Hi everybody! This is Marco from Italy, livin in Spain.
I need help to find the documents or specification of my old roulotte Alpine CI Sprite... Maybe some PDF... I think it's a model from the 80's ...maybe 78...
Unfortunately the company has long been out of business. They were made in a place called Newmarket but I think they morphed into Sterling and then Swift. There is a guy called Cameron Burns who runs a blog called Not Another White Box dealing with older caravans. You could search for him and perhaps he could help? Alternatively search for a Sprite owners group or maybe even a Facebook Group. These caravans were made long before it was a requirement for a Certificate of Conformity which is the usual pan European document if you are trying to register it in your own country.
Unfortunately documents for anything before the introduction of the WWW in 1989, and really before it became widespread and better established in the mid 1990's are hard to find, as at the time no one circulated documents over the internet as they do now, and they just don't exist in 'electronic' form! Specialist historic interest groups/individuals are your best hope (as suggested in the previous post), they may have scanned and digitised old printed documents.
Caravans International better know as Ci was originally a British company. The business was founded in 1963. Sadly after many successful years developing and selling caravans, it went into liquidation in 1982. Today, the brand (name) has been brought by the Trigano Group and I believe operates out of Italy, that doesn't help you at all, in fact it confuses matters as Google searches are overwhelmed with modern irrelevant to you Ci info!
Swift caravan group also use the 'Alpine' model name on their modern Sprite brand vans, so that too dominates Google searches!
In the UK, caravans do not, nor ever have been, have to be registered/certified in their own right as a vehicle (Chassis/VIN numbers aside), as is the case in much of Europe, they take on the vehicle registration number of the tow vehicle (changing as different tow vehicles are used!), so the 'official' documentation required to register in Europe won't exist for obsolete products. User manuals and sales brochures (specifications) will have been produced, and that is pretty much all you can hope for.
Well done for saving an 'oldie', always good to keep the old caravans alive, and nice to see them being loved and used.
We had a new one in 1973 and there was very little literature with it. All it had basically was a Electrolux fridge, Foot pump for water, Gas Hob and Gas Mantle lights. Anything else is what was added by owner.Gas bottles mounted on the front A frame.
You might try looking for documents on forums or websites dedicated to vintage caravans. There are often people sharing PDFs or manuals for older models like yours. You could also check sites like eBay or specialized online shops that sell old caravan parts—sometimes they have manuals for sale or in their listings.
Quote: Originally posted by Monty15 on 25/1/2025
Unfortunately documents for anything before the introduction of the WWW in 1989, and really before it became widespread and better established in the mid 1990's are hard to find, as at the time no one circulated documents over the internet as they do now, and they just don't exist in 'electronic' form! Specialist historic interest groups/individuals are your best hope (as suggested in the previous post), they may have scanned and digitised old printed documents.
Caravans International better know as Ci was originally a British company. The business was founded in 1963. Sadly after many successful years developing and selling caravans, it went into liquidation in 1982. Today, the brand (name) has been brought by the Trigano Group and I believe operates out of Italy, that doesn't help you at all, in fact it confuses matters as Google searches are overwhelmed with modern irrelevant to you Ci info!
Swift caravan group also use the 'Alpine' model name on their modern Sprite brand vans, so that too dominates Google searches!
In the UK, caravans do not, nor ever have been, have to be registered/certified in their own right as a vehicle (Chassis/VIN numbers aside), as is the case in much of Europe, they take on the vehicle registration number of the tow vehicle (changing as different tow vehicles are used!), so the 'official' documentation required to register in Europe won't exist for obsolete products. User manuals and sales brochures (specifications) will have been produced, and that is pretty much all you can hope for.
Well done for saving an 'oldie', always good to keep the old caravans alive, and nice to see them being loved and used.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Alpine CI Sprite
via mobile 24/1/2025 at 7:15pm
