"Griffin's Den II" - homebuilt bondwood

Looks a great van, and I can see why you fell in love with it. Enjoy!!!

you can see inside photos in the original ad here:

www.ebay.com.au/itm/CARAVAN-BONDWOOD-1940-ISH-VINTAGE-OLD-UNIQUE-COLLECTABLE-VAN-/321155520217?pt=AU_Caravans_RVs&hash=item4ac65c56d9&clk_rvr_id=510689093935#ht_427wt_1088

conti

Thanks Mark

We are pleased with it and I have a suitable tow car in mind if it's still available. Just keep signing up for more work just as well I'm retired and have plenty of time - not;)

Love your avatar

More photos in time.

George

I’ve had one wheel off now for weeks trying to sort out electric brakes, all to no avail it appears, nothing will fit the old axle so it looks like a new axle and brakes. After taking a few more measurements I decided to put the hub and wheel back on as I needed to move the van forward. The inside of the tyre and rim was pretty dirty with fawn coloured, mud/dust all over it so I decided I’d clean it, I’m told I’m a bit anal with some of that sort of thing Anyway a bit of water and a rub with a sponge was all it took and then I noticed a name in yellow crayon on the tyre. A common enough surname in Australia, of Irish ancestry, so I thought, what are the chances? How many might have called Mathoura home, where the van came from?

So onto the computer and the White Pages, punch in the surname and the town and up come four entries. One was a Mr and Mrs listing so I thought I’ll try it. An older woman answered the phone and I went through the tale of how I came by the van and why I was calling and asked if they had owned such a van. “No, never owned a caravan.” was the reply a bit of a pause then, “but I did live in one for a while when I was first married, 58 years ago, big heavy thing, belonged to my father in law, he used to take it to Bright.” Well I nearly fell off the chair; the only paperwork in the van apart from some newspapers was tourist information sheets from Bright! We chatted for a while and she told me the van was cream with a darker stripe on the side, it had a hand pump and a radio in the cupboard and a spirit stove, a draw in the end of the table, and red/maroon cushions on the seats. Things were sounding promising, but she couldn’t remember the two port holes or much else and said they had never actually used it on a trip, just to live in for six months.

Her husband wasn’t home and felt he would know more about his father’s van and she would get him to call me. She had an email address so I sent off some photos and waited. About 7pm hubby rang and after a bit of chat about his wife thinking I was some kind of strange nuisance caller said, “I looked at the email, that’s definitely dad’s old van!” He was amazed how good it still looked and said his father had bought it second hand in 1952 from the original builder, as best he could remember a fairly fastidious carpenter. He didn't think it was very old or had been used much. His dad built a shed for it and kept it under cover all the while he had it, and after his death it stayed in the shed until his mum sold it to a local businessman in 1996. He didn’t know what became of it then but that chap is still in town so he is going to follow that up. He could tell me the lino is the original from 1952, it originally had an over-ride type brake on it and his dad towed it with a Ford Zephyr. That made me feel better too, I figure if a Zephyr would tow it so would a Velox, bearing in mind back then I think vans were restricted to 45mph. The stripe on the side was originally dark brown, and it did have a water tank originally, so I’ll have to look harder for signs of where it was fitted, but the gas stove has been fitted at a later stage. He wasn’t aware of the drawbar modification.

So for me a very rewarding day in the life of the van, and all from a name on the side of tyre that may have been repaired or renewed and was marked awaiting collection, and probably before 1988 when the owner died. And there may be some old photos of it to follow as well.

This is the lino.

George ;D ;D

G'day George,

Very observant and very persistent and very lucky.... you should have been a detective

Good to have confirmation of its age and who made it aye?
That Lino photo is beautiful it belongs in the appropriate thread in the technical section mind if I put it there

Cobber.