Don 12' Models

[Don Ricardo]

G'day everyone,

This is a topic for those of you interested in the history of Don caravans, like me.

As we know, Don made two versions of the 12' van in the 1934-1955 series. The model 120 had a dinette at the back of the van and two bunks at the front. The dinette table folded down to make a double bed.

In contrast the model 121 had two bunks at the front and two bunks at the back. The Don sales brochure explained that: "A folding table erects across front of bed, which provides seating for two persons, and two folding chairs accommodate the other two." From the floor plan of the 121, I assume that the folding table was used with the bunks at the back of the van. (The upper bunk(s) in both the 120 and 121 swung up to allow the lower bunk to be used as a seat.)

Looking over the photos which have been posted on the V V forum, it appears that all the 12' vans which have been shown have been 120 models. Does this suggest that the 121 model is the rarest of the 1934-1955 Dons? Has anyone out there in V V land seen a 121 model 'in the wood'?

Maybe the 121 is the 'holy grail' of Dons!

Regards,

Don Ricardo

[trodler]

Hi Don.
You could be right that the 121 is the rarer of the 2.
Too me, the 121 sounds a bit impracticle for the average family using 4 bunk beds and then having to use 2 folding chairs at the table as well.

Cheers.
Trodler.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Trodler,

I also thought the 121 sounded like less fun to live with - having to fiddle around with a folding table and folding chairs all the time. It was also pretty spartan - no ice chest, sink or pantry (and only 12 cwt versus 13 cwt for the 120). However, essentially it was designed for use by workmen. The Don brochure states:

"This caravan was developed to meet a demand for a

WELL-BUILT, UTILITY CARAVAN

where de Luxe fittings such as ice chest, stainless-steel sink, etc., were not required.

"Six of this model were supplied to the Public Works Department in 1946, and after testing under extreme conditions, a large number have been built for this and other Government Departments on repeat orders. Several country Shire Councils, Farmers, Graziers, Contractors and various industrial organizations have proved this an

IDEAL CARAVAN FOR TEMPORARY OR MOBILE ACCOMMODATION"

[Emphasis and colour in the original]

If there were so many orders, you'd think there would still be a 121 around somewhere...but then again if they were mainly used for commercial applications they would have spent a lot of time out in the weather, and have all probably rotted away.

All the same the siren song of the Don 'holy grail' still calls... (to mix my metaphors).

Don Ricardo