Caravan brand names - Sydney - 1955 to 1960

[Franklin1]

G'day All,
I've been trawling through the new Sydney Morning Herald on-line archives, looking for the earliest references to different caravan brand names advertised in this paper during the period 1955 to 1960.
These are the names I could find...

1955

• Auburn Caravan Co. 211 Cumberland Rd Auburn - factory building 2-3 or 4 berth caravan shells
  
• Carapark
  
• Castle
  
• Comfy
  
• St James Caravan Co. - manufacturers of high quality caravans of aluminium or marine ply
  
• Wyvan
  

1956

• Ajax aluminium vans
  
• Gypsy
  
• Hunter Minor / Hunter Junior (these are listed separately in this year, but by 1957 were joined in name with the Carapark brand.)
  
• Millard
  

1957

• Clipper Consul
  
• Jennison Pathfinder
  
• Tennyson
  
• Viscount
  
• Windcutter
  

1958

• Atlantic Caravans 341 Princes Highway St. Peters - building caravan shells
  
• Sunchaser
  
• Sunlander
  

1959

• Coronet
  
• Globe trotter
  

1960

• Beautility
  
• Carinya
  
• Relax
  
• Styleline
  
• Sunliner
  

I emphasise that the list above is only the brands I came across in advertisements. There may be others that didn't show up in my search. Other brands we have heard of, eg. Propert, Fleetwind, Wayfarer, Don, Sportsman,... did not return any advertisements for this time period. There was a classified advert in 1955 for a second-hand Don caravan for sale ("Don Caravan Co. - Leading Victorian Caravan builders").

So next time there's a question about what sort of van sombody has, you can use the above list as a starting point !!

I'll do the next time period "1960 to 1970" after I've sorted my sock drawer...

cheers,
Al.

[Franklin1]

Just adding to the list, as I find other brands...

1959

• Colah
  
• Styline (not sure if this is different to the "Styleline" brand in 1960 or just a mix-up in the spelling)
  

1960

• Peerless
  

Al.

[tinnie]

Al,
You forgot one - Franklin

As if you would really forget that one!

Tinnie ;D ;D ;D

[Franklin1]

Now, now, tinnie...don't you try and trick me...

The first record I can find of Franklin caravans being advertised in Sydney is only maybe as early as 1964 but certainly by 1966 ( and the Relax Caravan Co. listed in 1960 above was still advertising at that time). I assume Franklin was building vans in Victoria for a few years before he decided to tackle the Sydney market.

Just to clarify the lists above... the dates are the earliest record I could find of that brand being advertised. That doesn't mean that the brand wasn't being built before that time.

cheers,
Al.

[tinnie]

After that rapid and well researched response, I shall think twice before I try to trick you again Al. ;D ;D
Hmm I wonder then if the Franklin Earlee bought (being a '64) could be one of the first Franklins in NSW.

Tinnie

[firefighter]

::)Hey Tinnie

The old bloke that owned earlee,s van lived in Mildura when he bought it new
F/F ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Don Ricardo]

G'day Al,

You've compiled a really interesting and worthwhile list.

It has seemed to me for a while that the caravans built in the 40's, 50's and 60's mostly seemed to have been confined to state based markets (ie they were only really sold in the state in which they were built). This observation has been based on the fact that (being a Victorian) I've heard of most of the caravan brands that have been mentioned as being sourced from somewhere in Victoria or are currently owned by V V people in Victoria. However, most of the brands V V'ers from NSW, SA, Qld, WA or Tas mention are new to me. Your list seems to support that hypothesis (although I am now much more familiar with the NSW brands thanks to this forum )

This has led me to wonder (a) if all the brands of modern vans are now sold Australia wide, or if some are still sold mainly in one state, and (b) if caravan brands are now all sold Australia wide, when did that begin to happen, and which brand started it? Maybe brands only started getting sold Australia wide (ie beyond their state of manufacture) in the late 60's or 70's or perhaps even the 80's? Does this also mean that when some brands began to be sold Australia wide that a whole lot of small, localised van builders were forced out of business?

Do you have any thoughts on this based on your list?

Cobber or Mark T might have some thoughts on this as well.

Don Ricardo

(Oops - almost missed Tasmania out of the list of states of origin for V V's. Sorry Exocet!!)

[belinda]

there is another thread in this section with more information on the same topic.

vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=technicalstuffboard&action=display&thread=1142399841

I started it after a conversation with Col Pattison of TG Pattison whose company made caravan components through this period.

Would one of the moderators be able to collapse these threads into one?