Being spotted towing a caravan has always been about as cool as bumping into your ex-girlfriend while sporting your grandad’s carpet slippers. The fact that the most famous celebrity ambassador for the British caravanning holiday is Margaret Beckett tells you all you need to know about the caravan’s style status.

American Airstream caravans have always been different. Celebrity owners have included Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn and Matthew McConaughey. And these sleek, aluminum supermodels of the ’vanning’ world conjure up images of wide open American highways and the spirit of adventure, rather than a bank-holiday trundle down the M4 to a caravan park outside Weston-super-Mare.

Now the Airstream has come to Britain, and to drive home its cool credentials it’s been given a makeover. Shown for the first time at the International Caravan & Motorhome Show in Birmingham, the Ecostream, though just a demonstration model so far, may prove a hit with environmentally conscious politicians keen to demonstrate solidarity with their cash-strapped constituents by opting for a British camping holiday rather than a fortnight in Tuscany.

Until now, a caravan’s green credentials have been limited to the grass it’s parked on. The Ecostream is packed with planet-saving gizmos and recycled materials, from solar panels to a wood-burning stove. The custom-built display model also features an entertainment system salvaged from a Mini and a shower unit crafted out of a Harley-Davidson motorbike’s fuel tank.

The timing couldn’t be better for the Ecostream, arriving as it has in the middle of an economic squeeze and with almost two-thirds of Britons saying they are planning to switch to cheaper UK holidays during the next 12 months, according to a recent survey. It was unveiled in the National Exhibition Centre last month, by — of all people — Patrick Duffy, better known as Bobby Ewing in Dallas, the glamorous, money-loving 1980’s soap, who is a recent convert to caravanning.

However, it is the brainchild of Steve Berry, former Top Gear presenter and radio DJ, who pitched the idea to the Caravan Club. He had seen an exhibit called “caravan of the future” at a motor show and decided he could do better. “I thought it was a bit Flash Gordon,” says Berry, “but, as I understand it, we might well be living less sophisticated lives in the future, because we’ll have fewer resources.”

Berry started work on his own 1967 Airstream, but when Bob Wheeler, the chief executive of Airstream, got wind of his plans, the company donated a new 22ft, four-berth Airstream for him to overhaul. The Ecostream retains the original brushed aluminum shell, except that the shiny, dome-shaped roof is lined with four square metres of solar panels, removing the need to hook up to a mains supply. The panels produce the electricity needed by the master control unit, which in turn powers the low-energy LED lighting and water pump.

Above the seating area an original Mini dashboard has been fitted to the ceiling. This is eco-ICE — “in-caravan entertainment” — and runs off a Samsung Omnia mobile phone that sends sound to the speakers via Bluetooth.

Many features have been salvaged from reclamation yards. The wood-burning stove, which provides heat, hot water and cooking facilities, was reclaimed from a narrow boat. The flue running up the inside of the van adds a surprisingly homely feel.

The shower unit uses water that has been heated by the stove and stored in that Harley tank. The “compacting toilet”, originally developed for offshore powerboats, separates solids from liquids then compacts it all into natural compost. 

The floor has been laid with bamboo, chosen for its durability and the fact that the plant takes three to five years to mature (as opposed to 15-20 years for most other types of wood). Soft furnishings are made from hemp; chair backs and cushions are stuffed with straw or animal hair. The swivel-top table is made from plastic sheeting manufactured by Greenpac UK from old shampoo bottles, mobile phone covers and yoghurt pots.

“Wally Byam, who founded Airstream, thought caravanning should be about adventure, not parking up your tin box and watching EastEnders,” says Berry. “The Ecostream gets you back to that spirit. You can take it to the remotest places and be self-sufficient.” To prove his point, Berry plans to recreate one of Byam’s famous caravan journeys, taking his Ecostream on the road from Cape Town to Cairo.

“This kind of experiment can show us a way towards caravans that tread more lightly on the planet,” says Wheeler, who hopes to use some of the Ecostream’s innovations on future models.

It may seem an insignificant response to the potential destruction of Earth as we know it, but, as any seasoned caravanner knows, good things can come in small packages. Or to quote Duffy: “If you can make even just one small change to the way you live your life . . . you can always do something . . . and that’s really the message we’re trying to give people.

“The Ecostream is a remarkable feat of construction. I’d take it as carry-on luggage if I thought I could get it back home with me.”

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