Adventurer caravans (Richmond, SA)

[lazyacre]

After looking at the Castle Windcutter link above I reckon that they were never made by Hart & Creer.

[relmhayd]

Hi,
I have just made a very interesting phone call to Phil Creer (lazyacre) regarding my 1960 Adventurer van. I hadn't opened this site for a while and was surprised at the input from Phil regarding the Adventurer history and photos. Thanks Phil, it was a pleasure speaking with you and finding out a bit more of South Australia's caravan building industry.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Back in November, Shesgotthelook posted an Ebuy link for an unbranded caravan with an unusual curved panel underneath the front windows. I looked at the photos of the van at the time, but they didn't ring any bells for me. Looking at the photos again more recently it hit me that the caravan was either an Adventurer or a Crestour built by Hart & Creer:























The ETSA sticker seems to indicate that the van may have been built around 1964:



The following photo is of a similar Adventurer model posted above by Lazyacre



A photo of a smaller Crestour branded van with similar design features is also posted higher up this thread by Lazyacre.

The tell-tale signs that the Ebuy van is an Adventurer or a Crestour are not only the curved panel below the front window, but also the distinctively shaped wheel arch and the 'Adventurer roof hatch'.

Unfortunately the brandname on the van has been carefully scoured off by the Ebuy seller or his or her predecessor, but I almost think I can recognise the work 'Adventurer' below the rear window in one of the photos. What do others think?

Thanks to Shesgotthelook for posting the Ebuy link. I know that not everybody likes to have the links posted, but they do sometimes (often) lead to the discovery of something unusual, as in this instance.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Photos of her Adventurer caravan posted by 2js on 16 October 2009 here:











2js stated that the van was built in 1961 but didn't mention the basis for that date. At the time she posted, 2js didn't know the origins of her van, and forum members knew very little about Adventurer caravans! However, we have now seen enough Adventurers on the forum to be able to identify it. This is one of the smaller Adventurer models we've seen, and is the only one of this era that we have seen with porthole windows. I have based the identification of the van not only on the design, but also the livery, which is typical Adventurer - note the shape of the flash on the side.

This van is similar in many respects to Samson's Castle Windcutter seen in this thread, with the exception of the shape of the aluminium windows which probably indicates that Samson's van pre-dates 2js's. Samson's van shows the Castle livery, but the fact that the general design of the two vans is almost identical seems to confirm that the Windcutter models were produced for Castle by Adventurer - something which has been proposed and debated higher up this thread.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

1964 Adventurer caravan listed on Ebuy in December 2015:

[Don Ricardo]

Photo of an early Adventurer caravan posted by DC3Td on 16 June 2015 here:



The photo was originally posted back to front, and has been reversed. DC3Td found the photo on an English caravan website, but the number plate reads PY-729 and I think that I can read VIC running down the plate to the left of the 'P', indicating a Victorian registration. (South Australian number plates before 1967 were all numerical, so that discounts it being a South Oz vehicle.) Looks to me like a eucalypt behind the car bonnet as well, so it's pretty definitely an Australian scene.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Adventurer caravan listed on Gumtree in May 2019:

There are photos of a similar model higher up this thread but there are differences in the overhead cupboards. In addition, the wheel arches on this van are rounded as opposed to the usual pointed Adventurer wheel arches, and the window over the galley is larger.

I doubt if the van was painted this colour when it was new, but perhaps. The inside fittings all look original.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Adventurer caravan listed on Gumtree in December 2018:



Note the ‘Hart & Creer’ signature name and address just visible in the bottom left hand corner of the side wall of the van:













Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Photo of two Adventurer caravans outside the Hart & Creer factory where they were manufactured:


(Source unrecorded, August 2018)