Help Needed..Vintage Caravan Identification??

[gts2dur]

Gday all,

Any help or other contacts are greatly appreciated in trying to identify this old van for make and year model?? please..

 I could not get much info from the previous owners(deceased estate) other than it sat idle for many, many years,(1970's)

and I am quite curious to find out how old it is cause it seems to be an unusual style,

with flat sheet aluminium exterior with a timber frame, 14 foot long x 2m wide,

the wheel rims could be 1940's Ford at a guess??, tyre size is 5.6 x 15",

the number plate seems to have been hand painted on the back of van??

the alloy window frames brand is "Cara-rest",

and it has a "Mawson" brand ice chest?

Thanks for any help and Best Wishes.....

[DC3Td]

Gday GTS.Good looking `van.Some tips re ID - check for welded number on drawbar.Scribbles/writings under/in drawers/cupboards etc.Does it have a power board? If so maybe some clue in there.Some interior pics would be good to see also.Close-up pic of wheels too.
Now for some relevant info:
Cara-Rest were started in 1946 & current ownership of 18 years > Adelaide [phone].
Mawson Fridge:See our Technical Reference Library > Vintage Caravan Ice Boxes (Page 3).
Also in our Vintage Restoration Suppliers header you`ll find a lot of interesting titles to scroll through. gordon

[gts2dur]

Ok, thanks very much Gordon,

love your work...

I will follow up the leads you gave me and look a bit closer at your suggestions...

will post some more pics soon on wheels and fridge etc..

The tow hitch is a "Wesco" brand, and will look for other branded items,

the electrical sockets are "Clipsal" brand, they are brown-maybe bakerlite type?? anyway

I will post whatever else I can find which might help the id process...,

I appreciate your time with this matter...

thanks again and best wishes.

[DC3Td]

Gday GTS.So the wheels look like early Holden - maybe FJ/FX - however there is a difference between them - early `48 to `53 series used 7/8" hex nuts with shallow taper.FJ used 3/4" hex nuts with 45 degree taper.This means you wouldn`t use FJ wheel nuts on a FX rim/vice versa.Although a lot of people did!.
Now your Mawson fridge is a ripper.Worth keeping & restoring.A front on opened pic with the first pic would be great too as you could add it to the Vintage Caravan Ice Boxes page.
When you decide to get stuck into the resto DON`T chuck anything out.Ask the Qs first as a lot of old bits & pieces which may/should need upgrading(Eg:power sockets/switches)can be 'modernised'. Btw your general location could be handy for any one here to point you to relevant suppliers. gordon
***** For correct/accurate PCD: Measure from centre of one stud to centre of next closest & Divide by 0.58778 (for metric) OR Divide by 25.4 (Imperial).*****

[Deleted]

I think it could be an old Bondwood Carapark that has been re covered in flat aluminium?
Cheers
Hughdeani

[gts2dur]

Thanks very much for the replies..

Looks like we are getting closer all the time!!

Once again, I will look into the tips you have given to widen the search,

and research some more into "Bondwood Carapark" vans..

I have also found some remains of pink paint in some of the exterior screw heads,

and on some of the lower trim pieces?? pic. attatched..bye for now..

Best Wishes and Many Thanks...

[DC3Td]

Gday Gts. Hughdeani mentioned Carapark so if you havent already checked,see our Caravan Index - theres 6 pages for Caraparks you can scroll through to glean any info/similarities. gordon

[Cruz]

Hi,
Yes, looks like a CARAPARK to me. Got one very much like it, interior is different, but they sold them in kit form to do it yourself. My tow hitch is a carapark, FJ wheels. Should be some pics on here somewhere.
Leanne

[gts2dur]

 Ok that's great thanks to everyone for your help...Sounds like its a "Carapark"!!, close to 1950??

The wheel nuts are 7/8" size, 5 x 6.25" stud pattern,

I got the tyre size incorrect earlier they are actually, 5.9 x 15", one Olympic and one Goodyear still hold air,

the tow hitch is a "Wesco" brand,

it was really stuck solid like the rear jack legs but all work now after lots of persuasion and wd40..

Just put a tarp over for now and contemplate where to go from here..

Many Thanks, located in Brisbane.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi GTS2dur, DC3Td, Hughdeani and Cruz,

I agree with Hughdeani that GTS2dur's van looks like a bondwood that has been covered in aluminium sheeting - and done not too badly either. When you look in the cupboards and wardrobe GTS2dur, is the lining bondwood/ply? And is the frame wood or aluminium? The shape is certainly typical of a 50's van, and the fact that it has aluminium framed windows suggest that it is no earlier than 1955/56 or so (although of course they could have replaced original wood framed windows when the cladding was added).

I'm not so sure about Hughdeani's suggestion that the van is a Carapark, though - I am assuming that he is referring to the Carapark Hunter model? My reasons for that are that (1) the Hunter had front windows that were pretty much in line with the side windows, and (2) looked at from the side, the Hunter's floorline had a "step down" from just left of the doorway to the right of the wheel arch. GTS2dur's van has neither of those features. However, Cruz's van to which she referred - which can be seen by clicking here (van number 1 on that thread) - and which appears to be a van home built from a Carapark kit, does have the front windows significantly below the line of the side windows, like GTS2dur's (but unlike GTS2dur's also has the "stepped down" floorline).

However, to my mind GTS2dr's van is more similar to this van that was recently presented for sale on Ebay:





The above van was located in South Australia, and sometimes the location of the van is a reasonably good indicator of its origins. I note that GTS2dur is based in Brisbane, so that may suggest a Queensland origin? For example perhaps it is a Chesney?

Don Ricardo

[gts2dur]

Love your work Don Ricardo,

very grateful for your expertise and everyone else of course..

Yes the van  looks alot like the pictures you supplied from ebay item.

The vans frame is timber, and the alloy windows look to fit neat as original to the interior wall sheeting etc.

On closer inspection now I would say that it was built as is, and not re covered in alloy sheeting,

it seems craftsman made by looking at how accurate and straight everything lines up outside and inside,

Today I found a company stamp/logo, on the ply in the upper cupboard, see pic. attached..

It says "Newmarket Plywood" Co. Pty. Ltd., with a crown logo in the middle,

the suburb of Newmarket, (Brisbane) is about 3-4 klm from me, I will look into it some more..

many thanks

[cobber]

G'day gts2dur,

I can't identify your van sorry, need more clues. DC3Td has given some good advice as to what to look for, you would be surprised what is sometimes written under draws.

Now the plywood brand mark you've shown us (thanks for that )
Are you aware that we have a thread devoted to plywood brand marks ? click here to see it

We have not see the 'Newmarket' one before so that's good, I'll transfer your photo over there if that's OK with you ?

From a quick look around it would appear that they traded as 'Newmarket plywood' from about 1931 until 1963 when they were bought out by Brown & Broad.

What we don't know is..... did they change the look of their brand mark during the thirty odd years of production, fair chance they did, if we knew when it might give us some clues about the age of your van.
If you live in the district, maybe the local council or the historical society might be able to provide some information about the company, they often do.
It would be interesting to hear the results of your research.

Cobber.

[gts2dur]

Thanks Cobber, more top tips for me to follow up on when I can, cant wait!!

The search continues..

I just need to gather all these tips and follow up one by one..

..of course you are more than welcome to use any photos as required.

This forum has been so helpful I appreciate all the enthusiastic members feedback,

I may also have some info coming and possibly(hopefully) an original photo from

the previous owners family relative who remembers seeing the van when he was a kid...

With Thanks and Best Wishes...