Kleinig's Caravans (Granville, NSW)

[Don Ricardo]

Kleinig's Caravans

Manufactured by Vic Kleinig
111 Blaxcell Road, Granville NSW

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Hi all,

A few weeks ago, while "Trove-ing" for something else entirely, I came across a series of adverts in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) for Kleinig's Caravans. The main selling feature of Kleinig's vans was that they were built from steel.

The first SMH advert was placed on Wednesday, November 1945 (p16)):


(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27924430 )

This advert appeared only a couple of months after the end of World War II.

Kleinig developed an interesting advertising technique involving placing a number of line adverts under 'A' in the Caravan & Trailer classified section of the paper. It was this that first attracted my eye to the adverts. An example is this series of 13 line adverts which appeared in the SMH of Saturday, 13 July 1946 (p 21):


(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17982549 )

Note the advert which says: "ATOMIC BOMBS create much interest, but no comparison with KLEINIG'S CARAVANS, Granville..."

Another example of Kleinig's series of line adverts with variations in the contents were placed in the SMH on Saturday, 7 September 1946 (p 20):


(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17993740 )

The next advert placed in the SMH on Saturday, 20 November 1948 (p 19) tells us a bit more about Kleinig's business (which I'll mention below):


(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18095872 )

The last adverts I can find about caravans that were placed in the SMH by Kleinig himself appeared on Saturday, 10 December 1949 (p 23):


(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18147671 )

However, an advert for a second hand, 23 ft Kleinig caravan was placed in the SMH on Saturday, 8 December 1951 (p 23):


(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18243235 )

For those of you that can't be bothered wading through the small print (and no pics!), the story that these adverts tell is that Kleinig claimed to be the pioneer of all-steel construction (presumably in Australia rather than world-wide). He also claimed that his vans were the 'latest steel constructed caravan yet built in the southern hemisphere'. Indeed, the adverts predicted that Kleing's caravans would 'revolutionise the caravan industry'. These are interesting claims because Kleinig was advertising his steel caravans at the same time as Caravan Park (Carapark) had begun to advertise all-steel caravans, and as can be seen Kleinig’s adverts ran alongside the Caravan Park adverts in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Kleinig commenced advertising his caravans in 1945, but it was only in July 1946 that he announced that they were actually in production. This suggests the earlier adverts may have been an attempt to drum up business or to test the market.

There a number of references in the adverts to 'Mastercraft' and 'Masterpiece', both with a capital 'M'. This may possibly suggest that Kleinig's vans went under the brand or model name of Mastercraft (or less likely Masterpiece).

The steel construction of the vans was said to provide 'strength, lightness and beauty'. It was also claimed to make them 'heatproof, condensation proof, sound proof', all of which seems to be a bit counter-intuitive for an all-steel caravan. However, the exterior was described as 'fully polished veneered with chrome windows'. I'm not sure what 'veneered' means in this context, but perhaps it refers to being double skinned or some type of insulation which would assist with heat, condensation and sound proofing. In addition to the fully polished veneered exterior, the vans apparently also had an ‘astounding new interior finish’. Regrettably there is no suggestions as to what made it so astounding.

Some or all of Kleinig's caravans were sizeable, with references to them being 23 ft long. That was a very large caravan for an era when other manufacturers' biggest vans were typically 14 ft or 16 ft. In comparison, for example, Caravan Park’s all-steel Superb model was only 13 ft 6 in in length.

Kleinig vans also featured eight windows – one advert claimed no less than 28 windows (possibly reflecting the length of the vans). The fittings included bow front furnishings - as opposed to 'built on the square' - best inner spring (mattress), stove, ice chest, two-way lighting, bath, stainless steel sink, fly screens and all windows opening. Intriguingly, the vans also featured a 'full roof forming "torpedo turret" [which] can be opened for complete airconditioning at the flick of the hand'. I'm not sure what this may have been unless it is a reference to a lantern roof of some type. If that is the case, perhaps that explains the claim of 28 windows if all the little windows down the side of the lantern roof were included? In addition to his vans, Kleinig supplied vans in any stage of construction to the home builder, and sold caravan components such as assemblies, braking systems, chassis and screw jacks.

Kleinig's adverts indicate that he also produced buses, parlour coaches, pantechnicons and motor caravans. (How long since you heard someone refer to a parlour coach or a pantechnicon?) A further ‘specialty’ was ‘motorised caravan chassis extensions’. What is more, Kleinig proudly claimed that his 'Mastercraft Productions' were also 'contractors for NSW Govenment'. These facts suggest to me that Kleinig may have been a coach builder who could see that caravans might become the 'in thing' after WW2, and sought to leverage his existing skills and plant to ride the wave he could see on the horizon. Maybe his experience in building buses and pantechnicons was what encouraged him to build vans of a greater length than was typical for the era.

Kleinig's adverts contain some bits of amazing doggerel (or possibly execrable doggerel, depending on your point of view). Take for example: ' Assuming you have seen the BEST, it may put your mind at REST by placing Kleinig's caravans to the TEST'. Unfortunately, despite all the hype in his advertisements, we do not know of any existing examples of Kleinig’s caravans and I have not come across any photographs. We can only guess what they may have looked like.

Don Ricardo

[cobber]

Well done Don R, although it should teach you not to get distracted from your real purpose when "Troveing"

I wonder if Vic Kleinig was related to Frank Kleinig, another Sydney identity who was a real get up and goer in the late 1930s up into the 1950s, racing driver and later modifier of car engine manifolds.... "The Twin Throat carburettor Specialists"....."Water vapour Injector", and a few other items that relied on a good sales pitch to validate them.
I reckon Frank could have written Vic's advertisements

Just another brand of caravan we need to find a photo of at least, aye?

( Never fear..... I'll delete this irrelevant post in a few days, if I remember )

Cobber.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Cobber,

Your comment about Frank Kleinig is interesting - when I was Trove-ing I noticed some adverts for Frank's products, and like you wondered if they might be related. Since both Kleinigs were involved in the motor trade I reckon it's a better than even chance that they were connected in some way.

So don't delete your post - it may provide a clue for somebody in the future when some more pieces of the Kleinig puzzle come to light.

Regarding photos - you wonder if we haven't seen a photo of a Kleinig van at some stage, but not been able to figure out what it was and gone for the default option: 'another home built van'!

At least having put together some info on Vic's vans, it may trigger a memory when and if we see a photo that fits the description.

Don Ricardo

[griffin]

Hi Don R

Interesting stuff on Mr. Kleinig, you might like this little item I had filed away from Feb 1950 Motor Manual. With nothing else relating to the name it I thought it was a one off type build.
It would seem the reference to a 'tandem type caravan' refers to the tow vehicle being a home unit too, and it all looks quite clean and modern given the year.
It would seem he was quite capable in the body building area by the look of the motor home and extending his portfolio to caravans.
He wasn't alone in featuring 'A' in his advertising, even in the 30s - he with the most 'A's was top of the particular advertising section.
It would make a nice outfit if you could find one.

George

[cobber]

G'day George,

That's incredible ...... I've seen your collection of stuff right ?

And how you could find anything as obscure as this photo amongst it at such short notice I don't know

Sad to relate, I was a "telegram boy" at Granville for a short period in 1954 and I'm sure I would have noticed Kleinig's Caravans in Blaxcell Road had they been there at that time... whether I would have taken any notice of them is doubtful so I can't be relied on to confirm if they were still there in 1954

Cobber.

[griffin]

Hi Cobber

Just goes to prove what they say,
"Organised people are just too lazy to look for things."

George

[Don Ricardo]

G'day Griffin,

That's a great item you've posted showing a couple of Vic Kleinig's vehicles. Thanks for putting it up. At least now we've got some idea what his vans (and buses) looked like.

I love it when we are able to build on each others discoveries on the forum!

I was a little perplexed by the phrase "tandem type caravan" in the article, given that the pic is of a bus and a single axle caravan. I've come to the conclusion that it is referring to the combined bus and caravan as a 'tandem unit'. Is that how you read it?

Don Ricardo