DON CARAVAN

[don536]

Hi, I have a Don caravan no 536, it’s originally a Public Works Department van and I purchased it back in about 1982/83 for $125 when the government were selling them off.
My dad and 3 other men used to go away in them in the early 50’s and beyond ( all worked for Public Works) for weeks on end...
In the late 70’s early 80’s they were used for site sheds and lunchrooms on construction sites I worked on, still Public Works..

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Don536,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for telling us about your PWD Don. Sounds like you got a bargain! We paid my mother $250 for our Don 140 in 1982, so double the price of yours!

As you may be aware, your model was the 'utility' model and was called the Model 121, reflecting the fact that it was 12 feet long, and based on the four-berth Model 120 'holiday' caravan.

You're the first person on the forum to tell us that you have a Don 121, and while there are quite a lot of Don's still around, I think most of the 121's were probably worn into the ground. So your van is a rarity.

We'd love to see some photos of your van. There are instructions on how to post photos if you click here.   The easiest way is to use the 'Add Attachment' button, but if you find it a bit hard to work out how to do it, yell out and we'll help you. Or you can email me some photos and I'll post them for you. Whichever way it happens I'd love to see your van, because as you may have guessed I have a particular interest in Don caravans. In fact there are a few forum members who are also attached to their Dons.

Don Ricardo

[don536]

Thank you Don Ricardo for your visit , looking forward to seeing the photos up. It was also a joy to see your “DON” ....Heather

[Don Ricardo]

Mar 7, 2021 15:55:17 GMT 10 don536 said:

Hi, I have a Don caravan no 536, it’s originally a Public Works Department van and I purchased it back in about 1982/83 for $125 when the government were selling them off.
My dad and 3 other men used to go away in them in the early 50’s and beyond ( all worked for Public Works) for weeks on end...
In the late 70’s early 80’s they were used for site sheds and lunchrooms on construction sites I worked on, still Public Works..

Evening all,

Following Don536's post we got in contact and I was astonished to find that we live less than 2 kilometres from each other! Don536 invited me around to see her caravan and we had a great time checking it out, discussing the features of the Don 121 'utility' or commercial caravans, and talking about the joys of caravanning in a Don. (If you've never tried it then you won't know what we we're talking about. )

Don536 showed me lots of photos of her van as well as some photos of the vans that her father had stayed in and she has very generously allowed me to post some of them on her behalf. Her caravan as well as her photos told us quite a lot about the particular features of Don's 121 model, and I have written up a post on the 'Down History Lane' Don thread here recording what we discovered.

Some of Don536's photos were taken by her father when he was working for the Victorian Public Works Department (PWD) and show the Don caravans on-site. This photo shows three Dons on location:



Several other interesting photos taken by Don536's father are shown in the DHL post.

Following family holidays in some of the PWD vans and then having used some of the vans when she was working for the PWD herself, Don536 developed quite an affection for the old vans. So, as she told us in her initial post, when the Dons were being auctioned off by the PWD in 1982 she put in a bid for one and acquired her van with the serial number of 536. The serial number indicates that it was built in 1950:



These photos show the van after it was brought home after the auction and also shows the tongue used for towing the van behind a PWD truck:

Some additional photos of the caravan just after purchase are shown in the DHL post. 

At some point during its time with the PWD, the van had been clad with aluminium - flat sheet on the roof and post-1964 multi-strand ribbed cladding on the sides, front and rear. The leadlight window glass was also replaced with plain glass.

Over the years Don536 used her caravan extensively for holidays, family accommodation for a period, and then as a study place for her children.

These photos show the van in the snow when Don536 was living in Kinglake, in the mountains north of Melbourne:





This photo also looks as if it was taken at Kinglake:



The caravan had a few different paint jobs over the years, and the following photos show some of those as well as the van being used on holidays by Don536 and her family:

The ribbed cladding on the side can be clearly seen in this photo of Don6536 with her daughter:

The walls of the van have now been painted in the reddish brown colour visible in the serial number photo above, and the caravan has been laid up for a period. Photos of the current interior of the van can be seen in the DHL post.

Don536 is now planning to refurbish the caravan and to use it for some touring holidays, and I for one look forward to seeing it out on the road again.

Thanks to Don536 for allowing me to see her van, and to post her photos on her behalf.

Don Ricardo

[don536]

Thank you again Don Ricardo for putting this up on the site for me, very much appreciated...Heather