Harris Vans (Sefton Park and Broadview, SA)

[Franklin1]

Harris Vans

Manufactured for, and sold by Norm Harris
Regency Road, Sefton Park, South Australia, and later at
29 Meredith Street, Broadview, South Australia

Harris vans were manufactured by Fred Schrader, 117 Regency Road, Croydon, South Australia and C H Gray, Port Wakefield Road, Cavan, South Australia.

Fred Schrader also built Sportline caravans

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1964 Harris caravan:





(source: posted by MarkT, May 11, 2008, who wrote: "I like the shape of the 12 footer Harris Van ......and the colour coding outlined with metal strips. And .......I also like the "split" rear window design. ...the original Electrolux keeps the beer nice & cold.")

[Franklin1]

1960s Harris caravan:



(source: posted by MarkT, May 12, 2008, who wrote: "Until late last year, I'd never heard of a "Harris Van", never knew they existed , until the 12'footer came along ..........and I'd never seen another one since .......................until

On my recent journey across the Nullabour, with the Harris in tow, I pulled into the caravan park at Ceduna ........and, look what was parked a couple of bays down from my campsite

It was Harri's BIG BRO .......also in good nick .......

I'm thinking this is a later model Harris Van ........

There are quite a few similarities ..........same wheel arch profile, same ali surround around the water inlet ......but a different pattern ali

Have a look at the nameplate .......was there a change of ownership???

Maybe some of our keen South Aussie members could do some digging , I'm thinking Harris Vans have a story to tell "

[Franklin1]

1967 Harris caravan 14ft:



(source: listed on ebay, May 2008, with the [edited] description: 1967 Harris caravan in average condition. Registered, double bed, fridge, microwave, gas cooker, freshly painted inside.)

[Franklin1]

1960s Harris caravan:





(source: listed on ebay Sept 2008. No useful description given.)

[Franklin1]

Listed in the Trading Post, August 2009...



Description: Schrader Original, 1966, 14' 8" x 7', Twin single beds, Cafe makes double, Gas cooker, Canvas awning + annexe walls, Towing aids, Electric brakes."

Not sure what the "Schrader" relates to, but the van looks too much like a Harris to be anything else.

-------------------------------------------------



Description: "Harris original, 12' x 7', Cafe makes bed, Lounge makes bed, 240v bar fridge, Water tank."

Don't know if the 'Boomerang' name is a nick-name, or whether there was actually a Boomerang model in the Harris range.

[Don Ricardo]

Aug 14, 2009 21:45:14 GMT 10 Franklin1 said:

...Not sure what the "Schrader" relates to, but the van looks too much like a Harris to be anything else...

In response to a similar comment about Schrader by Franklin1 on another thread, Don Ricardo wrote on 14 August 2009:

Hi Al,

Yes, I've heard of Schrader vans...

According to my sources, Schraders and Harris Caravans did a lot of work together. Apparently F J & R E Schrader of Regency Street, Croydon Park SA built caravans which were then sold by Harris Caravans.

What's that you said? My sources...? Oh, so you want to know how I know all this?

Well, I got it from the little Schrader name plate underneath the Harris nameplate on the [van in your Reply #1 above]...

...Anyway your comment that the blue and white "Schrader" and the ally and blue Harris are too similar not to be built by the same crowd appears to be spot on.

All this does raise an interesting question though - was Harris merely a retailer or middleman for other companies' vans?

Don Ricardo

[Trev Clark]

Harris Caravans also sold Miami Caravans during late 60's and early 70's. My impression at the time was they were retailers, who sometimes put the harris Van name on vans built for their outlet. Norm Harris was, I thought, the owner during this period. Also had a guy called Ron working for him at the time.

Does this help, or confuse the issue? I also think there is a LOT more to this story.

[robby1960]

I am new to this site, and only recently purchased a little restoration gem... a 10ft 1960's Harris Caravan. Received no paperwork from the previous owners as they also had not received any papers from the 92 year old owner who they had scored it from. Thankfully it still has the plates which are the "HARRIS CARAVANS" - Schroder (Regency Park, SA) plates.

Searching the internet brought no answers or pictures to my questions on Harris caravans, but thankfully you guys have shed some light on the subject.

The interior of the old girl had already been pretty well stripped... and so I have been wondering just what the original interior and design was actually like.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

In his book Still Swinging the Billy (2012), Trevor Gill makes the following comment in relation to Harris caravans:

"The name Norm Harris became synonymous with caravan hire, but when a man called Colin Gray offered to build Norm his own brand, he could not resist the move. Harris Caravans Pty Ltd was based at Regency Road, Sefton park with its aluminium clad Harris Vans becoming a popular choice" (p 67).

The previous paragraph indicates that this occurred sometime after Norm Harris' marriage in 1955.

I think there is a good possibility that the 'Colin Gray' referred to by Trevor Gill was C H Gray. If so, we now know that C H Gray produced vans for Harris, as also did Fred Schrader, but we don't know whether Gray also produced and sold vans under his own name or for another caravan brand as well.

If anyone has pics of a C H Gray-built Harris van, it would be great to see them.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Harris 14 ft caravan listed on Ebay, February 2014

The van was stated by the seller to be a 1962 model. It has a similar shape to a number of other caravans on this thread, but differs in that it has two single windows at the front rather than the wrap around front and rear windows on almost every other Harris Van we've seen. The interior has most probably been painted throughout:

[Don Ricardo]

Photos of a 1965 Harris van previously owned by Crown1957 and posted on 19 & 20 December 2012:











Note the stool which provides additional seating:











Interestingly this van was branded back and front as 'Cooronger', perhaps a reference to the Coorong, but it is very evidently a van built by Fred Schrader who built some of the vans sold under the Harris name. Further discussion relating to the 'Cooronger' name can be found here.

[jp63]

Jul 28, 2014 20:05:06 GMT 10 Don Ricardo said:

Hi all,

In his book Still Swinging the Billy (2012), Trevor Gill makes the following comment in relation to Harris caravans:

"The name Norm Harris became synonymous with caravan hire, but when a man called Colin Gray offered to build Norm his own brand, he could not resist the move. Harris Caravans Pty Ltd was based at Regency Road, Sefton park with its aluminium clad Harris Vans becoming a popular choice" (p 67).

The previous paragraph indicates that this occurred sometime after Norm Harris' marriage in 1955.

I think there is a good possibility that the 'Colin Gray' referred to by Trevor Gill was C H Gray. If so, we now know that C H Gray produced vans for Harris, as also did Fred Schrader, but we don't know whether Gray also produced and sold vans under his own name or for another caravan brand as well.

If anyone has pics of a C H Gray-built Harris van, it would be great to see them.

Don Ricardo

I know this was a couple of years ago now, but we recently acquired what appears to be a C H Gray-built Harris Van. According to the rego papers she is a 62 Harris Van and while I can't get it to show in a photo you can make out the faint outline of the Harris Van sticker above the the front windows and there are several CH Gray badges thought out.

I posted more about her and some photos Here and there are some more pictures In the CH Gray thread from when the previous owner was looking for info on her.  (For some reason I cannot link to the thread)  from what I can tell the interior and layout is basically the same as the Schrader builds one I have seen. On the outside, the front goes straight down under the windows instead of bowing out and then down like the others in this thread (but that could be more age related as the earliest I've seen is a 64 and ours is apparently a 62 but who knows)

[Don Ricardo]

Photos of a 1962 Harris Van built by C H Gray:







Photo of Harris Van logo on the caravan prior to restoration of this van by Jp63:



Internal photos:





Photo of roof hatch including what appears to be a holland blind to reduce the light coming in through the hatch when open?



Further photos of this van, including internal shots, and information about C H Gray can be found here.

A thread on, and photos of the restoration of the van by Jp63 can be found here.

[zarah]

I'm so greatful for this thread. It seems we have also aquired a C H Gray built Harris Van, as it is too similiar to the one posted above - to be anything else. We can also make out the very faint "Harris Van" above the windows. It is exactly the same shape as the one above - with very minor differences, being the shape of a few lights and handles instead of a bar under the row of windows near the draw bar. It's so great to see from the post and the linked thread above - what things inside the van are original and what have changed. We will be posting photos as we go - but below is some in her current state.



The very faint Harris Van logo can be seen below.













The original bed seems to have been rebuilt into a solid lounge. I believe that side of the van acquired a lot of damage at some stage and the previous owner tried to restore / save her from rotting out completely - so it's obvious where the newer wood and bugle screws are, in comparison to some of the original screws and joints. I'd love to find out what the original bed mechanism looked like.



The previous owner did save so much of the original fixtures! Such a blessing to find hidden and tucked away in different cupboards.





And with my hunting for clues - I did come across this old rego sticker. It states that the Harris Van is a 1967, but from posts I've seen above - the shape of other 1967 Harris Vans seems to be very different to this one! Ours seems way too similiar to the 1962 photos above. What are other peoples thoughts? Do you think the last owner might have got the year wrong?



We have none of the original cushions or bedding. But we've been lucky with other things.



Including original hubcaps I think?



This one's pretty interesting.. an original electrical socket? Does this help anyone date her? Found just below the window at the cafe end of the van.



And the Ice box? I haven't seen any others in posts yet - but haven't searched through them all. This is located just below the sink and above where the fridge would be?


I believe its a 1962 Harris.. but if anyone else can shed any more light, it would be most appreciated. Didn't find any plates on the vehical and no paperwork.

Thanks so much to everyone for this forum!

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

There is still some uncertainty about the relationship between the vans built by Fred Schrader for Harris Vans and those built for Sportline. Were some of Schrader’s models sold exclusively by Harris or Sportline, or did he supply a mix of models to both brands, or was Sportline Schrader’s own brand name?

In 2012 during a trip to South Australia, I took the following photos of a little van sitting patiently by the kerbside in Moonta:





At the time I identified the van as a Sportline here on the basis of its shape and size. However there was something I didn’t notice then that came to light in July 2021 when the same little van was advertised for sale as a Harris Van by Victoriumm Meyer on the Vintage Aussie Caravans Facebook page:



Sharp-eyed Shesgotthelook noted that it was the same van that I had photographed in 2012, based on the registration plate:



In correspondence with the vendor, I discovered what I hadn’t noticed in 2012, and that was that the caravan bears not only a Schrader ID plate, but also a Harris ID plate:



On the face of it, this appears to indicate that the van was sold as a Harris Van rather than a Sportline, even though it appears to be identical to the original small Sportline caravans.

This van now has a different internal layout compared to the normal Sportlines, with a front kitchen, two berths rather than three, and a removable table. However, I am almost certain that this is the result of a more recent renovation rather than reflecting the original layout of the van:









Don Ricardo

[hughdeany]

Hi Don,
Definitely agree that the layout has been altered unfortunately.
Cheers
hughdeany

[annienpete]

Aug 14, 2021 15:52:21 GMT 10 Don Ricardo said:

Hi all,

There is still some uncertainty about the relationship between the vans built by Fred Schrader for Harris Vans and those built for Sportline. Were some of Schrader’s models sold exclusively by Harris or Sportline, or did he supply a mix of models to both brands, or was Sportline Schrader’s own brand name?

In 2012 during a trip to South Australia, I took the following photos of a little van sitting patiently by the kerbside in Moonta:





At the time I identified the van as a Sportline here on the basis of its shape and size. However there was something I didn’t notice then that came to light in July 2021 when the same little van was advertised for sale as a Harris Van by Victoriumm Meyer on the Vintage Aussie Caravans Facebook page:



Sharp-eyed Shesgotthelook noted that it was the same van that I had photographed in 2012, based on the registration plate:



In correspondence with the vendor, I discovered what I hadn’t noticed in 2012, and that was that the caravan bears not only a Schrader ID plate, but also a Harris ID plate:



On the face of it, this appears to indicate that the van was sold as a Harris Van rather than a Sportline, even though it appears to be identical to the original small Sportline caravans.

This van now has a different internal layout compared to the normal Sportlines, with a front kitchen, two berths rather than three, and a removable table. However, I am almost certain that this is the result of a more recent renovation rather than reflecting the original layout of the van:









Don Ricardo

[annienpete]

Ive got one of these 10' long 6' wide vans, with Harris on the front. 1961. Under draw below wardrobe was scrawled 'Baby van'. Its a beauty too. Fully restored from chassis upwards. Total original layout and materials used. Big job. 🙂

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Annienpete,

That's fascinating to hear about your 'Baby' Harris. I presume that's it shown in your avatar?

Does it have Harris Van written above the front window like other Harrises?

I am beginning to wonder if 'Sportline' was Schrader's own brandname and that he then also supplied vans to Harris Vans, including the little 10ft 6in model. I have no evidence that 'Sportline' was Schrader's own brandname - just following a hunch.

We used to think that the 10ft 6in model was sold exclusively as a Sportline and only the larger Schrader vans were sold through Harris Vans, but we now know that that was not the case. We have these instances of 10ft 6in vans sold badged as Harris Vans, and there were also some larger Schrader vans sold as Sportlines.

It'd would be great to see some photos of your 'Baby', including any signage on it.

Don Ricardo