C H Gray (Cavan, SA)

Hi all,

This thread was started in 2009 and quickly petered out because we couldn't find any info on C H Gray and his caravans.

Following a recent email I received seeking information about C H Gray, I revisited the topic and found the following comment in Trevor Gill's book, Still Swinging the Billy, which was published earlier this year:

"The name Norm Harris became synonymous with caravan hire, but when a man called Colin Gray offered to build Norm his own brand, he could not resist the move. Harris Caravans Pty Ltd was based at Regency Road, Sefton park with its aluminium clad Harris Vans becoming a popular choice" (p 67).

The previous paragraph indicates that this occurred sometime after Norm Harris' marriage in 1955.

I think there is a good possibility that the 'Colin Gray' referred to by Trevor Gill was C H Gray. If so, we now know that Gray produced vans for Harris (as did Schrader), but we don't know whether he also produced and sold vans under his own name or for another caravan brand as well.

If anyone has pics of a C H Gray van, it would be great to see them. They might provide valuable clues about Gray's activities.

Don Ricardo

Evening all,

Yesterday I posted some photos of a C H Gray built van, and voila - today Mark T emailed me some photos he received of another C H Gray van from a correspondent earlier in the day. Perhaps it was by chance, or perhaps Mark's correspondent saw the post yesterday and was prompted to write to Mark, I don't know. However, it is fascinating to see some pics of the van:











This van looks a little less like a Schrader built Harris van in shape, than Chris' van in the post immediately above. This van also has painted cupboard doors rather than the varnished doors in Chris' van. The varnished doors were commonly used in earlier Harris vans. So maybe Chris' van was built for Harris, and this van wasn't?

So, some more information on C H Gray's caravan building activities, but still a lot of questions to be answered!

Don Ricardo

Hi all,

At the Maldon Vintage Caravan Weekend in February 2016, one of the caravans attending (with its owners!) was the following caravan which is registered with Vicroads as a 'Gray':





I didn't have a chance to chat to the owners of the van about its history or the basis for its registration as a 'Gray', but Jp63 - who has recently rebuilt a Harris Van built by C H Gray - has suggested that the van has a number of the hallmarks of a C H Gray caravan.  These include the overall shape of the van, the step and the wheel arch. I would add to that the floorline which is very typical of a Gray van. For this reason I have posted the photos on this C H Gray thread.

The profile of the cladding and the front window are different to the usual C H Gray van, but then we don't know how long Gray built vans and/or how he might have modified his design over time.  The cladding is typical of a lot of vans built in the mid to late 60's, so not much later than we know Gray was active in South Australia, and the cladding has very possibly been painted at some stage.

If anybody is in contact with the owners and can find out a bit about the history of the van, and whether or not it has a C H Gray nameplate on it somewhere, or anybody who has some internal photos, we would love to hear about it.  And if there is anybody else who can throw some light on the origins of the van, we would also love to hear from them.

In the meantime Jp63, seeing the photo of the rear of the van, what do you think?

Don Ricardo

Hi Jp63,

Thanks for your comments on the van at Maldon. As you say about the differences we've noted between this van and those - or perhaps I'll stick my kneck out and say others - built by C H Gray, "Who knows?". But hopefully as we collate more information about Gray's caravans here, we will gradually be able to put a picture together on his activities.

It was interesting to read your observations about the back window in the Maldon van, and perhaps as you've suggested the various things we've noted about the van have been later updates. However, I'm inclined to think that they may reflect that this van is a later model caravan than yours or others on this thread.

I was also really intrigued to read about the Gray van you heard about at Nuriootpa, and the fact that it has a 'Grayline' sticker on it. Presuming that there's no sign of any 'Harris Van' markings on it, that would seem to indicate that in addition to building vans for Harris, Gray probably also sold vans under his own Grayline brand. Very interesting to hear. Hopefully we might see some photos of the van and the sticker at some point, particularly given that it sounds as if the Grayline livery may have been different to that on the Harris Vans.  In the meantime, I'll add a reference to Grayline to the DHL index.

Don Ricardo

Oh I'm so happy to your little van on here (and on FB too) Do you have any photos of the inside? I would love to see them if you do! Also Good luck with the renovation and please keep us all posted on your progress.