the silver 02 pulling the teardrop trailer seen above is owned by my mother.
it can be seen here
http://www.schusterphoto.com/gin's%2002.htm
I rebuilt the teardrop and I bet it weighs less than 500 lb
I have a 73 2002tii that I also use to pull a teardrop I built from the ground up and you can't even tell it is back there. but, I do feel the eight of the hitch has dampened the handling of the car. that might just be my brain playing a trick on me.
btw, mom's rebuilt 1950's teardrop is still in the bay area and I think she is considering to sell it.
paul AT austinmodhouse dot com
paul schuster