Don Caravans (Oakleigh, Vic)

[2sneezles]

hello our Don has an aluminium guard attached over the plywood in the front and goes half way up it looks like its always been there. did the 1948 don come out that way also does anyone have the correct colors for the outside we want to get it back to the original colors its a soft pink and creme inside
thanks

[Don Ricardo]

Aug 27, 2017 9:40:30 GMT 10 2sneezles said:

hello our Don has an aluminium guard attached over the plywood in the front and goes half way up it looks like its always been there. did the 1948 don come out that way also does anyone have the correct colors for the outside we want to get it back to the original colors its a soft pink and creme inside
thanks

For anyone interested, the correct paint colours for post-War Don caravans can be found higher up this thread here. This info has just been updated because some of the original paint is no longer available or provided the incorrect shade.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Once you get immersed into how a particular caravan manufacturer built their vans you begin to notice all sorts of little variations which have occurred along the way.

This evening I was looking at a couple of photos Cobber posted back in 2010, that show the scene at the first RACV caravan rally held in 1937 at Barwon Heads in Victoria:





The photos are fascinating because they show a variety of the caravans that were out and about in the late 1930's, some of which we've been able to identify here.  The caravans in the bottom left hand corner of the first photo, and the bottom right hand corner of the second photo are both Dons, and probably the same van, just from different ends.

What suddenly struck me for the first time - even though it had been staring me in the face all along - is that the door on the caravan is hung on the left, ie it is hinged towards the front of the van.  Inspection of a few more photos  and adverts shows that this was apparently the norm on the "small" (10 ft 100 model and 12 ft 6 in 120 model) pre-War Dons.  For example, this photo of a Don 100 taken in 1938 shows a van with its door hinged on the left - you can tell by the placement of the door handle:


Source: Museum of Victoria 'Biggest Photo Album - Record No MM 003158
museumvictoria.com.au/bfa/view_single.asp?qNum=MM%20003158

Similarly this photo published in Table Talk on Thursday, 28 October 1937 (p 55) shows a 12 ft Don 120 with the door hinged on the left:


(Source: National Library of Australia trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/imageservice/nla.news-page17692432 )

However, at some point after World War II, the small Don began to hang the doors of the "small" caravans on the right hand side. The change happened somewhere between serial number 213 (which has a left hanging door) and serial number 257, shown below with a right hanging door as indicated by the placement of the door handle (the objects at the top and bottom left of the door appear to be additional non-standard catches):



As far as I have been able to discover, the larger 14 ft Don 140 was always built with right hanging doors, like our 1949 caravan, seen here in some atmospheric mist at Bruthen in East Gippsland:



Interestingly, Don Caravans' post-War publicity even up until the early 50's showed their caravans with the door hung on the left, like this advert showing a Don 120 from the 1951 Winser caravan manual posted higher up this thread by Cobber:



Just one of those little lanes off the main road of caravan history. 

There was a change in the shape of the door on the 140 model too, but I'll pick that up in another post.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

An interesting photo posted by Collin Allott on the Old Darwin Facebook page on 3 May 2017 here, showing a Don 100 on a train going...where?



Collin Allott posted a lot of photos from Darwin on the 'Old Darwin' Facebook page on the same day, and another poster has annotated the photo as "An oldie coming into Darwin on the rail".  Most, if not all, of the vehicles you can see appear to be FC Holdens, suggesting that the photo was taken between 1958 and 1960 when the FC model was in production, and that the vehicles were a consignment of new Holdens heading from the GM-H factory in Adelaide to Darwin...but...

As it happens there wasn't a full rail link between Adelaide and Darwin between 1958 and 1960.  The Southern Line from Adelaide only went north as far as Alice Springs, and the Northern Line from Darwin only extended south as far as Birdum, leaving a close to 1,000 km gap in between.  So would vehicles have been trucked overland from Alice Springs to Birdum?  Seems a bit doubtful to me, but perhaps.  I think it is more likely that goods to be sent to Darwin from southern seaboard cities would have been sent by ship.  Anyone know?

An interesting photo in any case.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Back in March 2011, Stooy introduced us here to his Don 140, serial number 718, which had been purchased almost new by his grandfather around 1953. An interesting feature of Stooy's van is that it has two aluminium framed front windows...



...so that makes it a bit different to the normal single, timber-framed, leadlight windows usually seen in pre-1956 Dons, as shown here:



Over time Stooy has provided us with a couple of photos of his van on the move. This one is the van being towed back to his place from his grandfather's in 2016:



And on a trip to Mt Tarrengower Hill Climb a few months later:



In his initial post, Stooy told us that:

"The van was purchased one year old by my grandfather from Don in Oakleigh. We understand it to be the first Don fitted with full width front aluminum windows.

It was used a lot by the family since it was purchased, particularly at Blairgowrie where it went every summer for over 50 years."

He also told us that:

"My grandad remembers that this was one of two vans built with these windows. It was originally ordered by someone else but the gentleman decided he didn't want it once it was complete, so Grandad bought it.

It spent some time at Greenacres {a caravan park owned by Don Robinson} after it was purchased to help with the purchase cost.

The internal fly screens (from memory) hinge at the bottom and are retained by a rotating steel clip at the top.

Also my uncle was telling me today the devices which hold the windows open are an early type of mechanical strut with an overcentre spring in them."

What is intriguing about the front windows in Stooy's van is that we know that Don Robinson who built Don caravans was not really open to change or modifying his designs - what you saw in the show room is what you got. Don didn't introduce metal framed (steel or aluminium) windows in their vans until 1956 when they were used in the brand new luxury 150 model. So what to think of this van of Stooy's with such a radical design departure for a Don caravan in the early 50's?

Earlier this year, Wal Robinson (nephew of Don Robinson) and I arranged a visit to see Stooy's van. Here are Stooy and Wal in front of the caravan:



We spent quite a bit of time examining the front windows in detail:







The window catches can be seen in the photo below. They appear to consist of a ring and a tongue, with the tongue swinging around to engage the frame of the window when closed. (I didn't actually look carefully enough at this aspect when visting Stooy.):





The mechanical strut described by Stooy in his comment above:



While the aluminium windows are themselves very different to the normal timber windows, we were interested to see that they had been installed in the front wall in the same way, and using the same technique as the timber windows. In addition, the drip ledge above the window, although obviously longer than normal to cover the two windows, was constructed, finished and installed in the same way as the ledge above the normal timber window, and utilised the same gutter on the edge of the ledge. The ledge and the gutter can be seen in the photo immediately above.

Looking at the windows from inside the van:



So the aluminium windows appeared to have been installed according to the normal Don manner, which pointed to them being the genuine Don article.  However, Stooy's grandfather had made a number of modifications to the van over time, including replacing the original wall lights with dome lights, as can be seen in the photo above...

...replacing the leadlight in the side and rear windows with plain glass...



...replacing the icebox with a fridge, and the original lino on the floor with cork tiles...



...laminating the surfaces in the galley with laminex, and replacing the original gravity fed tank above the sink with a below floor tank and pump-style tap...



...replacing the original Don tow hitch...



...and fibreglassing the external roof.

Given the extent of the modifications I did quietly harbour the thought (with apologies to Stooy) that the windows may have also been one of Stooy's grandfather's modifications, rather than having been factory fitted...

But then Wal executed the coup de grace by producing some photos recently received from his cousin, showing a Don 140 caravan belonging for a time to one of Wal's uncles:





And there you are, another Don 140 with the two aluminium framed windows!

Wal, Stooy and I spent a bit of time talking about dates, just to reassure ourselves that we weren't looking at the same van.  However, Stooy's grandfather had bought his van around 1953 and had had it in his possession ever after, whereas the photos of the van belonging to Wal's uncle dated to around 1959, so clearly they couldn't be the same caravan.  This seems to confirm Stooy's grandfather's memory that there were two Dons built with double aluminium windows, and that the windows were factory fitted, although apparently they weren't a regular Don option.

Incidentally, Wal's uncle later replaced his Don 140 with an early model Cadet seen in the photo below:



Stooy's van provides another interesting thread in the Don Caravan story.

Don Ricardo

[sportsman 1]

Just shows there is always something out there to throw us a curve ball!

My understanding was that aluminium windows were first used in 1955, it seems a bit of a stretch that Don used them in 1953 and nobody else did until 2 years later.

The initial thought was the van was bought by Stooy's grandfather around 1953, is it possible the date of 1953 could have been 1955? Does this theory fit in with when Don no 718 would have been built?

Leigh.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Sportsman1,

A couple of good questions you've asked there!

I can answer one of them definitely, and that is that the serial number of 718 for Stooy's van is from around 1953. By 1955 the serial numbers were up around 900 and then by mid-1956 up over 1000. We know that for sure.

The other question about when aluminium windows were introduced is a bit more up in the air. You are right that aluminium framed windows were introduced fairly generally around 1956. But there were several manufacturers who introduced them in 1954, and a couple even earlier. Jennison for example was experimenting with aluminium cladding in 1948, and introduced aluminium windows at least as early as 1953, possibly even a year or so earlier. Forum member Jennison's Jennison Pathfinder caravan is an example of a Jennison with aluminium windows built in 1953. There's more info on the introduction of aluminium windows here.

So all that means that it is possible that Don could have installed aluminium windows in a couple of their caravans in 1953. Maybe they were trialling them, or testing public reaction? Or maybe they just had a couple of insistent customers who knew what was possible and overcame Don Robinson's objections?

The other possibility is that the aluminium framed windows were retrofitted to the two Dons by the factory at a later date. However, Stooy's grandfather is quite certain that he bought his van with the windows in place a year or so after it was built (later in 1953 or 1954), so I think we need to accept that's the case unless we come across any contradictory evidence. On that basis, the aluminium windows in Stooy's van are another example of early adoption of that feature.

Interesting though, eh?

Don Ricardo

[wazejames]

NO 665 FOR SALE! - We inherited No 665, 10ft Don Model 100 in the late 60s from the Late (Trevor Davies of Dandenong). We think he was the original purchaser. 665 was used regularly as our holiday van during the 60s and then in the early 70s land was purchased on the Murray River near Echuca and the Van relocated. I have many photos of the Van during this period. Around 1975 a new Van was purchased and the Don relocated back to the family property in Berwick. From the age of 15 to 21 the Don became my bedroom (in the back yard). A Shed was built around the Don to protect her from the elements and this is where she still stands today.
No 665 is in great condition for its age with interiors untouched and all original fittings in place, light fittings etc.It has a gas stove now although we still have the original Coleman Stove and steel water tank. There is some minor paint peeling/cracking externally. We also have the original Don badge that goes on the rear of the van. It has steel/gal iron sheet over the roof (professionally fitted). We believe 665 is worth between $ 8000.00 - $ 10,000.00 as is but would entertain any serious offers.
My father and i have been collecting pre-war Motor cycles over the last 10 years and we need to remove No 665 and renovate the shed into a bike workshop. I have a coaster camper van so will probably never use no 665. My father was a boat builder and i a builder, so if we do not receive a good offer we will remove 665 and sand and paint under his supervision 665 to its original paint colour's (listed in this forum) before putting 665 back onto the market. (Interiors appear to be close to original paint, maybe touched up at some stage)
From the Don Numbers listed in this forum 665 was built in 1952 so would suit someone with similar age towing vehicle. Dad tells me it towed great behind the 57 Pontiac and FE & EJ Holden's pictured, and from 1969 by a Holden Manaro 307. Contact me through the forum or at [e-mail] - [phone] if you are interested.

1960-1975

       
   

2018

                    


  
              
    

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

A couple of months ago I was able to fulfill a long held dream! Together with Wal and Anna Robinson, I was privileged to visit Neil Walsh who is the owner of the Don caravan with the serial number of 30. A variety of events - including the VV Nationals in Wangaratta, an overseas trip, forum administration, oh and work  - have meant I haven't had the time to tell you about the visit earlier.  But it was definitely one of the highlights of my 'vintage caravanner' life.

Don number 30 is a 12 foot caravan (120 model), and was built in 1936, only a few years after the establishment of the Don caravan business in 1934. At this point it is the only Don caravan in existence that we know for certain was built prior to World War II. The story of the Walsh's Don was told in a Caravan World article in 1993, which you can read in the post commencing this thread.

It was fascinating to see Number 30, both to see how many features remained constant throughout the production of the leadlight window Dons up until 1956, and how many features changed or developed over time. (Answer: Not many of the latter!)

Number 30 is stored in the back of a shed surrounded by a lot of other equipment, so it was not possible to get a photo of the whole van, so I'll start the 'show and tell' with a photo of the caravan from the Caravan World article referred to above:



Neil Walsh (left) and Wal Robinson standing beside Number 30:



As many of you know, Wal is the nephew of Don Robinson, founder and designer of Don caravans. Wal and his wife Anna are friends of the forum, and attend quite a few vintage caravan events. Wal's father Syd, as a boy, holidayed with Neil's grandfather in Number 30. Syd also later worked in the Don Caravans business, and sold some subsequent Don caravans to the Walsh family.

The serial number plate confirming that the van is number 30:



Note that the plate says ' "Don" Caravans ' and indicates that the manufacturers were 'R H Robinson & Son'.  Later on the serial number plates just referred to the 'Don Caravan Company'.

The outside of the van:



Note that the door is hinged on the left, as it appears all pre-WW II 10 ft and 12 ft vans were.  Later vans - commencing somewhere between serial numbers 213 and 257 - began to be hinged on the right.



The side windows, as seen below, were glazed with smaller panes of glass than were later post-WW II vans - 31 panes of glass and smaller diamond shapes compared to 16 panes on post-WW II Dons:





The front window is constructed the same as all the later leadlight window Dons with large size, opening front windows...



...with 16 panes of glass:



However, the rear non-opening window is larger than those on later vans:



Standard Don leadlight van captive ball tow coupling:





Familiar corner jacks:





Going inside...bunks to the left of the door that we are familiar with in the 120 4-berth model...



...with storage underneath the bottom bunk:



Note the familiar shaped water tank lying on the top bunk above.

Galley cupboards...



...with icebox below...





...stove alcove above...



...and two drawers in between:



Sink with frame to keep the water tank in place at the rear:



The sink is a Diadem brand...



...and there are cupboards below:



Overhead cupboards...



...with the doors made of 'solid' ply rather than framed and skinned, as was the case in post-WW II vans:



The rear of the van consisted of a day-night slide down lounge which you can see part of in the photo below (can't believe I didn't get a photo of the full lounge!  )...



...with storage underneath:



On the near side of the van was a cupboard and drawer, with both opening to the rear instead of towards the middle of the van:





And of course the wardrobe with cut glass mirror...



...drop down handbasin cupboard...



...and slide-out clothes rack:



All the wardrobe fittings are familiar Don features.

Round from the wardrobe in the doorway, there are the standard three cupboards...



...with the lower cupboard housing the familiar battery box:



And the table, I hear you ask, where's the table?  The table folds up against the offside wall when out of use, and then folds down in front of the rear day-night lounge when in use:



A photo of a Don caravan with the same layout, and the table down ready for use, can be seen in a 1937 article posted above here.

This design was later adapted for the Don 10 ft 100 model, while later 120 4-berth models ended up with a dinette at the rear that folded down to a double bed, and the 122 3-berth model ended up with a two seat dinette at the front that folded down into a single bed.

Interestingly, Number 30 was single skinned.  Neil's grandfather and father utilised that fact to build in some extra cupboards, such as this one beside the rear day-night lounge...



...and an extra cupboard over the sink and above the water tank.  (The clock is also a Walsh addition.):



There is one electric light on the wall just inside the door...



...with the switch just inside the door jamb:



There is also a light at the rear on the wardrobe side above the day-night lounge (see photo above).

Flywire catch:



Underneath the carpet on the floor was a remnant of the original lino - green of course!



At some point, Number 30 had a gas bottle and gas stove installed. That definitely wasn't a factory option on Dons in the 1930's, in fact it wasn't made available as an option until the early 1950's. The stove installed in Number 30 looks quite modern compared to the van. It's Shields and is sitting on a shelf in the shed ready to boil the kettle:



Sharp eyed Don observers will have noted from the Caravan World photo at the beginning of this post, that there is no Don badge on the front of the van. That's not a surprise, because it seems that the badge only began to be put on the front of the van as well as the back in the late 40's. And of course, I couldn't access the back to see if there was a badge...but that doesn't mean there wasn't one. And when Neil showed it to me, the biggest surprise was the colour:



RED! Not green!

I hadn't ever seen a Don with a red badge before, and at this point we don't know when the colour changed to green. However, Surf Tragic tells me that he once saw a Don with a red badge at a Victorian beachside caravan park. Must have been another early one?

There was another little surprise in Walshs' shed, but this has been a long post, so I'll leave that for another day.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Following on the post about Neil Walsh's Don number 30 in the post immediately before this, I will now tell you about the other caravan in his shed, which is a Don Cadet 15. The Cadet also belonged to his grandparents and parents, and has the serial number of 3014. From the serial number I have estimated a build date of 1960 or 1961.

Again it wasn't possible to take a photo of the full van, but here are a few pics:





















A couple of hidden treasures in that shed!

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Evening all,

A final little snippet from our visit to Neil Walsh to see his Don Number 30, reported in the previous posts.

In between the 1930's Don and the 1960's Don Cadet, Neil's grandfather also owned a 14 ft Don 140. At one point the Don 140 met with an accident...



...turning on its side in the process. 

Initially everyone seeing the accident occur thought that that would be the end of the caravan.  However, to everyone's amazement, when the van was lifted back on to its wheels, there was no serious damage.  Not even many of the cupboards had opened inside, although the contents of the cupboards had obviously been tossed around.  The car sustained more damage than the caravan, and Neil's grandparents continued to use the van for some years after the accident.

Dons were obviously made of tough stuff!!

If I remember rightly, the guy nearest the car is Neil's grandfather.  Wal Robinson will tell me if I'm wrong about that.

Don Ricardo

[Mustang]

Wow what a photo for the time, wonder if the tow vehicle suffered a front RH blowout?

[stephen&Julie]

1960 Don Cadet number 2341, great condition, purchased new in 1960 was used till around 1975 and then stored away until recently, 3 owners

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Recently an interesting photo turned up, posted by Phil Solomon on the Vintage Caravan Facebook page:



The photo is quite a significant one in terms of Australian caravan history. The lead caravan in the convoy is a Don owned by Dick Robinson and Mrs Robinson, who were the parents of Don Robinson, the designer and manufacturer of Don vans. Mr and Mrs Robinson can be seen standing near their caravan.

In 1939 the Robinsons took their caravan on a trip north to Queensland. You can read about the journey higher up this thread here. On their way north the Robinsons met up with some other caravanners who were traveling independently, and they all ended up traveling in a convoy for part of the trip. This photograph shows the convoy. Given the style of housing behind the vans, I am guessing that the photo was taken somewhere in Queensland.

The third caravan from the left is a Windsor. The second caravan from the left has a really interesting roofline, which I've never been able to properly see until now. At this point we don't know what type of van it is, but it looks to be well constructed.

I would love to know who took the photo. It might tell us who else took part in the caravan convoy with the Robinsons. Unfortunately Phil doesn't remember where he found the photo.

It's amazing what fantastic photos turn up from time to time. Thanks to Phil Solomon for taking the trouble to post this one.

Don Ricardo

[Roehm3108]

That second caravan is reminiscent of the early English Eccles. I reckon cobber will have the answer!!

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Roehm,

That’s an interesting comment about the Eccles. However, I’ve had a look at my books about English caravans and those from the 30’s all seem to have standard lantern rooves. The van in the photo doesn’t seem to have a regular lantern roof with the little windows down the side. It is a much more complex shape than that, and there seems to be a vent or something in the hump at the front of the roof. The complexity of the shape is what makes the van so interesting. I can’t find any pics of an Eccles or other British van with a roof like that. In addition, while there’s been suggestions over the years that British vans were brought to Australia in the early days, I can’t think of any evidence that they were. So it’s quite possible that the second van in the photo was “home grown”.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Good evening to all those of you are are dedicated to understanding the minutiae of vintage caravans construction...

One of the items of optional equipment listed in the sales brochure for late 1940’s Dons was a “Radio (latest vibrator sets)”. Then in the ‘General Specifications’ section, under the heading ‘Electrical’, the brochure says:

“Battery, aerial, and earth leads wired to radio shelf, with 50 feet of aerial wire built into roof. (All models except ‘Utility’).” [The ‘Utility’ model was the 12 ft 121 commercial/work van model.]

At the beginning of 2019, friends of the forum Sandra & Dennis acquired a 10 ft Don 100 with the serial number 373 which was built just before, or more likely just after World War II. Restoration of the van required replacement of the bondwood roof, which when opened up revealed the aerial wire laid out above the caneite ceiling and threaded through the roof struts.

Note that the hatch on the van when the photos were taken is not original and was installed by a previous owner.

Thanks to Sandra & Dennis for providing these photos.

Don Ricardo