Prestige Furniture Folding Caravan (Melbourne, Vic)

[Don Ricardo]

PRESTIGE FURNITURE FOLDING CARAVAN ("FUGLY")

Manufactured by Ken Scarff
Prestige Furniture Factory
Melbourne, Vic

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The photos which follow are of a folding caravan owned for a number of years by forum member Sutcac, and nicknamed "Fugly". Before being sold recently (2014), "Fugly" graced many Vintage Caravan events and many pages of this forum, and almost for that reason alone deserves its own thread in the 'Down History Lane' section, or at least in the 'Hall of Fame' section of the forum. However, in fact, according to the Sutcacs, their folding caravan is the only remaining example of five built in the 1960's by Ken Scarff at the Prestige Furniture Factory.

As can be seen from the photos, the caravan incorporates three foldout sections:

















The specifications of the van as described by Sutcac are as follows:

CONSTRUCTION: Measures 6'x8' and 16'x10 unfolded, 7.8' tall(2350mm) Lightweight ply construction using ingenious cantilevered engineering to provide 2x double beds and 4 seater dinette. Ample cupboard/hanging space /storage. Large aluminium framed windows and large wind up hatch provides for excellent cross ventilation. Steel chassis running early Holden 13" wheels. Van weighs 480kg. 650kg laden and has been successfully towed by 2.0L four cylinder car and a variety of older classic vehicles.

It would be interesting to know whether the folding caravans were Ken Scarff's 'private project', or whether they were an attempt by Prestige Furniture to break into the 'leisure market'. Sutcac may be able to tell us this?

One of the always intriguing things about "Fugly" when it was in the Sutcac's care, was that it was regularly re-painted to match its current tow vehicle (of which there were quite a few!). The photos below show "Fugly" in several of its guises, and also show it when the van was folded for travel:







The above photos are from the Ebay listing for "Fugly" when it was sold in September 2014. To read and enjoy more about some of the caravan's travels with the Sutcacs click here.

[mezmo]

Thanks,Don Ricardo,for including these pics and background on the Prestige Furniture's Folding caravan,
aka "Fugly", in its own thread in the DHL section. The pics of it in the Expandavan DHL thread got lost in
the transition to the new photobucket set up. It's great to see them here again , archived hopefully for posterity.
It is one of the most ingenious caravan designs I've ever come across. It also looks like it was meticulously
built by Mr.Scharff. It had to have been so to have survived all these well traveled years. And Kudos to the
Sutcac's, and any prior owners, for the outstanding maintenance and preservation they have given it over the
years. I hope the new owners will treasure it as much as they did while they own it.

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Mezmo,

Thanks for your post and encouragement regarding the thread on the Sutcac's 'Fugly' van.

Fugly has been such a constant on the forum for so many years, that I thought that when the Sutcacs parted with it, it deserved a thread of its own because the van represented part of the heritage of the forum itself. However, then reading the info about the history of the van that Sutcac included with his Ebay advert, and the fact that it was one of five produced, I also realised that Fugly and its counterparts from the Prestige Furniture enterprise represented a genuine part of Australian caravan history which needed to be acknowledged in the DHL section.

Don Ricardo