Panorama Caravans (Ballarat, Vic)

[Don Ricardo]

PANORAMA CARAVANS

Manufactured (some only?) by Graham Hayden of Huntsman Caravans,
Dana Street, Ballarat, Vic

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Panorama 12 ft caravan advertised on Ebay on 15 April 2008, as a 50's era bondwood. However, the front, roof and back are aluminium:

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Additional note - August 2017: As indicated at the beginning of this post, and in the post that follows, at least some Panorama caravans were built by Huntsman Caravans in Ballarat. However, the van shown in this post has a number of Franklin features, including the galley shelf with the single support in the centre, which is a feature usually indicating a Franklin-built van, and the shape of the wheel arch which is typical of Franklins built between 1958 and 1964. However, the styling of the front windows with the panelling at the bottom curving out to meet the bottom edge of the window frame was only adopted by Franklin in 1965, and this van appears to be earlier than that because of the combination of the aluminium (front and rear) and bondwood (sides) cladding, and the fact that aluminium cladding is plain (ie without ribs).

Don Ricardo

[Franklin1]

1960s Panorama caravan listed on ebay Sept 2008: note the mention of the word "Franklin" in the description...





Edited Description: Franklin 14ft long. Roof is made of aluminium, and the sides plywood. The model name on the front is "PANORAMA". The van is in outstanding original condition and has been kept under cover for most of its life and has had very little use. There are two single beds down the back. There is a two-burner stove with grill. Original varnished wood on the cupboards and drawers. The caravan doesn't have brakes. There is also an annexe that goes with the van that looks like it might be the original, but it is in good condition. The van has 13 inch Holden wheels.

[comment from Franklin1: this van looks very similar in outside body shape to other early Franklins we've seen. However, I'm not aware of any connection between Franklin and the Panorama nameplate as is shown on this van. Maybe Franklin supplied vans that were then branded by others as Panorama, or maybe Franklin made a budget model van and named it Panorama. We don't have enough information on the early Franklins yet to say what the real truth is.
Update: I contacted the ebay seller and asked what information they had to connect this van with the name "Franklin"? His response was: "Good question. The only reason I assumed it was a Franklin is that it says Franklin on the rego papers, but it is true that the information on rego papers is not always infallible, and also I don't think the word Franklin is found anywhere on the van itself. Perhaps someone can throw some light on the matter."]

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On 2 February 2012, Huntsman wrote:

Looks like I can shed some light on this one. Panorama vans were build by Graham Hayden of Huntsman Caravans in Dana Street, Ballarat. The van pictured is certainly not a Franklin but a Panorama badged Huntsman.

[Flattop]

I have not found any reference to the manufacturer, but cleaning commences tonight, will report on any ID found.