Paramount Caravans [Ferryden Park, SA - Post WWII]

[aussieambo]

Paramount Caravans  (Post World War II)

92 Islington Road
Ferryden Park, SA

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There appear to have been three independent manufacturers in two different states that produced caravans under the 'Paramount' brandname:

* South Australia - pre-World War II click here
* South Australia - post-World War II (this thread)
* Victoria - click here

Early in the life of the Vintage Caravans Forum we were of the view that the post-War South Australian Paramount caravans were built by the pre-War South Australian company. However, recent research has revealed that the pre-War company was declared bankrupt in 1937, and W H Willshire who had built the caravans, was killed during the war. That indicates that the post-War South Australian company was a separate entity, even if it may intentionally or unintentionally have revived the Paramount name.

There seems to be no link at all between the Victorian Paramount caravans and those built in South Australia. However, if anyone has information which shows a connection between the manufacturers in different states, we will combine the threads.

Don Ricardo

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My wife found this picture while looking through some slides that her parents had scanned off.

I am assuming that this brand new (and very shiny) Paramount caravan was from the South Australian manufacturer, as this picture was most probably taken at Port Augusta, in the mid 60's.

Looks like it is on it's way to the new owners, the PMG.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Thanks to Aussieambo for posting the photo of the shiny new Paramount caravan in the post immediately above. That's some further confirmation of the continuation of the South Australian Paramount brand into the 60's. The van in question appears to be a Carapark van branded as a Paramount.

The interesting thing is that we have plenty of evidence of the beautiful art deco styled Paramount caravans built by William Willshire before World War 2 (see higher up this thread). We also know that Carapark purchased the Paramount factory in Adelaide in 1960. However, we have had no information about what happened between the beginning of WW2 and 1960.

Recently Raym provided me with an advertisement for the South Australian Caravan Centre company which appeared in the 1958 edition of Winser (see full advertisement here).

The advert included a photo of a Paramount caravan:


(Source: Keith Winser, Australian Caravan and Touring Manual, Book 10, 1958, p 99)

And this entry appeared in the 1958 Adelaide Pink Pages directory:


(Source: Adelaide Pink Pages, 1958, p 22)

A similar advert for Paramount also appeared in the 1959 but not the 1960 Pink Pages.

Digging around the forum after looking at the above photo from the Caravan Centre advert, I came across the following photos of a 1956 Paramount van which were posted on the forum in 2006 by former forum member TCB here:















Comparing the photos of TCB's van with the Paramount advert pic, it would appear that TCB's van is the 12 ft model while the van in the advert pic is the 15 ft model. But the vans clearly share the same design. Note the:

• side profile
  
• relatively flat front
  
• distinct corner where the front panel meets the floor line, but the smooth join where the rear panel of the van just curves into the floor line at the back
  
• very angular external wheel arches

It is also evident that these vans were built by the South Australian Paramount company and not the Victorian Paramount company, because the Victorian vans were very different in design in the mid 50's, as shown by the following advert for a 1956 Victorian van:


(Source: Keith Winser, Australian Caravan & Touring Manual for 1956, p 122)

So, we now have some evidence that the South Australian Paramount company was still building caravans in the mid to late 50's, and we know a bit more about TCB's van. But - we don't know what Paramount was doing in the 40's after the end of WW2 - when did they recommence production? Did they continue the pre-War design? And was William Willshire, who built the lovely Paramount vans in the 30's, still involved with the company after WW2.

Some more information still to be found!

I must say finding and linking together little snippets of info such as the above, and gradually piecing together the story of the some of the early caravan builders, is one of the most exciting things for me about the forum.

Thanks once again to Raym for providing the advertising material about Paramount which is the basis of this post.

Don Ricardo

[stephen&Julie]

Hi,
Says Paramount across the front, needs TLC but hay not all that many around











Cheers S&J

[Don Ricardo]

(This post and the one above were originally posted on the DHL Victorian Paramount thread here and should be read in that context.)

Hi S&J,

Another interesting find - but possibly not as roadworthy as some you've come across.

The van you've found looks to be the same as the Paramount van listed on Ebuy in July 2010 (now posted here). However, seeing the side of the van you found has made me wonder whether these two vans don't belong to the South Australian Paramount stable, rather than the Victorian one. I'm basing that on the facts that:

• The shape fits better with that of many South Australian vans (think Harris and King, for example) than with Victorian vans of the early 60's era (think Franklin and Roma).
• The shape could easily be a more modern development of the SA Paramounts shown higher up this thread.
• The shape of the wheel arch is more similar to that on SA Paramounts than it is to Victorian Paramounts (ie not as high).

Having looked at the van you found in the flesh, what do you think?

Interestingly enough, we know that Carapark bought the SA Paramount factory in 1960, so if these two vans (the one you found and the Ebuy one) are SA Paramounts that might indicate that the SA firm continued to produce their own vans for a while before turning over to producing Caraparks, such as the Newline which came out of the Adelaide factory in 1963.

Anyway I'm interested in your comments about the van you found in relation to what I've suggested.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Photos of a 16 foot Paramount advertised on Ebuy in July 2010

Note:  These photos were originally posted on the Victorian Paramount thread here, but as we have learnt more about the Paramount vans built independently in South Australia and Victoria it has become clear that this van is almost certainly a 1960's South Australian Paramount.









Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Photos of a South Australian Paramount caravan listed on Gumtree in August 2019

The seller indicated that the van was built in 1962 which would fit the styling and features. We know that Carapark bought the South Australian Paramount company in 1960, so this van would apparently have have been built during the Carapark era. The intriguing thing about the van is that on the side is some signage which says 'Roadmaster 15 Deluxe'. Roadmaster was a quite different company in South Australia at the time, which was building caravans with a quite distinctive and consistent style, very different to this Paramount. And surely with Roadmaster being the competition, Paramount wouldn't have labelled one of their models a 'Roadmaster'...would they?

Maybe there's another link that is yet to be discovered?





















Don Ricardo

[hughdeany]

Hi Don,
That van certainly has all the quirks of a Roadmaster,including the cupboard arrangement,wardrobe,and especially the outside aluminium work.
I would suggest they did build for Paramount,maybe that’s another badge engineering job?
Cheers
hughdeany

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Hughdeany,

That’s an intriguing observation. The Gumtree van is definitely the same design and with the same fittings as two other vans higher up this thread which are clearly branded as Paramounts, but your comment about a possible link with Roadmaster is really interesting. It had occurred to me that the placement and style of the Roadmaster signwriting on the side was very typical of Roadmaster. Maybe Lazza can help us with a bit of history if we can track him down.

Actually there is a bit of rethinking and research needs to be done regarding this Paramount thread. We have been working on the assumption that the 1950’s and1960’s South Australian Paramount caravans were somehow a continuation of the Paramount caravans built by W H Willshire in the 1930’s. However, I have recently been doing some collaborative research with another caravan historian, and we have discovered that Willshire was declared bankrupt and had to close his business in 1938. He then subsequently died during World War II. There is then a gap in the production of Paramount caravans until the mid 50’s. So that now suggests that somebody else in the 50’s started building caravans which were branded as Paramounts. The 50’s Paramount outfit then was bought by Carapark in 1960, and now we are saying that there may have been a connection between the 50’s/60’s Paramounts and Roadmaster. Sounds like a complicated story!

Don Ricardo