Corlett (Norwood, South Australia)

[Don Ricardo]

CORLETT

Manufacturer: Walter F Corlett
Stephen Street, Norwood, South Australia

---

The following photo of a Corlett caravan appeared in an advertisement for the Caravan Centre in the 1958 edition of Winser (see full advertisement here).



At first sight the Corlett van appears very similar in shape and design to a Rowvan. Note for example the apparent lack of external wheel arches, a la Rowvan. However, by comparing the photo of the Corlett with a photo of a Rowvan that appeared in the same Caravan Centre advert (immediately following), it is evident that there are some subtle but important differences:

• The widest part of the curve on the rear of the Corlett is in the bottom half, whereas on the Rowvan it is in the middle. This is even more evident if you look at the pic of a Rowvan side on (see photo at the bottom of this post).
  
• The rear of the Corlett curves in more at the top towards the roof than on the Rowvan.
  
• The roofline of the Corlett at the front (and presumably the back) has a noticeably higher curve side to side than the Rowvan.
  
• The front of the Corlett curves in less at the bottom than on the Rowvan.
  
• The Corlett had two separate windows at the front while by 1958, Rowvan had changed to a single wide window.
  
• The hatch on the Corlett is centred while on the Rowvan it is placed to the rear of centre (evident from the pic of the Rowvan below).
  
• There is a subtle difference in the placement of the porthole and rear side windows on the two vans.
  
• The jockey wheel winder on the Corlett has twin handles, while the Rowvan only has a single handle (compare with Rowvan photo below).
  
• The Corlett advert says that the vans come in 12 ft, 14 ft and 16ft sizes, while the Rowvan advert states that they come in 10 ft, 12 ft and 15ft sizes.

On the basis of these differences, I am inclined to think that the Corlett was not built by Rowvan, but by another independent South Australian manufacturer.

Back in 2009 Vantoura mentioned Corlett as a separate brand when discussing South Australian built caravans, so perhaps he has some info that can assist us?

Thanks to Raym for providing this information to be posted.

Photo of Vantoura's Rowvan for comparison purposes:

[Don Ricardo]

Aug 25, 2013 16:03:05 GMT 10 Don Ricardo said:

The following photo of a Corlett caravan appeared in an advertisement for the Caravan Centre in the 1958 edition of Winser (see full advertisement here).

Hi V V sleuths,

The following caravan has been advertised as a Globe on Ebay on and off for a couple of months, but I am wondering if it may be one of the elusive Corletts, as shown above? My reasons for asking this question are set out below the photos...















I am assuming that the van has been 'updated' with the aluminium cladding and aluminium windows, but that the overall shape and profile remain unchanged from the original. On that basis, the van is very evidently not a Globe. It does not match any of the shapes of the models produced by Globe, and no Globe caravans had a double cambered roof.

As I pondered the pics of the van, my first thought was that it is a re-clad Rowvan, however by comparing it with the photo of Roehm3107's former Rowvan below, I have concluded that it isn't one of those either:







The Ebay van and the Rowvan share a number of features, including a similar general shape, a double cambered roof and no wheel arches.  However, my reasons for thinking that the Ebay van is not a Rowvan are as follows:

• The widest part of the curve on the rear of the Ebay is in the bottom half, whereas on the Rowvan it is typically in the middle.
• The rear of the Ebay van curves in more at the top towards the roof than on the Rowvan.
• The camber of the roof from side to side on the Ebay van when seen from the front and the back is noticeably greater (ie a larger upward curve) than on the Rowvan, which has a quite gentle camber at the front and almost none at the back.
  
• The front of the Ebay van curves in less at the bottom than on the Rowvan.
• The Ebay van does not have the characteristic stove alcove of the Rowvan, but instead has the galley wide alcove incorporating both the stove area and the sink.
• The Ebay van does not appear to have a Tudor ceiling, which the Rowvan has.
  

If these points differentiate the Ebay van from a Rowvan, the first four all seem to me to make the Ebay van identical or very similar to the Corlett caravan shown at the beginning of this post.  Of course, we don't know what the Corlett looked like inside, but these are the reasons why I am thinking that the Ebay van may be a re-clad Corlett.

I am interested in what you other V V sleuths think.

Incidentally the seller states that the van is 12 ft long, which is a pretty standard length, but also is one of the sizes produced by Corlett.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

One of the great pleasures of vintage caravan events is that you unexpectedly meet people with all sorts of fascinating information to share!

At the recent 2021 Vintage Caravan Nationals in Victor Harbor, I was delighted to meet Wayne Corlett, who is the son of the person who built Corlett caravans. Wayne lives in Victor Harbor, and after we were started chatting buzzed back to his house to get some photos to show me.

Corlett is one of those South Australian manufacturers whom we previously have known very little about, apart from perhaps the name and a single photo.  Corlett vans were built by Walter (Wally) Frederick Corlett, who was born in 1917. According to Wayne, Wally returned from World War II and took on a number of jobs. He was very skilled with his hands and in the mid-50's decided to start building caravans in a factory in Stephen Street, Norwood. Production began in around 1957.

Sadly production only occurred for a couple of years before the factory burnt down. Wally also had an interest in race horses, and his horse also perished in the blaze. The fire resulted in Wally being declared bankrupt.

After the loss of the factory, Wally Corlett again took on a variety of jobs but was killed when he was struck by a truck in 1962, aged just 45. So the Corlett story is quite a tragic one.

Wayne was quite a young boy when he lost his dad, so doesn't remember a lot about him, and doesn't know a great deal about the caravan manufacturing enterprise. However he was very happy for me to share his photos on the forum.

This photo is a little out of focus, but shows a Corlett caravan of the same type as seen in the photo higher up this thread:



This photo was probably taken on the same occasion and is a little faded and water marked, but still interesting:



The third photo is clearer but shows only part of the van - but note the Corlett signage on the side:



The design of this van is very similar to the Rowvans of the same era, and a casual look might suggest that Corlett vans were built by Rowvan. However there are a number of subtle design differences which I have analysed in the posts higher up this thread. The differences I have mentioned are born out by Wayne's photos, and the two brands are clearly different.

Following are some photos of one or more Corlett vans, one of which at least is of a later design:

It was fabulous to meet Wayne and to hear a little bit about his father's history and involvement in the South Australian caravan industry. It is also good now to record a little about the man who built the Corlett caravans.

Thanks to Wayne for taking the time to visit the Nationals and for allowing me to post the above photos.

Don Ricardo

[sportsman 1]

Fantastic news and photos DR, it is not every day something new pops up - but when it does it is great to be involved in research and something like this appears from nowhere, must be very satisfying for you.

Keep up the good work!