Eriba Puck

History of Eriba Caravans

Erwin Hymer and Erich Bachem were a great team. Erwin learnt his craft in his father’s repair shop in Bad Waldsee, Germany, and Erich was an aeronautical engineer. In 1957, they joined forces to design and build their first caravan and form their distribution company Hymer AG. The following year they began production of the Eriba-Touring range which included the Eriba Puck. It was an aerodynamic, lightweight and compact, yet strong caravan that could be towed by small cars, such as the Goggomobil and the VW Beetle.

The Puck is the model that most people associate with Eriba, and is the most compact and space efficient of the Touring range. It was in this caravan that German holiday makers first began to travel around Germany and cross borders to their south. A 2-person caravan, the Eriba Puck may be small on the outside, but is surprisingly spacious and well-designed on the inside. Over the years, there have been many different models, but they all contain a bed, cupboards, stove and sink. Some Pucks even have a fridge and/or heating.

The Eriba Touring models started a new era in caravans and soon gained cult status, forming the base of what would become one of the most popular and successful brands for caravan enthusiasts all over the world. The Tourings are recognisable in that they all follow the same design philosophy with a tubular, load bearing steel frame and a glass reinforced polyester resin roof and pop-top. The steel frame, although more expensive than the wood framing used by other manufacturers, means that the Eriba caravan doesn’t creak or leak, and looks like new for years and years.