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Michael Browning21 Sept 2016
NEWS

Tvan gives rivals the bird

Track Trailer revives original Firetail name for value-packed, limited-edition Tvan anniversary model
Melbourne’s Track Trailer is celebrating the 18th birthday of its

standard-setting, compact hardtop camper with a special limited-build Anniversary edition.

It’s called the Firetail as a homage to the original name given to the Tvan’s novel clam-shell camper when it was introduced in 1999, although the mould-breaking camper’s design actually dates back to December 1998, hence this year’s ‘18th’ celebrations.
As fully-fledged ornithologists will know, the Firetail is commonly known as the Diamond Sparrow in Australia and one of the largest and most beautiful members of the Finch family.
Basically it’s a tarted up Tanami model, with a full front boot including left-hand fridge slide, Premium kitchen and its customer colour of Surf Mist bodywork with contrasting Jet Black highlights and distinctive Firetail decals included in its RRP of $57,900.
According to Track Trailer, this represents a $3250 saving over a standard Tvan Tanami fitted with similar options and places it $600 beneath the Canning, which is the second-best equipped model in the now-expanded five-model Tvan range.
The original Tvan was first revealed in public as a prototype in December 1999 and went onto win the Caravan Industry Association’s Camper of the Millennium award in 2000.
The original intention was to name this new camper trailer the Firetail and the bright orange/red highlight on the hatch was designed to reflect the tail of the Australian finch it was named after.
However, as the development approached production, it was decided to adopt the shorthand name used on the development project file ‘Tvan’ and the rest is history.
It has since provided the inspiration to many other manufacturers, with notable rivals including the

Vista RV and most recently,

Pioneer’s Mitchell.

The latest crop of ‘micro-hybrid’ pop-top campers, such as the

AOR Odyssey Series II and

Rhinomax’s Scorpion can also trace their genesis back to the Tvan.

 
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Written byMichael Browning
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