Post by Franklin1 on Dec 1, 2007 16:19:53 GMT 10
ATLANTIC CARAVANS
Manufactured by Atlantic Caravans
341 Princes Highway, St Peters, NSW and later
663 Princes Highway, Tempe, NSW
ATLANTIC HISTORY: [I've been holding off starting the Atlantic caravan thread and hoping that Belinda would do it. So far, no luck, so I'll put some stuff here that she's previously posted, and delete it when (if) she comes back on the forum...]
Aug 21, 2005 Belinda: We took our van to the "All British" day and another person identified it as an Atlantic. Our van is almost identical to Maurie's and also Cobber's "free to a good home" van.
He told an interesting story:
- his dad won a fifth prize in the lottery in 1955 and bought the van primed (but not painted) and without all the internal cupboards for 500 pounds. It was an exciting purchase and everyone came to look at it
- the vans were made at Tempe (Sydney) in a premises on the Highway
- later his dad purchased an additional internal cupboard which came as an accessory and was fitted by the manufacturer
- the layout was different to ours, with a single bed/sofa at the door and a double bed/table at the rear
- theirs had a hundred-gallon water tank underneath at the back, while ours has a gravity-fed tank over the sink (Cobber, Maurie - what do your vans have?)
- like ours it had Holden wheels
- like ours the cupboard doors are dark-stained wood, not painted
This fits with other stuff we already knew about the van - the stove was made in Kogarah, the cushions were made in Marrickville and people who lived around Campsie have told us they hired identical vans.
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Roehm3108: Hi Belinda!
A 100 gallon water tank sounds a bit heavy, when one gallon of water weighs 10lbs. Perhaps he means 100litres???
Belinda: We thought a hundred gallons sounded like a lot - but as a post-metric person I only have a vague idea of the old units. Anyway, that's what the guy told us.
Mrfj55: Did you have anyone specifically tell you that your van was an ATLANTIC ?
I always get a kick out of that with my little ATLANTIC , its good to get that verification from people , normally they are 60 plus years old ! Anyway back to water tanks , my vans got an internal unit about 20 litre capacity that sits flush against the wall on a shelf above the sink . It can be taken outside to fill by sliding 2 catches open . Its got a handle on top , brass tap , and is made out of galvanised steel
-------------------------------------
Mar 12, 2006 Belinda: I learnt a lot more about Atlantics at a recent visit to T G Paterson who provided components to a lot of caravan makers in Sydney.
According to Col Paterson, Atlantic Caravans was run by Edward (Ted) Gordon who lived in Leichardt. The business was originally at 341 Princes Highway St Peters (now a BP Service station) and later moved further south to the site now occupied by "Jap Spares". It closed around 1970.
TG Paterson supplied metal components like the ice boxes, stove compartments, water tanks and shelves to sit them on, roof hatches etc. They also folded up the sections used for the chassis, which were made for Atlantic by Ajax Sheet Metal.
The funniest bit is that because Ted Gordon worked seven days a week making and selling vans he never went on a holiday. It was only after he retired that he got himself a van and went away in it. The story goes that Ted lasted two weeks, said "I don't know what people see in these" and never went caravanning again.
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Apr 5, 2006, mrfj55: HI GROOVERS, I know how you feel Kingy ! I was in I.D wilderness with my little Atlantic van for a couple of years until G.M Day 2001 . It was amazing how many people would come up to me and tell me it was this make or that make of van . I started to do my own little survey on the day to see how many times the same name came up . An old guy with a 1928 chev came past and said he spent his honeymoon in 1963 in exactly the same van , an Atlantic . He told me the van was 9'6" long , I always thought it was 10' so for the first time , at the show , I put a tape over it . He was right 9'6" , good enough for me ! So Kingy hang in there as im sure there is an old bloke with a similar story about your van that you will bump into soon . REGARDS , MAURIE . p.s As Belinda suggested , like her Atlantic , there are no I.D markings anywhere on my van . Cheers !
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Editorial note: Additional photos of Belinda's Atlantic referred to above -
Manufactured by Atlantic Caravans
341 Princes Highway, St Peters, NSW and later
663 Princes Highway, Tempe, NSW
ATLANTIC HISTORY: [I've been holding off starting the Atlantic caravan thread and hoping that Belinda would do it. So far, no luck, so I'll put some stuff here that she's previously posted, and delete it when (if) she comes back on the forum...]
Aug 21, 2005 Belinda: We took our van to the "All British" day and another person identified it as an Atlantic. Our van is almost identical to Maurie's and also Cobber's "free to a good home" van.
He told an interesting story:
- his dad won a fifth prize in the lottery in 1955 and bought the van primed (but not painted) and without all the internal cupboards for 500 pounds. It was an exciting purchase and everyone came to look at it
- the vans were made at Tempe (Sydney) in a premises on the Highway
- later his dad purchased an additional internal cupboard which came as an accessory and was fitted by the manufacturer
- the layout was different to ours, with a single bed/sofa at the door and a double bed/table at the rear
- theirs had a hundred-gallon water tank underneath at the back, while ours has a gravity-fed tank over the sink (Cobber, Maurie - what do your vans have?)
- like ours it had Holden wheels
- like ours the cupboard doors are dark-stained wood, not painted
This fits with other stuff we already knew about the van - the stove was made in Kogarah, the cushions were made in Marrickville and people who lived around Campsie have told us they hired identical vans.
---------------------------
Roehm3108: Hi Belinda!
A 100 gallon water tank sounds a bit heavy, when one gallon of water weighs 10lbs. Perhaps he means 100litres???
Belinda: We thought a hundred gallons sounded like a lot - but as a post-metric person I only have a vague idea of the old units. Anyway, that's what the guy told us.
Mrfj55: Did you have anyone specifically tell you that your van was an ATLANTIC ?
I always get a kick out of that with my little ATLANTIC , its good to get that verification from people , normally they are 60 plus years old ! Anyway back to water tanks , my vans got an internal unit about 20 litre capacity that sits flush against the wall on a shelf above the sink . It can be taken outside to fill by sliding 2 catches open . Its got a handle on top , brass tap , and is made out of galvanised steel-------------------------------------
Mar 12, 2006 Belinda: I learnt a lot more about Atlantics at a recent visit to T G Paterson who provided components to a lot of caravan makers in Sydney.
According to Col Paterson, Atlantic Caravans was run by Edward (Ted) Gordon who lived in Leichardt. The business was originally at 341 Princes Highway St Peters (now a BP Service station) and later moved further south to the site now occupied by "Jap Spares". It closed around 1970.
TG Paterson supplied metal components like the ice boxes, stove compartments, water tanks and shelves to sit them on, roof hatches etc. They also folded up the sections used for the chassis, which were made for Atlantic by Ajax Sheet Metal.
The funniest bit is that because Ted Gordon worked seven days a week making and selling vans he never went on a holiday. It was only after he retired that he got himself a van and went away in it. The story goes that Ted lasted two weeks, said "I don't know what people see in these" and never went caravanning again.
---------------------------------------------------
Apr 5, 2006, mrfj55: HI GROOVERS, I know how you feel Kingy ! I was in I.D wilderness with my little Atlantic van for a couple of years until G.M Day 2001 . It was amazing how many people would come up to me and tell me it was this make or that make of van . I started to do my own little survey on the day to see how many times the same name came up . An old guy with a 1928 chev came past and said he spent his honeymoon in 1963 in exactly the same van , an Atlantic . He told me the van was 9'6" long , I always thought it was 10' so for the first time , at the show , I put a tape over it . He was right 9'6" , good enough for me ! So Kingy hang in there as im sure there is an old bloke with a similar story about your van that you will bump into soon . REGARDS , MAURIE . p.s As Belinda suggested , like her Atlantic , there are no I.D markings anywhere on my van . Cheers !
--------------------------------------------------
Editorial note: Additional photos of Belinda's Atlantic referred to above -
