Fifth wheelers

[Don Ricardo]

Report from The Canberra Times of Thursday, 10 April 1947, page 4, of a Bedford semi-trailer converted into a 'luxurious caravan':


(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2712034 )

[Jennison]

I note that the hot water for the shower is delivered via a "coil" of the water pipe being wrapped around the truck exhaust - cluey ol fella - i reckon it would probably work alright too with enoughwraps/coils
jennison

[cobber]

So that's another one.
We know about the famous “Highway palace” built for Mr & Mrs Parr in 1947 and towed by a Dodge Fargo truck,



And there were three others built by the Western Caravan Company around the same time.... none of them for a Mr Small. Unfortunately we don't have external photos of these three but there are photos of the inside of one of them.

Cobber.

[beetlesbailey]

2 corrections here;
ONE; The highway Palace is towed by a FARGO. just FARGO no reference to Dodge or Plymouth is neccessary and although built by Chrysler, no one calls them Chrysler Fargo. I wonder why. ( just a little bug bear of mine)
TWO; Sorry Dave but the hot water system in 'the Palace' was not via the exhaust but a was a coil around the pipe.
We removed the shower as it was waay too close to the power board with all that sparky stuff. Dick reckoned he needed a shower less than that sort of heart starter.
Then we reckoned it would be quicker to boil the jug than wait for the old coil to boil water.
We could well be wrong of course but thats how it is.
By the way the shower could easily be replaced as it consists of a vetrical pipe on a steel peg on the floor acting as a swivel, with a 90 degree elbow at the top with an extention pipe to reach over the bath. A saddle over the upper end of the 'standpipe' stopped it from falling down.
In the bottom of the bath was a footpump on a hose that ran up to the rose. So one would stand on this pump and 'pedal' while showering.
I think all this shower stuff was a later edition as it looked out of place with the other stuff.
There was also a 'frisbee' shaped copper wall heater high on the bathroom wall. It had a coil behind it and I cant imagine it heating too much.
Cheers Beetles

[cobber]

G'day Beetles,

Thanks for that..I've modified the post above.. sort of

Do you know anything about the "standard" caravans Grace Bros made...... have a look at the "Highway Caravans" thread and see if you can give us more info there.

Cobber.

[Don Ricardo]

On 11 September 2010, Misnlinc posted:

I have recently bought a true barn find. Purchased from original owner a Custom Built 5th wheel set up 1954 Fargo converted to dual cab with Caravan rig approx 26ft long, sleeps six built 1953 ply wood with many features, Shower,wardrobe, Club lounge, Rice Bros chassis.
The Caravan was designed buy owners mother,built in Hawthorn and design to travel across the Nullabour. I'm yet to sit down and do a full history but will in time. I intend to restore but I'm having trouble finding the correct material to recover the Canvas or Linen exterior ply covering which has decayed. I believe it to be similar to the Doped Linen coating they used on early aircraft...

[Don Ricardo]

Article from the Melbourne Argus of Monday, 27 March 1950 (p 6) about a fifth wheeler built from aircraft parts bought from disposal stores.



(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22818659 )

The external pic suggests some similarities in construction to the Highway Princess fifth wheeler we are familiar with (not that that was built from aircraft parts).

[cobber]

This fifth wheeler was built in Melbourne to the design of a Mr. A. J. Hane who was a photographer who intended touring around NSW and Victoria in this mobile studio.
It was built in 1935 and was thought by Mr Hane to be the “only thing of it's kind in the world ”.

The article in the July 1935 “Australian Women's Weekly “ can be read more clearly if you click HERE.



Cobber.

[Don Ricardo]

Afternoon Vintage Vanners,

Sadly the photos are not wonderful, but below are some pics of what appears to be a truck-drawn semi-trailer caravan - a fifth wheeler - published in the Newcastle Sun on Tuesday, 26 July 1927 (page 2):


(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163633909 )

The rig belonged to a Mr Bowman of Dunedoo, and I imagine would have been pretty advanced for its time.  We've seen quite a few 'motor caravans' from the 1920's, but I don't recall seeing a caravan semi from that era before.  They were much more common immediately after World War II.

Note the canoe on the roof.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Below is an article about a fifth wheeler published in the Perth Western Mail on Thursday, 21 December 1933 (page 25):

(Source: National Library of Australia nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38016772

Layout modified for readability on the forum.)

The caravan was designed by its owner, Mr S L Hendry, based on English designs.  It was quite a sizeable vehicle, being 22 ft long, 7 ft wide and 6 ft high internally.  However, the design is quite old fashioned for its time harking back to the English 'gypsy' style caravans produced By Eccles and others in the 1920's.  It is interesting to compare the Hendry caravan with the much more streamlined and 'modern' looking Hane caravan higher up this thread, which was built only a year or so later.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Panoramic photo of a fifth wheeler taken in Geelong in 1935:


(Source: Museums Victoria collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/769727 )

According to the Museums Victoria description, this fifth wheeler was reputed to have been the first built in Australia, however, there are several examples shown above which are most likely to have been built up to a decade earlier.

Don Ricardo