Hi Jendeneau, SGTL and all,
There have been one or two references to Kara Kar on the forum - for example
Franklin1's post referring to Kara Kar camper trailers
here - but no details provided until
Jendeneau's post which begins this thread and the photos of her caravan which are posted above.
According to Kara Kar's
website, the company commenced production in 1962 and continues in operation today. It's main activity has been the manufacture of box trailers and horse floats. However, in its early days it seems that it dabbled in a few other areas, including manufacturing boat and car trailers, and selling the odd car and truck. From 1967 to 1969 it also sold and hired out caravans and caravanettes, and apparently produced camping trailers. In the beginning Kara Kar was located at 199 Paramatta Road, Flemington (NSW), but is now based in Nambucca Heads.
Based on a search via
www.newspapers.com, the first advert for Kara Kar in the
Sydney Morning Herald [SMH] was published in November 1966, but was only for box trailers:
(source:
SMH, Saturday, 12 November 1966, page 55)
But then just after New Year in 1967 it advertised a 3-4 berth caravan for hire...
(Source:
SMH, Saturday, 7 January 1967, page 32)
...and in the following week advertised two caravans for sale:
(Source:
SMH, Wednesday, 11 January 1967, page 32, and Saturday, 14 January 1967, page 34)
The phrase 'good order' in the first of these adverts suggests that the caravans were second hand.
Two adverts a month later indicates that Kara Kar had box trailers and caravans both for sale and hire, without telling us much about the caravans:
(Source: Saturday, 23 February 1967, page 35)
However, an advert in March 1967 tells us that Kara Kar had
new caravans for sale and hire:
(Source:
SMH, Thursday, 20 March 1967, page 19)
And in May 1967, caravanettes were added to what was on offer:
(Source:
SMH, Tuesday, 30 May 1967, page 24)
An advert from March 1968. tells us that the caravanettes were also 'new', and perhaps also tells us something about their origins with the reference to 'F'away'?
(Source:
SMH, Saturday, 9 March 1968, page 39)
I haven't been able to decipher 'F'away', unless it's referring to
Fairway caravans, but as far as we are aware Fairway was a small manufacturer that didn't produce caravanettes... Any suggestions as to what 'F'away' may mean are welcome!
After this advert, Kara Kar advertisements for caravans - but not trailers and horse floats - cease, at least in the
SMH.
Based on the evidence we have thus far, it seems unlikely that Kara Kar produced its own caravans and caravanettes, but that instead it sold and hired out vans from other manufacturers, and possibly that it put its own branding on the vans it sold and/or hired out. Jendeneau's Kara Kar branded Franklin, shown above, seems to be one of them. And perhaps the Kara Kar branding and the additional '7 100' serial number tells us that that van was once part of the hire fleet?
All the same, it seems there is one further chapter in the Kara Kar caravan story, revealed in the following advert published in the
SMH in May 1969:
(Source:
SMH, Sunday, 18 May 1969, page 64)
Suttons Motors, which also involved itself in caravan sales (see
here), advertised a Kara Kar Camping Trailer for sale. The advert says that the trailer was in good condition, suggesting that it was second hand. But this is evidence that Kara Kar produced camping trailers, which is perhaps not all that surprising for a trailer manufacturer. It would not be a big stretch to set some of the trailers up for camping. (Off on a tangent, note also that at that stage Suttons Motors was selling the Linda Star version of the
Linda Walkabout slide on camper produced by Murrumba Star in Queensland.)
Don Ricardo
