-Haul camper from NC to Key West, car did great, man I miss that thing.

 

I used to stuff a 94' kx125 dirtbike halfway into the hatch of my 85' Toyota corolla, while pulling my friends trailer, with another 125 on it. We would rest the trailer tongue over the exposed trunk latch, and secure it with anything we had. mostly duct tape and bungee cords. lol. I vaguely rem the trans feeling different after a few trips, but ultimately it didn't break.

 

Folks used to slow down going up hills when towing too. Those were the days.

 

An Ecoboost powered Taurus or Flex won't slow down towing uphill any more than an Ecoboost powered F-150 will.

Can-Am RV Centre, an Airstream dealer in Ontario, makes a very good case for pulling trailers with cars. One thing is for sure, modern sedans are not lacking power.

http://www.canamrv.ca/towing-expertise/

 

1953



For those of you who haven't seen it, The Long, Long Trailer with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. I think the whole movie is on youtube.

 

Great movie, directed by Vincente Minelli. You can see the use of a Slimp wheel to take load off the car.

 

Wow. You gotta wonder about tongue weight on that roof