Globe (Trotter) caravans - Bowden SA.

[Deleted]

interesting combination Bob ........great pics from the late 60's .

The little Morri did a great job to tow the Globe all that way.

You had no tow mirrors! .....looks to me as though you may have had one of these extension mirrors, that were popular in 60's for towing:







Mark

[beetlesbailey]

We saw a wayfarer at the Tanunda weekend in 2012 which had this patent application number on the inside.

Note the shape and design of the plate is very similar to Globe trotter vans and is in the same place inside.

Note that the number is the same as globe's actual patent #

The wording has some similarities. Compare with the Globe one below.

We wonder if globe built these for others who sold them under their own brand. In this case, Wayfarer.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Beetlesbailey,

Globe did indeed build vans for Wayfarer in Victoria. If you have a look at the Wayfarer thread in the DHL section you will see some of the connections between the two that we've been able to make.

The two patent plates you've shown us provides some additional evidence for our hypotheses - always welcome!

Not sure if Globe built vans for anybody else. We haven't come across any evidence thus far, but who knows what we will discover in the future.

Don Ricardo

[shesgotthelook]

What a fantastic history you have all put together here. I am the proud owner of 'Winterwood' (1964 Gold Coaster Globe Trotter) now (Big thankyou to Max). And if we ever get the car back from out West where it stopped will put together some photo's for you.

[myta21]

Hello,
I have bought the 11ft Globe Trotter 'van once owned by Harriet.
I saw it 150km away at Gulnare SA and the lady owner was going to use it for the vintage 'van display at the Adelaide Shwgrounds, then sell it. Her tow car got problems and she called me. On checking the paperwork, it showed that Harriet is a mate of mine in the local car club and he lives 23km away from me.
Currently fitting new spring bushes, a legal hitch and some tyres. The wheels are odd- not Holden, possibly Ford?
Chassis number is ATL1. Can anyone date the van please?
Thanks

[Roehm3108]

Glad to hear someone is finally going to fix harriet's old Globie. Have a lookay at replies 15 to 17 on the previous page of this thread and you'll see harriet's comments. That's about as near as you will get to a manufacture year. Fancy having the option of aluminium windows as far back as 1952!!!

Good luck with the resto. Suggest you start a thread on your progress in the Member's photo section once you actually make a start.

R

[myta21]

Hello,
As the new owner of what has been termed "Harriets Globe", I am still trying to ascertain the definite make. There were no enamel badges inside the van which I bought from a lady at Gulnare SA, only to find that Harriet is local some 20kms from us on the Yorke Peninsula.
The van has been partially clad, front and rear, with corrugated alloy sheeting. However was was somewhat lopsided at the front, so if it came today. Lots of work now to do.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Myta,

Good to hear from you again. Sorry you haven't received a response from anyone about the identity of your van, apart from Roehm's reference to the earlier posts on this thread. I guess it's because the van is a bit of a mystery to us all.

However, I'll stick my neck out and say that I've always had some doubts about it being a Globe for the following reasons:

• It is a different shape to any Globe we've seen, and since Harriet posted the pics in 2008, we've seen some reasonably early Globes.
  
• All of the Globes until the mid-60's aluminium ones have followed the South Australian caravan style feature where there is a distinct line where the roof meets the front and back walls, not a continuous curve from the roof into the front and back walls as is the case with your van.
  
• None of the Globes we have seen are without a front window, as is the case with your van. (I note that your van seems to have bunks at the front with the top bunk folding down to make a seat back. Is that right? Are there any signs of there having been a window behind the two bunks?)
  
• All of the Globes seem to have had additional rods under the A-frame to strengthen it which yours doesn't have.

Against all this evidence is Harriet's report that he found a Globe Trotter decal under the aluminium cladding. I can't explain that fact. All I can say is that in every other respect your van doesn't fit the "Globe pattern".

Picking up on a further comment you made today on the thread about the Tanunda V V outing, I am also certain that your van isn't a Rowvan either. If you have a look at the Rowvan thread in the Down History Lane section I think you'll see why I say that - Rowvans in the 50's were very distinctive.

In terms of the age of your van, my guess is that it is no older than the mid-50's, despite what the first/previous owner told Harriet. My reason for saying that is the aluminium framed side windows and rubber sealed rear window. They didn't start to be used until around 1955/6. Of course the aluminium cladding was added to the van at some stage, so the windows could have been retro fitted I guess? On the other hand the aluminium framed portholes were used earlier than 1955/6. An example is the early 50's Roma which you can see here (Reply #5) which incidentally is not a dissimilar shape to your van (not that I'm suggesting your van is a Roma).

One of the distinctive features of your van is the curved supports between the upper and lower cupboards at either end of the galley, which I've seen somewhere before, but can't place at the moment. Maybe you could go to the DHL section index and check out the SA built vans to see if you can find something similar to yours?

One final suggestion: I wondered if you'd like me to transfer your last couple of posts on this thread to the thread Harriet started about your van in the Members' Photo Album section here. There's a bit more info about the van there than on this thread, and it makes for an interesting story with Harriet finding the van and you picking up where he left off with it. In addition, you will probably get more helpful responses to your queries on that thread than this one. Let me know and I can do that for you.

Don Ricardo

[cobber]

While searching through IPAustralia for something else I came across this application, by Globe Products Limited, for a patent on how to construct a caravan so it requires no frame work.

Would have been interesting to see how Richard Isaac Bassett could have enforced such a copyright....... me thinks







Cobber.

[jezza4all]

Here we have Globe Trotter Gold Coaster No. 2984





I bought this from a guy whose grandfather had originally owned it in the Riverland. Based on the previous posts in this thread, I am guessing it is a 14ft 1964 model as it seems to match up nicely with others of that age. Previous owner had clearly not appreciated its heritage as he had gutted a lot of the interior for a futon and a plasma tv, plus sawed out the whole front window arrangement and just glued a piece of iron over all of it. Otherwise it's in amazing condition for restoration.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

The 1958, 1959 and 1960 editions of the Adelaide Pink Pages all contained the following advert for Globe Products caravans (with the exception that the 1960 phone number was different):


(Source: Adelaide Pink Pages, 1958, p 22 and 1959, p 18 and similar advert in 1960, p 18)

The intriguing thing about this advert is that the drawing of the caravan does not look like any Globe or Globetrotter caravan we've seen, but in fact looks a whole lot more like a (South Australian) Clipper caravan.

It surely can't have been a simple mix up in the drawings used by the graphic design department of the Pink Pages office, or it would have been corrected in subsequent year. But if not what is the explanation?

Thanks to Raym for providing this information to post.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

I've been a bit intrigued by this tiny caravan which has been advertised on Ebay a number of times over the last few months without being sold, the last time being in December 2013:





















According to the seller the van is a single berth. I'm not sure whether he or she means that it really is only a single bed (ie for one person which would be very unusual) or that it only has a single double bed. In any case it looks to me as if it is only 8 or 9 ft long.

After puzzling over the pics on a number of occasions I have begun to wonder if it is an 8 ft Globetrotter, based on a number of similarities with this 10 ft 60's Globetrotter van:



Note:

• The similarity in the shapes of the vans when looked at side on, particularly the fact that the front and rear windows on both vans are hooded.
  
• The fact that both vans have the characteristic Globetrotter additional bracing under the A-frame.
  
• The high rounded roof line which is also characteristic of some Globetrotters.
  
• The fact that both vans have front and rear windows which narrow in width towards the bottom.
  
• The aluminium step in the doorway of both vans, and the aluminium water channel at the top of the doors.

The little van on Ebay has some extra strapping on the sides and also some decorative spats, but I wonder if they have been put on to deal with some rot which is evident elsewhere at floor level.

What do others think about the identity of this van?

Don Ricardo

[Deleted]

Hi Don,
yes looks like a skinny baby Globetrotter,made for a single traveller.
I would be scared to tow it around a corner too fast,looks like it would tip over!
Cheers
hughdeani

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Hughdeani,

Thanks for your comment. I'm interested that you think that it really is a one person van. If that is the case I can't think of any others in that category. Do you know of any?

Globetrotter seems to have produced some small vans (witness the van in Reply #3 on this thread), but the little van we are discussing seems to be even smaller. It might even be the smallest van built by a regular manufacturer without it being a teardrop I reckon.

Don Ricardo

[Deleted]

Hi Don,
yes I have seen a few single person vans over ther years,occasionally some come up on internet sales sites.
The most modern I saw was a little Driftaway pop top and most recently a Royal Flair with a single berth.
Never seen one in use though!
cheers
hughdeani

[Don Ricardo]

Apr 27, 2008 10:54:20 GMT 10 313royal said:

OK folks here is an attempt to restore some of the missing Globetrotter photos that I had previously submitted:

...

The above photo of a Globetrotter was one of a number posted by 313royal in 2008. This particular photo was labelled "Composite aluminium bondwood".  As the van had aluminium cladding on both sides, as well as the front and back and roof, the label may mean that the aluminium was bonded to ply underneath...or something else entirely different.  Suggestions are welcome!

Below is a pic of an example of this model of Globetrotter caravan which was listed on Ebay in March 2011:



The profile of the cladding is quite unusual and was only used by a small number of manufacturers. In fact it may possibly have only been used by South Australian manufacturers, although that is just a theory at this point.  Comments are also welcome on that suggestion!

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

We've seen examples of 10 ft and even 8 ft versions of Globe's caravan models from the 60's, but following are photos of a 10 ft version of their mid-50's model which were posted on Ebuy in June 2012:



Almost looks like the front of the van was used as target practice with an air rifle - hope not...





















I'm not sure what was at the back of the van - presumably a day/night lounge...

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Globe Goldcoaster caravan showing an unusual combination of aluminium cladding with two different profiles on the sides - posted by Andrew82 on 21 May 2009:







Note also the single window at the front.

[Don Ricardo]

Photos of Trish_M's late-50's 12 ft Globe Trotter in its unrestored state, showing the interior layout and fit out and posted on 28 April 2008:























Globe Caravans patent plate located on the offside front overhead cupboard above the dinette:

[Don Ricardo]

Unusual Globe caravan with double rear side windows purchased by Newbug in November 2014:















The van was identified as a Globe by Hughdeani here

[Don Ricardo]

Photo of a Globe Trotter logo posted by Daggsey here on 10 November 2007:

[lisaangel]

Hi I have just bought a globe caravan. The chassis number is 2467. Any ideas on a rough year? I'm thinking late 50s to early 60s. Thanks for any information!

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Lisaangel,

Great to hear about your new Globe.

I've copied the photos from your post on the Aussie Vintage Caravans Facebook page and posted them below. Hope that's OK? People will have a better chance to help you if they if they can see what we're talking about.









We have some limited information about Globe serial numbers higher up this thread, but not a lot to connect the serial numbers with build dates. Unlike some other makes, Globe serial numbers seem to be purely sequential, and don't include any reference to a date. What makes things a little more difficult is that Globe seems to have often sold vans of quite different designs all at the same time. Having said that, there are a few comments that I can make:

• Your van has what I call the "buttressed" front and rear windows. There are no photos or advertisements showing Globes with this styling in 1962 or earlier, so that suggests that your van can have been built no earlier than 1963.
• All of the photos showing Globes with the buttressed windows seem to be of vans around 1964 +/-, as far as I can judge.
• The cladding on your van with the fine ridge profile is fairly unusual, and doesn't seem to have been used on vans built as early as 1962, or on vans in the second half of the 60's. There are photos of Globe vans of of various designs built after 1962, some of which were clad in bondwood, and some with aluminium (ie same model/design but different cladding). This suggests that the buyers could choose either bondwood or aluminium cladding.  This seems to be true of the buttressed window vans like yours.
• There are pics higher up this thread with serial numbers around yours, which indicate that they were built around the same time as yours. For example 2452 & 2617 (click on the link to see the photos).  2452 is a buttressed window van built just before yours, and 2617 is a non-buttressed window van, but we we have the evidence to show that it was built around April/May 1964. 2756 is a buttressed window van said to be built in 1964.

So what does all this tell us? Your van is numbered exactly 150 before no. 2617 which we know was built in April/May 1964. We don't know how many vans Globe was building a week around that time, but if they were building around 10 a week, that would take serial no. 2467 back to the very beginning of 1964 or end of 1963. 10 a week sounds like quite a lot for that time, but who knows? But in any case it seems like your van would have been built either late 1963 or very early in 1964. That is supported by the buttressed window design and the cladding which seem to fit in with that period.

Other people may have different ideas or other information, but I hope that's some help to start with.

Don Ricardo

[lisaangel]

Thank you!!! Love this forum it's a fantastic source of information. Interesting to see all the other vans too.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

The following advert for a Victorian based Globe Caravans business that appeared in Winser's Caravan Manuals in 1957 and 1958 has had me intrigued for a while:


(Source: K Winser, Australian Caravan and Touring Manual, Book 10, 1958, page 21)

Is the caravan in the photo a Globe built by Globe Caravans in South Australia? Or maybe the Globe Caravans referred to in the advert is just the name of a Victorian company that happened to have the same name as Globe in South Australia? Remember that in in the 1940's and 50's there were quite a few caravan manufacturers who had the same name as companies in other states, but were quite independent - Paramount, Scenic, Clipper (3 states!), Highway...

The arguments for this van being built by Globe in South Australia are:

• The braced A-frame;
• The shape of the flash on the side;
• The shape of the rear;
• And note the style of the 'Globe' name just below the porthole window, which looks similar to the way 'Globe' is written on the South Australian Globe below:

On the other hand, the overall shape of the van, particularly the front half, is unlike the Globe caravans from the late 50's we are used to, as is the shape of the wheel arch. But wait, in 2008 Harriet told us about a van that he found in Bowmans, South Australia:



The previous owner told Harriet that the van was a Globe Trotter purchased in 1950, and when Harriet began to reburbish the van he found the remains of a Globe Trotter logo, which promptly disintegrated in his hands (see further info on this van higher up this thread).

The Globe van depicted in the advert looks quite similar in shape to Harriet's Globe Trotter, so perhaps it is indeed a Globe from South Australia? Note that the window frames of the van in the advert appear to be wooden, suggesting that it was built in the first half of the 50's (although the price tag in the window appears to be contemporary to 1957/58).

What does everyone else think about all this? Can anyone tell us more?

Don Ricardo