COMMERCIAL&NON TOURING CARAVANS BUILT OR MODIFIED POST 1970

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Stevej,

Very interesting to read your comments about what is involved in restoring the toasters. Hopefully your post will encourage a few people to have a go. The process doesn't sound as difficult as many - including me - might have thought.

Sounds like the videos will be a great help as well. Well done on what you are achieving with your business, and in sharing your knowledge.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Photo of a Carapark Astronaut food van published in the Melbourne Age today (25 October 2016, page 1) as an illustration for an article on the preparations for the horse races at Flemington this weekend:


(Source: Link to the photo on The Age website)

The van looks to be the same one as shown here.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Today, Jennison sent me a photo for us to see of a camouflaged Franklin he saw on a military range where he was working this week.  That's Jennison in the photo:



I'm taking a punt that the van was modified for Army use after 1970, hence why I am posting it on this thread. But who knows, perhaps it was purchased new by the Army and has been in use ever since? Maybe Jennison will be able to tell us...

With it's camouflage paint job, perhaps its been "hiding in plain sight" ever since it rolled out of the Franklin factory? Hughdeani will probably be able to tell us the model and year.

Don Ricardo

[Geoff & Jude]

i can see jenno in the picture but where is the van you're talking about.

geoff 'n jude

[cobber]

I knew it, He who hesitates gets a good idea pinched 

I am gunna,  .. I will do it ... I will paint the war surplus van in Camo, I will ,  and I must remember to paint the awning poles too because they give the location of the van away in this photo Geoff 

If you have anymore details about this van Jenno I'd like to hear all about it.

Cobber.

[Jennison]

Unfortunately I cannot (and will not) be able to expand any further on its location or use but you can imagine my surprise😳 to find a vintage van being used by army, but remember this is not a first!
The army has a long association with vintage vanning, with the dual axle hospital caravan built by Jennison for army during WW2 (even if they weren't quite vintage back then!) Pity I didn't find one of those in the scrub!!!!
Jenno

[stevej]

Another van saved and back on the road.

Before

After

[Roehm3108]

THAT IS SIMPLY AWESOME!!!! WELL DONE!!

[stevej]

I know these vans hold little interest to most other forum members but I will keep posting them to illustrate progressive re-purposing as a viable option to promote the preservation of these terrific little vans.  We are still unable to find paying customers prepared to have these vans restored for touring, so sadly we will continue giving them a monetary value as commercial concerns to ensure they are not junked and scrapped.  This approach does appear to be working across the vintage Carapark market as prices for the toasters continue to climb as their profile and hence demand is increasing.

Here we have  another 10/9 Carapark restored in my workshop.  This post 1957 van had very interesting original leather grain finish on the lower panels, older adaption of the rear window and a little rear bumper added previously, we left these on as it is part of the evolving history of the van and we liked the appearance also.  Set up as a bar van for a handmade soft drink business, another wreck back on the road.

[willies]

They do come up very well. Don't forget the tyre black. Lol

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Stevej,

Beautiful work on the 10/9.

I find the different combination of window sizes and shapes on some of the Carapark toasters quite intriguing. Whether people could specify the window size and arrangement when they ordered a van, or Carapark just stuck in whatever windows they felt like at the time, is quite an interesting question. I've seen a couple of vans with the narrow side window on this one, as well as some little 10/9's that have almost no windows at all.

I'm also intrigued by the roofline on this latest van of yours, with the slope down towards the rear. Is that something you added, or was it already on the van when you found it?

Don Ricardo

[stevej]

Don

The rear windows and bumper on this van were an older adaption, I suspect done in the 70's or later to match a vw split screen tow car, the tail light footprint was VW also but the lights were missing so I am not 100% sure. I left the rear windows and bumper as I found them, I quite like the look and it is part of the vans history. Strangely Carapark stuck with the fixed rear window for their entire toaster production, but given the prevalence of dirt roads back then I understand why they made this decision. We convert the rear windows to open in all our vans.

The sloped roof is an original feature of post 1957 10/9s (and 12/9's), they are very low in the rear interior, I would surmise the bed went there which reduced the need for head room (?). I am yet to find a flat roofed pot 57. The 55/56 always have the flat roof.

This 'slit side window' is a post 1957 feature also, although the more standard 'rectangular rear side and forward porthole window' did persist after 57. I have an early 55 that has no rear window, the narrow front window (as found on all vans pre 57) and only standard single side windows. It has the standard 55/56 flat panel door (none venting), it is the earliest 55 I have come across, very plain little van. All post 57 vans had the opening screen door inserts in the door and a larger rectangular roof hatch (as opposed to the smaller square roof hatch of 55/56 van), this would have improved the cross flow ventilation greatly. I can really see constant ongoing design evolution in these vans, it is quite interesting, I suspect if the interiors survived a similar evolution would be apparent and we would be able to date them between 57 and 61/62 by the design evolution's

Steve

[stevej]

Mar 17, 2017 6:50:08 GMT 10 willies said:

Don't forget the tyre black. Lol

Ha yes,my farm/workshop are on a little country dirt road, all my vans have grubby feet :-) I was also in a hurry to take the photo as it was about to pour rain (yet again) and I wanted the van back under cover as rain and freshly polished Toasters are not freinds.

[stevej]

This is my waiting room at the moment

[stevej]

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXy9z8PnGsBvwFFenN2yen_aduxjsmTvK

This is a link to the YouTube page I have developed to illustrate restoration techniques I have developed specific to Carapark caravans. This info is useful to anyone doing a Carapark as it deals with all the inherit issues of them that need to be dealt with in touring van restorations also. This playlist is specific to a commercial conversion which still remains the bulk of our paid work so I have stuck it in this thread so not to upset the purists.

Cheers'
Steve

[kenny]

A nice Tourist Information Caravan!

Caption says "The caravan was purchased by the Rotary Club of Nambour and initially handed over to the Sunshine Coast Promotion Bureau in March 1970 for use in promotion activities - first on the Sunshine Coast and later for a promotional tour of New South Wales and Victoria. It was specially equipped as a mobile office and information centre. The Rotary Club transferred the ownership of the caravan to the Sunshine Coast Promotion Bureau in May 1972."

Then

Next Photo Caption "The Sunshine Coast Promotion Bureau's caravan (provided by the Rotary Club of Nambour), was hoisted by crane onto a pole seven and a half metres above the ground in Currie Street, Nambour. Dave Kennedy and another member of the Nambour Jaycees occupied the caravan for seven days, commencing 5 June 1970, to raise money through a telephone appeal for the Nambour Chapter of Project Concern - an international organisation serving the world's under-developed centres.

(both photos Ack Sunshine Coast Regional Council Library)