Vintage caravan list

[exocet]

Just reading thru a copy of Keith Winsers Australian Caravan and Touring manual for 1956 and i thought maybe i could list all of the caravans either listed , complete with Specifications and photo's or just in a picture advert, so here goes!

Jennison pathfinder,country club,carapark,gypsy,courtney,greythorne,castle,clipper,st james,supalite,western,aerolites,belvue,overland styleliner,hill n dale,chapman,cumberland,don,flynn,burwood@hawtorn,roma clipper,highway,horizon,alexander,paramount,roadhaven,safetee trailers,playtime,phoenix,skyline,travelo,farrel,furness,ramsay,harris,litecraft,orford,trailahome, are the ones with specs and an advert with photo. the next list only has a photo advert, they are, Arrow,Flynn Transcontinental,glider,Propert,Cordell folding trailer and highway caravan shells in various stages of build. this manual also lists all of the camping grounds around Australia, with quite a few pictures of them as well. It also follows Keith Winser in his Flynn Transcontinental being towed by his 50's red Studebaker touring the north coast of NSW, and discussing how it could be a problem for some caravanners because there were still a number of river punt crossings to negotiate! Anyway i think i have written plenty now, i hope somebody finds it interesting, and if anyone wants some specs give me a hoy! cheers Exocet

[Don Ricardo]

A few familiar names from the past there, Exocet!

Almost worth posting all the ads - it might help people identify and/or date some of their vans. But it would be a big job - it's a loooong list

Don Ricardo

[cobber]

Thanks for doing the work to give us that list from 1956 Exocet.

Some time ago I posted a list, with specifications, from Winser’s “Motor Manual” of May 1960, it’s interesting to compare the vans available in 1956 with those that were still around in 1960.
Does the list you have, with specifications, resemble the one posted at
vintagecaravans.proboards30.com/index.cgi?board=Memorabilia2&action=display&thread=1130935625

I am still looking for “Motor Manual” #212 June 1960 that shows those vans priced from £750 to £1,000..... anybody got it

Cobber.

[Don Ricardo]

Exocet,

I was just thinking - your Winser manual is the 1956 edition, which was the year it appears there was a change from the older model Dons with the leadlight windows to the new shaped Cadets and 150 model (like Aussietanker's). Can you tell us what model Dons are listed in the Winser manual for '56, please? It will help those of us interested in Dons to pinpoint the changeover point.

Can you also let us know what date the Winser manual was published? I know it is the 1956 manual, but sometimes books such as these were published the year before the date on the cover, a bit like the current August Caravan World was published in July, and 1964 model Chev's were released in 1963, etc. There may not be a publication date in the manual, but you can sometimes find it on the page listing the publisher, location and copyright details.

Any info along these lines you can provide would be useful.

Regards,

Don Ricardo

[exocet]

Hi Cobber and Don R, the list i have is similar to yours Cobber and those that were about in '56 were all still there in '60, except mine does'nt have the prices, but mine is different in the respect it lists what each van has, eg; it lists whether a van has ; brakes, roof vent, fly screens, lined, wired for electricity!, mattress[innerspring or other], sink, cupboards, kitchen cupboards, and an ice chest. It also says like yours Cobber of what they are made of, which i didn't know that ply and bondwood are different?? In Tas we don't ever use the word bondwood, we always use 'ply' [we can't help it!!] , and some of course were made of marine PLY, lol. Don R the manual doesn't say anywhere in it a date, but it does say it's book 8 [6'6] and it is an ''entirely new edition and again enlarged'' The don models listed are model 100 at 10.25 cwt, model 120 at 13.25 cwt and model140 at 17cwt and brakes were optional. The last page has an INVENTORY FOR A CARAVAN TRIP which has changed these days, but it includes things like 'lean to tent', lantern, snake bite outfit, [anybody out there, collecting have one of them?], ammonia for bites,pie dish, parlour games, lol, cheque book, iodine, rolling pin, shoe polish, tube of bostik or pc 49, you've gotta smile don't ya?, but it also includes something that we always have packed in the van, a corkscrew! vveerry important! That list to those of us who like to collect items from that time to adorn our vans might help to ADD to our collection! ISN'T VINTAGE VANNING FUN!!!

Cheers exocet

[Geoff & Jude]

hi exocet

when we go away we always include all of those items you mentioned on the inventory except for 'lean to tent', lantern, snake bite outfit, ammonia for bites, pie dish, parlour games, cheque book, iodine, rolling pin, shoe polish and a tube of bostik or pc 49.

we do have the corkscrew and a bottle opener though.

geoff 'n jude

[exocet]

Good to see you're prepared for all disasters geoff 'n jude, just like us ! ! ! LOL

Cheers Exocet

[Don Ricardo]

Thanks for the info about the Don models listed in the Winser manual Exocet.

Cobber posted an article out of the June 1956 Motor Manual a while ago which said that the Cadet and 150 models were "just released". "Just released" in a publicity blurb can mean a variety of things - today, this week, this month, this year... However, the fact that the new models weren't listed in the 1956 Winser, but the old models were, seems to confirm that "just released" means mid-year in this case.

PS I'm our gathering my 'vintage caravan kit' as we speak. Parlour games, check; pie dish, check; shoe polish, check...a few things to go yet

Regards,

Don Ricardo

[tinnie]

Hey Cobber, that edition with the 750-1,000 vans must be a rare one as I have the same edition as yours but cant find the later one.

Interests me (and bewilders me a bit) that Winser never listed Viscount or Franklins??
I appreciate that he had a favour for hand built vans, but surely the franklin wasn't that mass-produced in 1960?
I fail to see much difference in my 1963 Franklin to a homebuild of similar time, other than the tin-top.
Noy trying to raise a debate here, just dissapointed that I can't locate more on the early franklins through the media of that time.

Cheers,
Tinman

[cobber]

What you say is true Tinman, I haven't seen mention of Franklins or Viscounts in M M.... maybe in the price list list they only appear in the £750 to £1,00 list.... somebody must have the June 1960 Motor Manual

Cobber.

[exocet]

Hi Don R, i reckon what you are saying about a mid year release of the new models would be right, as it also advertises a 1956 motor manual with all the info of the new '56 cars, which would suggest that it was published in the early part of the year, so i think that you and Cobber have pretty well pinpointed the change over as about midyear, well done chaps, looks like another puzzle solved!! Cheers Exocet

[cobber]

Excellent RTCruiser, that fills in a few gaps.
The Viscount makes the list, so to does the "Country Club", right up there with the "Jennison" price wise.
The big "Don" 150 wasn't exactly cheap either.
A few interesting internal linings there too.... Klinkil ply... ???Rescote... Plas-ply & aluminium...Plastic surface marine ply on the Don.

Cobber.

[Don Ricardo]

Thanks RT Cruiser,

Good to see the continuation of the Motor Manual list at last.

Tinman will be disappointed - still no mention of Franklins although at least Viscount makes it into the list.

The list also raises another couple of questions about the Dons of the early 1960's which I'll pick up under the Don build no research thread.

Don Ricardo

[andy]

Keep coming across this name 'Keith Winser', sound slike the god of vintage vans! I hear that he published plans to build your own caravan, does anyone have any that I could get a copy of.

Andy (in Blightly) ;D

[neilncheryl]

Question.... was there ever a tandem bondwood van made?
Curious & interested
Neil

[exocet]

Hi Neil, i don't know about Production tandem bondwoods, but up until a couple of years ago, just 1 block from us there was a tandem plywood VV about 17 to 18ft long sitting in the side driveway not being used, it has now gone and i regret not ever asking the owner about it, probably would have got it for next to nothing,and it was in very good condition from what i could see from the road. I think it was a home made, but it had good "lines" though. Cheers Exocet

[tinnie]

Hi Neil,

Yes,

I have seen some, from memory perhaps with aluminium roofs.

There is one in a paddock out near Heyfield (South East Vic) - it looks like a Globetrotter from the road.

I recall ray telling me at the Mount that his father built 18 foot ply vans (ply sides at least) - Broadway

Cheers,
Gristy

[neilncheryl]

Thanks Exocet & Gristy
I am interested in restoring/building a tandem for my next project.
(Cheryl did ask me if I was taking the RowVan to the 2010 Nats or would ther be a choice of VVs - I think there will be a choice)
Gristy - Does the one at Heyfield look like any that we have photos of on this forum?
Thanks
Neil