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Post by bradngem on Apr 11, 2008 13:16:43 GMT 10
Ok, does anyone have any info on 1950's fiberglass franklin vans, other than hearsay. We would really like to know for sure if our van is a Franklin made before the moulds were sold onto Kennedy....Boblar do you have any info on early fiberglass vans made by Franklin. Our van number according to the inside of the cupboards and matching no. on the chassis is 952 and Tucky's is 926. Based on folk law Kennedys only made 13 vans, but between ours and Tuckys van there is a difference of 26....can anyone shed some more light on our van......
regards Gemma
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Post by willyn on Apr 11, 2008 20:36:27 GMT 10
 gidday brad n Gemma I think they were sold under Skyline Franklin and Kennedy and I think the chassis were built by an outside company that supplied the caravan industry and the chassis numbers are those of the supplier from what Tucky and I can gather there were 16 made of the model we have with a few variations yours and tuckys windows are raked and mine are straight and later style laminate in mine where yours have the older interior made from ply there were some specials made with the zephpyr style fins and a boot however the numbers are not definate Will
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Post by boblor on Apr 11, 2008 22:00:49 GMT 10
Hi Gemma and Brad
Keith Winser's 1964 Caravan and Touring Manual page 137 shows a 14' Franklin fibreglass van. Page 155 Skyline IndustriesPty Ltd 1146 Nepean H'way Highett advertise a 14' fibreglass for 785 pound. 1973 Caravan Buyers Guide states " Mr Kennedy swithched to premoulded fibreglass vans several years ago". Cheers boblor
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Post by tinnie on Apr 12, 2008 0:56:42 GMT 10
I refuse to believe it  Franklin only built from natural materials, like wood....and um 'er aluminium. This requires a full and thorough investigation. In the meantime, I shall provide my beloved Franklin caravans with ear plugs! gristy Boblor can you please post a scan of the alleged franklin fibreglass van..... ;D In all seriousness, I'd be very interested to see the advert... |
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Post by boblor on Apr 12, 2008 14:27:10 GMT 10
Hi Gristy
Franklin like Olympic , Sunliner saw the light and realised fabuglass was the way to go, to obtain those beautful lines. Long live fabuglass. Caravanning in Australia by Gwen Haslar published in 1974 states "Kennedy of Victoria's unique, pre- moulded fibreglass caravan, originally introduced and discontinued by FRANKLIN.Will email direct. Cheers boblor
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Post by exocet on Apr 12, 2008 15:52:10 GMT 10
Fascinating stuff! Sort of throws the cat amongst the pigeons a bit! Our "Kennedy" is a finned one , but nowhere on it does it say "Kennedy" the only Badge that came with it are front and rear chrome Wayfarer Signs, they are original because the fabuglass has a moulded indentation for the badge. Willyn i"m wondering what you mean some windows were raked and not others, because i think ours is raked slightly. Boblor, gee ; i would love also the email that you are sending to Gristy, any chance?, please please!
Cheers Exocet
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Post by atouchofglass on May 2, 2008 19:54:00 GMT 10
Greetings Boblor
I to would like to see a fibreglass franklin
Seeing as I am into all things fibreglass
Atog
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Post by boblor on Jun 9, 2008 15:06:55 GMT 10
Hi Exocet and Atog
Missed your request for info on the Franklin fibreglass.
Cheers boblor
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Post by atouchofglass on Jun 9, 2008 17:55:06 GMT 10
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Post by boblor on Jun 11, 2008 22:12:18 GMT 10
Hi Atog
Olympic evenually had something to do with these Campers. I took a photograph of a unit in the Olympic factory yard in 2001 where it was on display for sometime. Olympic fitted a fibreglass door to their version with a the Olympic flame moulded into the face of the door. They called it Tina and appears to have been availiable from 1983 and ceased when the factory closed 1987-8. The Olympic version had slightly different mould to the roof.
I bet you did not know this little bit of info, but you do know that glass is class.
Cheers
boblor
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Post by atouchofglass on Jun 12, 2008 6:22:06 GMT 10
Greetings Boblor Thanks for the info....... Anything glass is of interest to me ..... as you know..... BUT as to the photo's of the glass franklin.....  ?? Come on ........ maaaaaaate ...... glass franklin..... photos...... Don't make me beg ....... it won't be a pritty sight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Olympic/chesney camper photo's would also be of interest as the one I saw was only exterior shots folded down All the best on your research Atog |
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Post by boblor on Jan 30, 2010 21:45:35 GMT 10
Hi VVers
I have a Franklin brochure around 1970-1, has a green cover with an interior photo of a large van-18', words on cover "A Franklin Caravan puts your whole world on wheels". It is a four page brochure, and on the third page under "Your choice" item 3 of 8 states " Franklin Fibreglass --18' 6", and item 3 photo only shows aninterior shot , where all the others are external photos of alum. vans.
My question is can anyone post a picture of an 18' 6" fibreglass Franklin. There is a van that fits this dimenson in the Evans Head NSW Caravan Park as a permanent that would possibly fit this description,but when I spoke to the owner recently he though it was a Viscount. So Iam hoping one of you Franklin experts can identify this van. The van at Evans Head is in very good condition externally, but nothing to identify it, so over to you, but don't forget the unit mentioned in the brochure.
Cheers boblor
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Post by Franklin1 on Jan 30, 2010 22:22:39 GMT 10
Hi boblor, I think the brochure is referring to the fibreglass model that Franklin released in late 1969. We haven't found much information about that model at all, so your brochure is probably worth its weight in gold at this stage.  If you go to the Franklin History thread and scroll down to near the end of Reply #56 - Look for 7 Franklin Regent and read carefully from there down to the end of that reply. And then read Reply #57 from hughdeani. Viscount made a couple of goes at producing a van with fibreglass ends and alum cladding sides. First one launched about 1968 from memory, and then a follow-up model around 1970/71. As I understand it from hughdeani, the Franklin was full fibreglass, whereas the Viscount was only fibreglass ends. Wouldn't mind seeing one of those Viscounts one day. They sure seemed pretty spiffy in the original advertisements. cheers, Al. |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jan 30, 2010 23:23:29 GMT 10
Hi Boblor and Franklin1, In September 2008 I posted some pics of some caravans I'd seen at Corowa. By chance Boblor they included your Don Chipp Olympic and your daughter's Olympic, if you remember. Anyway one of the photos included a Franklin:  At the time Hughdeani commented: Hi all,
that late sixties Franklin is a fibreglass Regent about 18.6 long.
Very few and far between.Anyone have any info on them at all
Cheers
Hughdeani The differences between a fibreglass Fanklin and a garden variety ally Franklin van aren't all that obvious to me from the pic, but Hughdeani knows his stuff, and all the other vans in the yard (five or six all up) were fibreglass, so it stands to reason that Hughdeani was correct in what he said. Don Ricardo |
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Post by Franklin1 on Jan 31, 2010 8:25:19 GMT 10
I just remembered that hughdeani emailed me some photos last year of one of these vans. This is what they looked like...  hughdeani will have to fill us in on where the photo was taken. cheers, Al. |
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Post by boblor on Feb 1, 2010 21:48:41 GMT 10
Hi All
I have checked the van in the photo above and photographed in detail when i was collecting "Don Chipp" in Nov.'08. This van is nothing like the van at Evans Head.
The van at Evans Head is a totally different, not rounded like the van above, it is similar to the Chesney style but much bolder in design and all fibreglass components ( ends, walls, roof, with an unusual hitch). Bythe way the above photograph was taken at Corowa on the Murray and the vanis still there and about to be restored by bratso. The only sign I could see on the in the above photo was "STYLINE EXECUTIVE".
I will tryand find the photos of the Evans Head van and email them DR and may be able to post them on the site. I still have trouble with the bloody 'bucket'.
Cheers boblor
Editorial comment: It subsequently emerged that the caravan seen by Boblor at Evans Head was a previously unseen model of Olympic caravan. Photos of this van were posted on the 'Down History Lane' Olympic thread. Don Ricardo
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Post by Franklin1 on Feb 2, 2010 8:28:34 GMT 10
This is the newspaper advertisement from October 1969, pointing to a new fibreglass Franklin. No other information was found in any other advertisements around that time...  And this is the advertisement from May 1970, where hughdeani thinks the van circled is the fibreglass model...  The sidestripe on the van in the advertisement doesn't seem to match exactly the sidestripe in the photo a couple of posts above, but the van does certainly match the overall appearance of a Franklin Regent from that time period. Wasn't the Styline Executive tag given to other Franklins in earlier years as part of "badge engineering"? cheers, Al. |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Feb 2, 2010 21:18:13 GMT 10
Wasn't the Styline Executive tag given to other Franklins in earlier years as part of "badge engineering"? Hi Al, According to Hughdeani, the Styline Executive sticker was applied to every used caravan sold by Doug Thorley, a Melbourne caravan dealer in the 70's and 80's. His Doug Thorley stickers also went on every new or used caravan he sold as well, and if you check Google you'll see that there are entries for lots of people trying to sell their Doug Thorley brand caravans. Seems his self-promotion worked pretty well! ;D ;D ;D Don Ricardo |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Mar 24, 2010 21:42:03 GMT 10
Hi all, Boblor has emailed me the pics of a Franklin brochure from around 1971(?) to post. The brochure includes an internal photo of a Franklin Fibreglass - see photo 3 on the second page, ie the second photo down on the left:   Here's a larger image:  Don Ricardo |
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Post by boblor on Mar 25, 2010 12:12:47 GMT 10
Hi VVers If you look on page two of the attached brochure , item 3 mentions a 18'6" fibreglass van. Does anyone know or have a photo of such a van, or is it the van that Don has placed in General on my behalf ?. Over to you for your comments. Cheers boblor |
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Post by Franklin1 on Mar 25, 2010 20:15:24 GMT 10
Hi boblor, there is a Franklin fibreglass van from the late 1960s at the bottom of page 1 of this thread. But I don't know if it's the same as the one in your brochure.
cheers,
Al.
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Post by boblor on Mar 25, 2010 21:05:03 GMT 10
Hi Al
I have had a closer look at the van interior that you refer to (because it was in the same compound as the 'one for boblor' van when it was picked up) and interior photo in the brochure and you can see some similarities, eg cupboard doors, how they hinged, panel finishes, door configirations and perhaps the external shape is Franklin. I have a number of internal photos.
So in summary I beleive that the van on page 1 is the 18'6" unit mentioned as item3 on the brochure.
So now go to'General' and indentify the van Don has placed there for coments.
Cheers boblor
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Post by atouchofglass on Mar 26, 2010 8:15:39 GMT 10
Hi Gents
I guess it stands to reason that if Franklin was experimenting with full fibreglass vans - such as the Franklin/Kennedy and then the next van like in the above brochure.
They would try making one that looks similar to their current models.
Also once making smaller vans the next logical step would be to upscale. Go to the next size.... 18' 6"
Adapting the then current build techniques to move forward in build styles/materials.
The van in the other thread mentioned could easily be a Franklin.
It is a nice looking van.
With thought about the downdraft over the rear window and possibly other changes in the interior.
Any chance of getting a few interior shots from the van in question - some time in the future?
Cheers
Atouchintrigued
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Post by boblor on Mar 28, 2010 20:59:26 GMT 10
Hi ATOG
The next time I visit Evans Head I will try and get some interior photos for the records.
Cheers boblor
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jodel1050
Junior Member
A Van called Wanda
Posts: 76
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Post by jodel1050 on Apr 1, 2010 21:50:06 GMT 10
Hi Gemma,
I know this is an old post but you mention Franklin S/N's 926 thru 952, well my disputed 1959 Franklin (Wanda) is S/N 965C = don't know if there is a correlation but would be interested to know. Wanda is Alloy clad & the guy that sold us it assures us that it was built in 1959 - no proof however & the general consensus is 1963+ - not that I care I just want to know.
Regards Jodel
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