Caravan Court 1960's - Info anyone?

[lizysu]

Hi folks, this is my recent find. A 1960's caravan court. I can't find any info about them or an exact date on make. The company still exist in Springvale but couldn't offer me any help on the history apart from saying they stopped making bondwood sides in 64', so it must predate 1964? Even when I google, there is nothing out there on these beauties..
Any info would be grand?

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Lizysu,

Congratulations on your purchase and joining us on the forum.

We don't know a lot about Caravan Court, but our understanding is that (1) Caravan Court sold it's caravans under the 'Pedigree' brand name, and (2) that Caravan Court vans in the 60's were built for them by Roma. If you check out the Index for the 'Down History Lane' section here, you'll find an entry for Pedigree and Roma - just click on the blue hyperlinks in the index and they'll take you to the relevant threads.

For good measure, I've just added Caravan Court to the index to assist future searchers.

If you look at the pics on the threads I've pointed you to, you'll see some vans that externally seem to be the same design and era as yours, although yours is longer than those in the pics I think. There are also photos there of the interiors of some of the vans, so it will be interesting to see if they match yours.

Regarding the build date for your van, I would think that your conclusion about it being 1964 or earlier in the 60's is correct. When caravan manufacturers began to move towards aluminium cladding in the late 50's and early 60's, some manufacturers took the approach of cladding the front, rear and roof in aluminium, but continued to use bondwood on the sides. Roma was one of the manufacturers who did that. If there is a serial number stamped on the A-frame of your van or elsewhere, that may tell us more precisely when it was built.

As I said above, our understanding is that Caravan Court sold their vans under the brand name of 'Pedigree', and some of the vans on the Pedigree thread about the age of yours have a Pedigree name plate on them. I would be interested to know whether your van is branded Pedigree or Caravan Court?

Don Ricardo

[lizysu]

Thanks Don, its great to have a bit of history with the van. It helps me get excited about bringing it back to its former glory. Here is a pic of the name on the van, its a little dark, due to the tarp keeping her dry.
The van came with an annex that has capricorn written on it in texta.
The sub frame trailer has franklin embossed in the steel?
So it feels like a real mixture of brands. I will be posting more pictures as I work on the restoration...
Lizy-su

[bigkel]

Hi , i lived about a mile from Caravan Court ,Springvale south ,it is in Springvale road , when most of the side roads were dirt , from 1963 to 1980 , i did visit the sale yard from time to time and never saw any evidence that they ever made caravans on site , they did do many large repair jobs . as far as Caravan Court goes i think that it was just a name for a sale yard / repair yard . if they did manufacture any vans it must have been well hidden at the rear of the yard .

cheers Kel.

[Roehm3108]

Saw this sign on a modern van today. it definitely wasn't the van's brand name.

[seeshell]

Hi All

Caravan Court in Springvale have a website and information section that outlines their history (just to add to the record):

Caravan Court has bought and sold second hand caravans since 1957. We are Melbourne's longest established caravan sales business. We have caravans ranging from current model trade-ins to older style caravans. The older caravans are often purchased for on-site use in a caravan park or as a spare room in the backyard.

Some of the second hand caravans we sell are on consignment to us. If you would like us to sell your caravan for you on consignment then please give us a call for further details.

It could be hard to know when they stopped building their own and went straight to reselling (there's no mention of their own brand now). As you say Ray, the one you saw would have been a second hand or new sale...

Cheers
Seeshell

[seeshell]

Hi Lisylu

Your van reminds me of a mustard coloured coronet (look in Down History Lane) I saw ages ago on here. It had the round bulkhead and forward leaning windows, but that's not unique.

These are features of many vans of the period - if your stripe is original to the van, it is similar to those on the Capricorns (as well as having the leaning windows!). I also think that the wheel arch is similar between your van and the Capricorns.

Wheel Arch



vintagecaravans.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=downloadattachment&board=chat&thread=11475&post=93302&key=b14rxjGCN1n0rQlP0PyA[/img]

Stripes and Windows





Could it be a Capricorn rebadged by Caravan Court (minus spats) - one of their second hand or consignment sales?

DonR who knows much of all there is to know about vans indicated that Roma or Pedigree built their "home brand" vans.

Here is a Roma van from Down History Lane - it is likely from a slightly different period (others will know). To me, when I compare it to yours, the stripe is similar, but the windows don't lean the same way and the wheel arch looks a little different than in the picture you posted - but that is only one inexpert view! But that doesn't necessarily mean anything, others who have seen more Romas will know about the shape.



It's certainly an interesting and handsome van, and likely someone with much more experience will be able to ID it!

Cheers!
Seeshell