kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 9, 2021 13:08:00 GMT 10
Hi Hughdeany and Kenny, That's interesting to hear about the Golden Flyte vans. I quite like the styling - a bit different to the rectangular box approach. I did a bit of a Google search for Golden Flyte, but the only thing I came up with was references to Golden Falcon Flyte caravans in the US which were built by Glendale in Canada. My take out from that is that since Glendale owned the Golden Flyte name in North America, caravans built(?) and sold under that name in Australia probably came from Glendale in Queensland. Reasonable assumption? Kenny, since the Golden Flyte vans were built after the end of 1969, you won't find them listed in the DHL index. Normally they would be listed on our sister Classic Caravans forum, but I think it's not very active at the moment. In any case I can't find any reference to Golden Flyte there, so we will just have to wait for Hughdeany to provide more info when he's back home. Don Ricardo Ah yes, forgot about the 1969 threshold. Okie dokie
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kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 9, 2021 14:52:52 GMT 10
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Post by hughdeany on Jul 9, 2021 15:46:15 GMT 10
Hi Kenny, The top one could be a Litecraft,the second one no idea and the third one looks like a Qld built van that I can’t remember the name of! It looks like a Franklin Freeway at first glance but the top roll is too flattened and the centre window is too small. Cheers hughdeany
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 10, 2021 13:42:16 GMT 10
Hi Kenny and Hughdeany, Some more interesting photos to add to the 'pick this caravan' quiz. I'm going to disagree with Hughdeany regarding the van in the first photo. I don't think it's a Litecraft for a couple of reasons. First, the 50's bondwood Litecrafts had a quite distinctive slope to their rooves from front to back and most often a rounded rear end. The van in the photo is quite rectangular in shape without the pronounced slope to the roof. Second, Litecraft adopted full width front windows quite early on, but the van in the photo only has the single, centre window. Third, Litecraft vans had rectangular wheel arches, normally with rounded corners, but the van in the photo has teardrop shaped wheel arches. Fourth, I have never seen this style of paint treatment on a Litecraft (although of course this could have been added by an owner at some point). Having said that I don't think it's a Litecraft, I'm not sure what it might be otherwise at this point. You will see what I'm basing my comments on if you look at the Litecrafts here. The van in the third photo is a Millard Deluxe from around 1961. The identifying features are the shape of the bulkhead over the front windows, the style of the front windows themselves (the centre window in particular, as Hughdeany commented), the length of the towel rail under the front windows (less than full width), and lastly the early-ish Millard brand decal just visible on the bulkhead above the front windows. You can see another example of this model here. This doesn't show you the actual central front window, but you can see another example with the window here, although this one has a slightly later brand decal. As for the van in the second photo, I agree with Hughdeany...no idea!! Don Ricardo
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kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 10, 2021 14:23:57 GMT 10
Thanks gents, knowing the 3rd one is a Millard Deluxe taught me something and another unidentified caravan photo has been identified. Thank you sirs.
Regards kenny
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Post by hughdeany on Jul 10, 2021 17:47:31 GMT 10
Hi Don, Of course it’s a Millard! I was waiting for it to slap me in the face! Litecraft I will agree with you,it’s not! The other one with the curved stone shields and later model stoneguard on the window is still a conundrum! Cheers hughdeany Ps Kenny keep them coming,love seeing the old pics.😉
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kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 10, 2021 18:12:42 GMT 10
Thanks gents, so to summarise that last pack its 1) ? 2) ? 3) Millard Deluxe. Next: think I've got Don cornered on this one, its got to be a pre 1970 caravan, but "Reliance" is not in the Index. Thoughts?
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kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 10, 2021 18:36:50 GMT 10
I heard "keep them coming", thank you, here are two more (the 2nd and 3rd are related) Regards kenny PS there is something bursting to get out of that garage!
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kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 10, 2021 21:55:17 GMT 10
Now we settled on this one as a Golden Flyte: But we didn't settle on this one, although it shows some similar Golden Flyte traits, ie 'eyebrows' look the same but in different locations. THoughts?
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 10, 2021 22:55:42 GMT 10
Next: think I've got Don cornered on this one, its got to be a pre 1970 caravan, but "Reliance" is not in the Index. Thoughts? Hi Kenny, One of the things we've found on the forum is that we keep discovering caravan manufacturers/brands that are new to us. We've got the "big boys" (and girls) pretty well covered, but it's the smaller manufacturers that keep popping up and surprising us! But it's partly what makes the historical stuff so interesting, at least for people like me. All of which is to say that we haven't come across a Reliance branded caravan on the forum before, and I can't find any reference to that brandname in any of the usual places (eg the Trove search engine which accesses Australian newspapers). I agree with you though that it does look like a 1960's van. It may be a new brandname/manufacturer to us, or it could a name put on some other type of van by its owner. Still, we'll catalogue it and see if anything else emerges over time. One of the strange things about the forum is that a name pops up, and then often within weeks other references to that name are found. Don Ricardo
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 10, 2021 23:07:34 GMT 10
I heard "keep them coming", thank you, here are two more (the 2nd and 3rd are related) Regards kenny PS there is something bursting to get out of that garage! Hi Kenny, Regarding these three photos, I've got nothing on the first one - I don't recognise the brand name decal above the back window, if that's what it is. The last two photos are interesting. Olympic used Ford Falcon tail lights like the one in the photos on some of its very late 50's and/or 60's aluminium caravans. You can see some examples on this page. The van in the photos does have a touch of the Olympic aluminiums about it, particularly below the rear window, but doesn't match either of the 'Falcon tail light aluminium Olympics' we know about. However our knowledge of the pre-fibreglass Olympics is not complete, and it is possible that they produced aluminium clad models we haven't yet identified, and this is one of them. It's also possible that the owner of this van thought it would be pretty cool to add some Falcon tail lights to his caravan, and did. Don Ricardo
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kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 11, 2021 21:28:23 GMT 10
Ok thanks all, its highly likely to be an Olympic then.
I'll load up another three for consideration.
Thanks again gents.
Regards kenny
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kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 11, 2021 21:32:44 GMT 10
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 11, 2021 21:50:56 GMT 10
Hi Kenny, I can only identify one of the last three at the moment. The middle photo is a Franklin Arrow Penthouse from the 70's. You can seen an example here. It won the prize for aerodynamics that year... Just kidding! Apparently not many were sold. I should be able to recognise the sticker on the third van, but it won't come at the moment. Hughdeany may be able to pick it. Don Ricardo
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 11, 2021 21:52:14 GMT 10
Ok thanks all, its highly likely to be an Olympic then. I'll load up another three for consideration. Thanks again gents. Regards kenny Hi Kenny, I think I'd say 'possibly' rather than 'highly likely'. Don Ricardo
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 11, 2021 21:59:39 GMT 10
Now we settled on this one as a Golden Flyte: View AttachmentBut we didn't settle on this one, although it shows some similar Golden Flyte traits, ie 'eyebrows' look the same but in different locations. View AttachmentTHoughts? Hi Kenny, We'll have to work on this one. If the Golden Flyte was produced by Glendale there won't be any link between the two vans because Glendale only started in 1970 and the unknown bondwood is definitely pre-1960. It doesn't look like it's from any of the major Queensland brands from the 50's such as Chesney, Litecraft, Trail-A-Home, Orford, Arrow or Athol Hedges, etc. Of course it could have been built interstate, but that opens up the possibilities many fold! Don Ricardo
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kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 11, 2021 22:11:30 GMT 10
Hi Kenny, I can only identify one of the last three at the moment. The middle photo is a Franklin Arrow Penthouse from the 70's. You can seen an example here. It won the prize for aerodynamics that year... Just kidding! Apparently not many were sold. I should be able to recognise the sticker on the third van, but it won't come at the moment. Hughdeany may be able to pick it. Don Ricardo lol, agree, looks very awkward! The third one, should I be a betting man, i'd hazard a guess as a Murrumba Star, see what Hughdeany says..... Regards kenny
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Post by hughdeany on Jul 12, 2021 19:33:03 GMT 10
Hi men,yes it’s a Murrumba Star,can’t tell the first one though,and I think the Franklin Penthouse is the first one I’ve seen in a house yard!Most people loved em but not many bought em!😉 Cheers hughdeany
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kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 12, 2021 22:07:10 GMT 10
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 13, 2021 0:18:34 GMT 10
Hi Kenny, An immediate response on the third of your latest photos, is that the van is an 8ft, NZ built Crusader Pixie. You can see photos of another one of these here. Crusader vans were sold (and some built) in Australia for a period in the 60’s and 70’s. Don Ricardo
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Post by hughdeany on Jul 13, 2021 8:46:16 GMT 10
Hi Kenny, The top one looks like a Franklin / Panorama bondwood going by the shape ,middle one looks home made been re clad in silver aluminium,and yes,a Crusader Pixie in the bottom pic. Cheers hughdeany
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Post by Roehm3108 on Jul 13, 2021 9:03:16 GMT 10
Hi folk Just to let Kenny know that this thread is not just being followed by the terrible duo, but others of us as well. Very interesting conversations. To make a social observation, there aren't too many yards with caravans in them that have pristine gardens, or even any gardens for that matter. As well, it's quite interesting that a lot of these caravans sit in what look like housing commission house yards. Were these caravans a means of "escaping" from the terrors of what some of these areas used to be, at more regular intervals than just annual holidays?
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Post by grandad on Jul 13, 2021 10:24:23 GMT 10
Good point Roehm Add me to the list enjoying every minute of this thread. I'm sure there are many more.
Jim
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kenny
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Post by kenny on Jul 13, 2021 19:06:50 GMT 10
Thanks Jim and Roehm3108, I'm glad you and others are enjoying it too, that's great! I do some community radio work and people say to me "kenny how many listeners do you have" and I say "we put a man on the moon in 1968, but we still can't tell how many digital receivers are tuned into our frequency". That said, we can see the number listening in online. Here is a nicer photo showing a yard, house, car and van that look like their diving happily into their holiday rather than escaping! Note to self: show some of the prettier ones even if the manufacturer is known. regards kenny
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