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Post by Franklin1 on Jul 18, 2009 20:22:53 GMT 10
Korong Caravans - History:It would appear Korong Caravans was the name of a caravan dealership in Bendigo, Victoria, who sold rebadged vans that were made by Franklin. This is not unlike the Norm Reeman badged caravans that pop up on the forum from time to time, which are also rebadged Franklins. Forum discussions about Korong caravans can be found in these threads: A Tow Car To Die For showing custom59's Korong in the background of the first photo. This van looks very similar to earlee's 1964 Franklin. ( 1964 Franklin - earlee's ) Korong, Valiant and Roma showing clearer photos of custom59's Korong. Kennedy caravans This is the Down History Lane thread for Kennedy caravans. In Reply #7, korongking makes mention of his fibreglass van that has the name Korong on it.
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Post by Franklin1 on Jul 18, 2009 20:28:36 GMT 10
1966 (approx) Korong 13ft x 7ft caravan: This van was listed on ebay in July 2009. The seller told me it was sold new by Bendigo York Caravans. I'm pretty sure this van is a Franklin Premier that has had the Korong name branded on it (see top right photo)... 
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Post by barbarab on Oct 11, 2010 19:03:26 GMT 10
Hi,
a comment on the Norm Reeman caravans. We lived in an old caravan on site while we built this house back in the late eighties. It was on its last legs when we got it and when we moved into the house, it went to the great caravan park in the sky - but its badge didn't. Tony felt sentimental over it and he attached it to his workbench (he has soul) and we just went out and rescued it. It reads
Norm Reeman Caravans
408 Canterbury Rd., Surrey Hills, Victoria
Phone 83 8877
Serial No 305
Barbara B
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 6, 2012 18:13:00 GMT 10
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 6, 2012 21:16:33 GMT 10
Photos of Custom59's 'Korong' branded Franklin van, referred to by Franklin1 in the first post on this thread:   Note that as in the previous example, the small figure below the word 'Korong' on the back of the van indicates the caravan's length - 13 feet, as advised by Custom59 here. |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jul 17, 2021 15:16:20 GMT 10
Afternoon vintage vanners, There have been a number of references on the forum over the years to caravans branded as 'Korongs', and we have become familiar with the understanding that Korong Caravans was a caravan dealership based in Bendigo that sold new and/or second hand caravans branded as 'Korong XX' where 'XX' represents the length of the van. So a 'Korong 15' is a 15 ft caravan. Almost all of the vans we have seen on the forum branded as 'Korongs' have been built by Franklin which seems to suggest that Korong was a Franklin dealer with the right to 'badge engineer' the vans with their own name (similar to arrangements that seemed to exist with some other country caravan dealers), or that Korong had a niche market in selling second hand Franklins. There are photos of some of the Korong branded caravans higher up this thread. However, it turns out there is more to the Korong story, as discovered by friends of the forum, Maggie and Corey W.
Korong Caravans started out in the early 1950's as a caravan manufacturer located in a country town outside of Bendigo. The name 'Korong' refers to Mt Korong, north west of Bendigo. At one point, Korong Caravans was located at 43 Mt Korong Road, Bendigo, an address and road which seems to no longer exist. Maggie and Corey's knowledge of Korong Caravans is connected with their own Korong van which was built by the firm in 1953/4, and which they have restored. They were fortunate to be able to talk to one of the tradesmen who worked at Korong Caravans at around the time their van was built, before the tradesman's death a couple of years ago. Following are some photos of their Korong van taken at the Bridgewater vintage caravan weekend in 2020 and 2021: .JPG?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds)    From memory a number of the window frames needed to be rebuilt, and Maggie and Corey chose to paint the frames with a clear finish. However they would originally have been painted the same colour as the rest of the external body.  The space adjacent to the right hand dinette seat in the photos above and below was empty when Maggie and Corey acquired the van. It was probably originally occupied by an integrated ice box which was then removed to fit a refrigerator. However, Maggie and Corey were able to find a stand alone domestic ice box which fits into the space very nicely.   Note the array of head high cupboards located right around the caravan. The two back windows were originally glazed with glass with an etched design. Unfortunately the glass in one of the windows was broken, and when restoring the van it was decided to move the remaining etched glass pane to the nearside rear window, and to glaze both back windows with plain glass so that they matched. This is the original etched window now on the side of the van:  I am hoping that Maggie and Corey will now come onto the forum and tell us more about what they have discovered with regard to Korong Caravans. Don Ricardo |
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Post by empyrean16 on Jan 2, 2023 21:56:01 GMT 10
Hi! New to the forum but learning heaps by browsing through. I've inherited what i believe is a late 1950's Korong 98 (9.8ft) - its been sitting in a barn for the best part of 45 years and i've gotten it home and wish to start restoring it What i can tell you: - The 1st pic is of my MIL at 9 yrs old standing in front of it (which makes me think it is ~58?) - I am told the interior is all original as it was bought secong hand from Korong - the rubber on the windows has badly deteriorated so the back window has fallen in - i will need to reseal all the windows (and have included a pic of the seal type i need if anyone can help) - no chassis number to be found at this point - has been repainted from it's original colours, as it got jacknifed on a bridge in the mid 60's and needed some repairs What i'm hoping to get some answers on: - Confirmation of the date or date range for me? - Verification of the originality of the interior? - I'm wanting to keep it as original as possible - it has an ice box - is there any way to turn the icebox into a working fridge without damaging it? (i believe these guys can help - www.novakool.com/conversion-units-info - but i cant get much info from AU?)      |
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Post by empyrean16 on Jan 2, 2023 21:57:11 GMT 10
more pics (cont from prev post)   |
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Post by shesgotthelook on Jan 3, 2023 8:12:41 GMT 10
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Post by empyrean16 on Jan 3, 2023 22:12:20 GMT 10
Thanks for the links and information shesgotthelook I find it interesting the stove isn't original - i can only guess it added in by the Korong dealer when they purchased it 2nd hand |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jan 4, 2023 21:14:19 GMT 10
Hi Empyrean16, Thanks for showing us your Korong van. That’s a lovely inheritance to receive. Just adding to what Shesgotthelook has posted, as you’ve probably read higher up this thread, all or almost all the vans Korong sold after it stopped building caravans themselves were Franklin caravans. Yours is in that category. If you have a look at the Franklin advert shown in this post you’ll see a Franklin model which appears to be identical to yours. Shesgotthelook has suggested a date range from 1958-1965. I think we can narrow it down quite a bit from that because of some of the features. You’ll note that the advert in the link is dated 1960. As far as we know, 1960 or possibly 1959 was when Franklin introduced wrap around front windows like yours, so that’s a starting date. But you’ll also note the rounded corners on the window next to the door. Franklin was using those windows on the vans in the late 50’s, but changed the style of the windows at the beginning of the 60’s. I reckon that puts the build date of your van as 1959 or 1960. If there’s a serial number on the drawbar we can possibly narrow the date down. Let us know if you can find it. I agree with Shesgotthelook that the stove is not original. I’m guessing it’s from the 70’s or maybe even the 80’s. On most Franklins the stove would have been located under the laminex bench top on which the current stove is sitting. The bench top would slide to the right and the cupboard door below it would fold down to give access to the stove. But I notice on yours that even if the bench top does slide, the cupboard door does not fold down, so that’s an interesting and intriguing feature of the van. Hope all this helps. Don Ricardo |
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Post by empyrean16 on Jan 5, 2023 9:30:11 GMT 10
Thanks for the information Don Ricardo ! I had seen that advertisement and suspected it might be it, but thanks for the confirmation! -i think 1959 probably falls in line with the MIL pic, but i'm still holding out hope i'll find a serial number. I have looked far and wide for one, but it appears that the drawbar isn't the original drawbar (might have been replaced after the accident in the mid 60's), so i'm fresh out of luck there - i have also looked behind every door and cabinet to hopefully find one pencilled somewhere - but still coming up short unfortunately. I'm hopefull that i might stumble across something when restoring it  What i do have is original RTA rego reciepts from 1986 (when it was last registered) - they list a serial number as 1830005 (which is obviously a bit longer than the franklin 3 digit ones) - i've contacted vicroads, but got the standard "Find one on the van, or we can give you a new one" response. Do you know if there are any other images or examples of the van (or similar) floating around other than the advertisment? I've had a good search around, and thers a lot that are similar but not quite the same, and I'd love to get hold of some layour plans or some other pics to compare it too. Cheers |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jan 6, 2023 21:40:46 GMT 10
Hi Empyrean16,
You’re right, that number doesn’t look like a standard Franklin serial number. It’s possibly been made up when the van was re-registered at some point.
I don’t know of anyone on the Forum who has a little Franklin like yours unfortunately. I think there were probably not a lot of those littlies sold, which makes yours a bit of a rarity and pretty special.
If I come across anything, I’ll try and let you know. It looks pretty original inside, so I reckon the layout in yours is how they came. I don’t think Korong made any changes to the insides of the vans they sold - they were kept pretty standard Franklin.
Don Ricardo
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Post by empyrean16 on Jan 10, 2023 9:02:24 GMT 10
Thanks for your help Don Ricardo - i'll keep hunting for that serial number! I just realised i forgot to include the photo of the window seal rubber - i think it looks like standard glazing channel like this one - www.clarkrubber.com.au/products/31655-screen-extrusion-glazing-channel-12-2-x-20mm - but the fact that the bottom section seems to taper down as well is confusing me - any thoughts on what this might be? (as i couldn't see anything on vintagecaravanspares that looked similar)  |
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