Fairland Caravans (Cabramatta & Sylvania, NSW)

[Don Ricardo]

FAIRLAND CARAVANS

Produced/sold(?) by Fairland Caravans & Trailers
175 Hume Highway, Cabramatta, NSW
and later at Cnr Box Road and Princes Highway, Sylvania, NSW

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Photos of Chippydave01's Fairland Parisienne Deluxe 18 foot tandem caravan posted on 17 June 2006, 1 October 2007, 29 September 2008:























Note that the Fairland sticker on the back of the van says 'distributed by', not 'produced by'.

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On 29 September 2008, Chippydave01 commented regarding his Fairland caravan:

Hi Guys,Originally my Fairland from the mid 60s had Franklin stamped on the hitch.After owning 2 other Franklins I noticed the chassis was exactly the same.My Fairland appears to be a rebadged Sydney Franklin.Check out the same front end as the one Franklin1 posted yesterday ,Franklin 1960s ,same cupboard colours gold handles smilar overhead cupboards cushions table,as I always suspected my Fairlands a Franklin.

For link to the Franklin Chippydave01 referred to in his comment click here

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Later that same day, Franklin1 provided the following information about Fairland caravans:

Fairland caravan info from the Sydney Morning Herald archives...

First mention appears Saturday, 2 July 1966, with an advertisement showing "Fairland Caravans and Trailers, 175 Hume Highway, Cabramatta." [NSW]

Saturday, 16 July 1966: an advertisement "FAIRLAND CARAVANS. It pays to call at the right place for the most modern Vans AT THE MOST SENSIBLE PRICE. 175 Hume Hwy, Cabramatta. 72-7047"

Saturday, 15 April 1967: an advertisement "YOUR TIME IS MONEY SAVED. MAKE IT A MUST. CALL AT FAIRLAND CARAVANS. FAIRLAND sets the trend for 1967 with a new release of 4, 5, and 6-berth Picadilly and California de-luxe models. The latest interior panel finish, also terylene curtains and holland blinds..."

Saturday, 26 July 1969: an advertisement "FAIRLAND CARAVANS. OPENING SALE. [lots of other text that is too small to read] FAIRLAND CARAVANS, Cnr Box Road and Princes Highway, SYLVANIA."

So, chippydave, if the last advert above is for the opening of the yard at Sylvania, then your van would have been sold after July 1969. Does that match with the age you thought your van was??

cheers,
Al.

[Don Ricardo]

Photos of a Fairland Picadilly caravan advertised on Ebay in April 2014.
The Picadilly model is referred to in the Sydney Morning Herald advertisement of 15 April 1967 quoted by Franklin1 above.



Note the model name 'Picadilly' adjacent to the bottom left hand corner of the front side window of the van, signwritten in the same place and style as the 'Parisienne Deluxe' model name on Chippydave01's Fairland caravan in the first post on this thread.















Based on Chippydave01's comments above, the indications are that Fairland may have put their brandname on caravans supplied by other manufacturers. The style of the front of the Picadilly is very reminiscent of the Sapphire caravan, also available in 1967. However the shape of the side windows and the style of the rear of the Picadilly and Sapphire vans are quite different. At this point we don't know who produced Sapphires, but perhaps there was a manufacturer who supplied both Fairland and Sapphire?

And is that a single support Franklin style shelf I can see above the sink? Wonder if that tells us anything about the origins of the van? What do you think Franklin1?

Don Ricardo

[Franklin1]

Thanks for kicking off this thread, DonR. I was supposed to start this one about four years ago, but I never quite got around to it.

chippydave's Fairland shown in the first post is very similar to the Franklin Safari models that were built around the mid-1960s, but the intriguing thing is that there is no signature Franklin shelf above the sink.

On the other hand, the Sapphire-type Fairland only has a rear half that looks similar to a Franklin Safari and yet it carries the signature Franklin shelf. All a bit mysterious, eh what?!


General Overview of Fairland history...

I get the impression from the archives that Fairland was another one of those brands that started life as a trailer manufacturer, before progressing to caravans. The first mention of the name pops up in 1966, and then fizzles out around 1970, so it appears to be a short-lived brand name. Even within that short lifetime, they appear to have been making caravans for only a couple of years, before succumbing to the big players (Viscount, Millard, et al), and reinventing themselves as a Franklin dealership.

1966: In July 1966, this advert shows the trailer heritage...




Google street view now shows the address of 175 Hume Highway, Cabramatta, to be a light industrial area, and somewhat updated from what it was back then...




We can see in this advert from July 1966 the mention of the Californian and Parisienne models, ranging from 10ft 6 to 30ft...




1967: In March 1967, Fairland were claiming to now be "Specialists in on site and custom built mobile homes. Any size.", but were also continuing to sell the smaller sized vans...




In April 1967, Fairland were advertising a new range of Piccadilly and California de-luxe models...




In July 1967, we see an advert for a second-hand 13ft Fairland van...




1968: In March 1968, we see that Fairland has become an authorised distributor of Franklin Caravans, and a new address of Cnr. Box Rd. and Princes Highway, Sylvania, is showing...



Google Streetview shows that address to now be a block of units...




In February 1968, there is a second-hand Fairland for sale...



...in May 1968, a second-hand Fairland California aluminium van is for sale...



...and in August 1968, a second-hand Fairland 15-footer...




In December 1968, Fairland are focussing on the Franklin range of caravans, with the white acrylic cladding that Franklin started using in 1967...




1969: It's rather weird that 15 months or so after moving to the new address in Sylvania, Fairland decide it's time they had an "opening sale". No point in rushing things, is there?!...




The only other mention of Fairland in 1969 is this advert for a second-hand 21-footer alum van in March...




1970: Well, the bubble has burst, and Fairland seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth. The last mention of them is this advert for a second-hand 19ft tandem van...




Like a good firecracker, there was a 'boom'...then a shower of sparks and colour...and then darkness...

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DonR, I keep plugging the need for people to capture chassis numbers whenever they can, because I believe they are really helpful in putting together patterns in history. It would have been good to get the chassis number off chippydave's van when he had it, and off the Sapphire-type vans as well. There's something about those Sapphire/Fairland vans that makes me wonder whether Franklin were experimenting with some "outlandish" designs in the mid-1960s, but didn't want to put the Franklin name to them. Maybe there was a hot-shot thinker in the Franklin factory that was looking for an edge in the market - something along the lines of the Franklin fibreglass vans from the mid-1960s, as well as the Sapphire shape alum vans. But when Franklin built their spanking new factory at Wendourie in 1967, all that innovative thinking would have been shoved back in the box, and only mass-produced sausages-sausages-sausages came out of the despatch doors.

cheers,
Al.

[Don Ricardo]

Apr 14, 2014 9:31:25 GMT 10 Franklin1 said:

Thanks for kicking off this thread, DonR. I was supposed to start this one about four years ago, but I never quite got around to it.

Hi Franklin1,

I was surprised myself when I started searching the DHL Index for 'Fairland' after finding the photos of the Picadilly on Ebay, and couldn't find an entry for that brand name. We obviously both failed in our responsibilities...

Anyway, that's great information you've posted about the Fairland company and their vans. Thanks for contributing that. As you say, it seems to have been a light that burned brightly and burned out fast. They certainly chose quite exotic names for their vans - Parisienne...California...Picadilly... Obviously either the Pontiac or the Ferrari of caravans!

I take your point about collecting the serial numbers on vans. It does help sort out the wheat from the chaff, or at least the Franklins from the Viscounts. From the points you've made, though, I agree that the evidence does seem to point towards a link between Fairland and Franklin. Time will hopefully tell.

When I was reading the thread on Chippydave's Fairland, I was struck how much we've learnt about various caravan brands since that thread was started in 2006. One of our esteemed members wondered out loud whether Fairland, Fairway and the UK Fairholme were all built by the same firm because they included 'Fair' in their names. A not unreasonable question at the time, but we now know something about the origins of all of them and so many other brands.

Don Ricardo

[and77]

Hi Don,

Greats posts!

I'm not sure if this is the same caravan as shown in the opening posts,it seems to have the same shape but the sale advert said it was a Franklin 1965 18ft.
I purchased this caravan last year just because I loved the shape of it, but haven't been able to find any original advertising (Pics). In all your research have you come across manufacturing quantities,
as I'm about to start restoring this young lady.

[chippydave01]

Wow .Strange to see this post this morning after photobucket came on line again.
I always thought my van was a 1966 Cabramatta van.It was purchased from the Sylvania location second hand in 1969 by a couple from Caringbah where it lived for 37 years.
I have only ever seen 3 Fairlands including my old one since 2006. I remembered it weighed 1100kgs on the weigh bridge. Dave

[Don Ricardo]

May 28, 2018 15:04:42 GMT 10 and77 said:

Hi Don,

Greats posts!

I'm not sure if this is the same caravan as shown in the opening posts,it seems to have the same shape but the sale advert said it was a Franklin 1965 18ft.
I purchased this caravan last year just because I loved the shape of it, but haven't been able to find any original advertising (Pics). In all your research have you come across manufacturing quantities,
as I'm about to start restoring this young lady.

Hi And77,

I've just come across your post after being away for a few weeks, so apologies for not responding earlier, but thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you found the posts interesting.

If it's the Parisienne model your referring to in your comment (you mentioned it being 18 ft), then you are correct. Fairland seem to have sourced that model from Franklin.

I'm not sure if we have any photos of that particular model, but have a look at the Franklin thread in the 'Down History Lane' section (via the Index at the top of the section) and you may find a similar model which may assist you.

Don Ricardo

[and77]

Hi Don,

Sorry, it has been almost 2 years since I jumped on the thread. I took your advise and looked through the 'Down history lane' section and it looks as though 60's might be as close as I can get.
Looking through the posts the only similarities are wheel spats and the shapes, the external metal pressing is a bit different. The Parisienne has exactly the same shape and external material the difference window orientation.
Is there a particular area of the van that I should be looking at to find a model number? as the is nothing on the drawbar. I'll try and post some pics.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi And77,

Good to hear from you again, and also to know that you still have your van.

It would be great to see some photos. We’ve accumulated more info since you first posted, so we might have a better chance of identifying your van. There are instructions on how to post photos in the ‘Forum Guidelines & Helpful Hints’ section of the forum. If you have any trouble, you’re welcome to email your photos to me and I’ll post them for you. My email is [e-mail]

You asked about places to look for model identification, etc. The most likely place for some info is a serial number welded on the drawbar of the caravan. Is there anything there? A small number of manufacturers also sometimes pencilled serial numbers or dates under the table, or inside cupboards, etc. If you’re lucky you may find something there.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing some pics of your van.  

Don Ricardo

[and77]

Hi Don,

Hope these photo work.
This is the young lady in question.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi And77,

Great to see your van.  Well do on posting the photos.

Looks to me like your Fairland was built by Franklin. It looks identical in design to a Franklin Safari.

Based on the facts that (a) the cladding on the side has the multi-strand profile all the way up (as opposed to having a panel of plain profile, painted cladding for part of the way above the mid-line), (b) the cladding doesn’t have the white acrylic coating, and (c) the shape of the painted flashes on the side, I’m going to guess that the van was built in 1966. That fits with the dates we know that Fairland was selling self-branded caravans.

Maybe Hughdeany can tell us if he agrees with the above?

Don Ricardo

[and77]

Hi Don,

Thank you for you insight.
After stumbling on this thread I thought that van looked very similar.
So I'm currently restoring this van, will I have an issues registering it without an id number or plate?

Also I would be very interested to find out how may of these were actually sold, and if this is a rare van.