V V watching in the Grampians

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

I have been on a couple of work trips recently which have taken me through or near the Grampians in western Victoria, and given me the chance to follow up a couple of V V leads I have been given. I've got a few photos to scan (yep, I'm still using a film camera ;D ;D ;D), so I'll split them into a couple of posts.

The first lead came from a guy I met when our caravan was being serviced earlier this year. He told me about the "Grampians Paradise Camping and Caravan Parkland" at Pomonal where he said there were some V V's being used as on-site vans...

So on my way back to Melbourne from South Australia recently I made a little detour to the said camping and caravan parkland, where I was met by the owner of the park - a young gent called Tom, more about whom later. He was very glad to show me around his clutch of five on-site vans. Two of them were "modern" 70's/80's aluminium vans, but the other three were of more interest.

This van belonged to Tom's cousin:




The cousin owned it for a number of years but Tom doesn't know much about its history. He's not sure whether it came from a van manufacturer or was home built. I couldn't find any signs or nameplates, but who knows they may be under a couple of layers of paint! It reminded me a bit of a Courtney, but there are also a number of differences...

The second V V at the park was a Franklin Freeway:




The van that got me most excited though was one built by Tom's father:




The aluminium canopy on top of the van was added in the 60's or 70's when the family was having trouble with a leak in the roof. Apparently the canopy fixed the leak and they travelled quite extensively with the van with canopy attached, including trips across Victoria and interstate.

I forgot to take my camera flash so the inside shots were taken on my phone:




Tom has added some cupboards, and of course the fridge is not original.



The draw bar was originally a timber beam, but that broke on a trip to the Flinders Ranges in the 60's (I think). It was replaced by a steel beam. Note the inscription 'Franklin Caravans' on the hitch.



The caravan has a number of really interesting features. Note what looks like a cupboard door on the left of the doorway in the above photo. This opens against the side of the cupboard on the right hand side of the doorway to close off the passage to create a......toilet compartment, as seen below:



Tom still has the original toilet box!

There aren't too many caravans of this era which had a toilet compartment. Bath? Yep, a few. Handbasins? Yep, a few. Toilets? Not many...

So what era is this caravan I hear you ask. Well work it out. Tom is 80 (I said he was just a young gent), and his father built the van when Tom was 8... Hmm, 2009 minus 80 plus 8... Yes, that's right - built in 1937!

By my reckoning that makes it amongst the handful of the oldest caravans we've come across on the forum. But 1937 is one year later than 1936, so Cobber's Ol '36 is safe...just!

Almost as amazing is that this old treasure is sitting out in the weather as an on-site van and looking not much the worse for it.

While I'm at it I must mention that the Grampians Paradise Camping and Caravan Parkland is a very pleasant place. As you'll see from the website, there is plenty of space, a lake and lots of seeerenity (to quote "The Castle") - none of the hurly burly of a lot of modern caravan parks. Not only that, but other V V's for company. What more can you ask? If you're looking for a nice quiet place to stay you could do much worse.

More about V V watching in the Grampians to come...

Don Ricardo

[Franklin1]

Hi DonR, you certainly lead a very stressful life with your work trips! Fancy having to suffer the indignity of making side trips to suss out some V.Vs!! Borders on violating the Geneva Convention on torture, if you ask me...

Some fascinating vans you've uncovered. It's a bit difficult for me to get a close look at your photos, what with all the 754 forum members crowded around this thread. ;D ;D

A 1937 van being used as an on-site van, eh? You would have to think that qualifies it as the OLDEST on-site van in Australia?? And having your own 'en-suite' would cost an extra shilling a night, eh?

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I don't suppose in your haste to go and drool over the 1937 van, that you managed to jot down the chassis number of the Franklin??

No?

That's ok, DonR...no harm done. I'll just send down an old school blackboard by courier to you. If you could just write 100 times:

Whenever I come across a vintage Franklin caravan, I MUST take a photo, and I MUST write down the chassis number.



cheers,
Al.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Al,

I am ashamed and embarrassed to tell you that I didn't think to get the chassis number of the Franklin Freeway. I can't believe that it didn't occur to me, but in fact I was just pleased with myself that I managed to work out it was a Freeway (thanks to my Grade 1 teacher who taught me how to read the nameplates on caravans). I promise to get the chassis number next time I'm anywhere near Pomonal

I've written the lines you asked me to. Have I done enough penance yet. Yes, Mr Al I'm genuinely contrite. Can't you see my tears...

Don Ricardo

[cobber]

G'day Don R,

I've just discovered this post... after returning from Bundy (actually I received a tip off via a PM ) and coincidently was about to post a link to this site in England and pose the question..."could this concept work in Australia" and blow me down if you haven't answer the question before I asked it
Naturally my interest is in the 1937 'van.... I can't believe it has survived open to the elements for so long..... notice it has no clearance lights on the side but are those blinker lights on the rear ?
I haven't looked yet but.... I expect you have put the tow coupling photo in the appropriate thread


I have also spoken to a very interesting lady at the Warwick caravan park who told me her father use to make caravans in the 1940s (just for their own use). She also has some interesting stories about the formation of the Queensland Caravan Club..... Arrow Caravans.... and is going to talk to her father and get some other information for me.

Thanks for checking out these old 'vans, very interesting.

Cobber.

[Deleted]

Cobber...
Arrow caravans are still in existence.. They bought out "Fairway" caravans. ( Matilda). I believe they are up around Redlands or sandgate QLD.
I spoke with the owners of Arrow caravans not long after i bought the Fairway....
The reply i got was.. Oh.... those old wooden vans. The last bloke that worked on them retired 2 years ago.. they wouldnt give me his contact name and phone number.

The roof on the old van wasnt added to cure a water leak..
It is called a "tropical roof" and was quite common on old vans and campervans to reduce heat inside the van. The 2 or so inch gap was enough to allow a cool flow of aiur across the van roof .
But.. i spose ya already knew that.
Reddo

[wannabe]

Did you see me standing by the side of the road and waving as you drove past?

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Cobber, Reddo and Freefalling,

Sorry for not responding to your posts more quickly, I have been AWOL from the forum for a couple of weeks due to work and am just catching up with a few posts.

Aug 29, 2009 17:16:03 GMT 10 cobber said:

I've just discovered this post... after returning from Bundy (actually I received a tip off via a PM ) and coincidently was about to post a link to this site in England and pose the question..."could this concept work in Australia" and blow me down if you haven't answer the question before I asked it
Naturally my interest is in the 1937 'van.... I can't believe it has survived open to the elements for so long..... notice it has no clearance lights on the side but are those blinker lights on the rear ?
I haven't looked yet but.... I expect you have put the tow coupling photo in the appropriate thread

The Lovelane Caravans concept is a fantastic one. If you didn't have a V V of your own, or for some reason had to leave it at home, it would be rather fun to travel from one location to another and stay in a different nicely appointed V V at each spot. It must help that UK vans started using aluminium and fibreglass fairly early on. It is pretty rare for a bondy to last out in the open the way the '37 model at the Grampians Paradise park has.

From memory the lights at the park were combined stoppers and blinkers. They would have been added sometime in the 50's I guess when van registration became compulsory in Victoria.

...and to answer your last question, yes I've posted the tow coupling on the old tow coupling thread (about two minutes ago... )

Aug 29, 2009 20:21:21 GMT 10 @reddo said:

The roof on the old van wasnt added to cure a water leak..
It is called a "tropical roof" and was quite common on old vans and campervans to reduce heat inside the van. The 2 or so inch gap was enough to allow a cool flow of aiur across the van roof .
But.. i spose ya already knew that.

Reddo, what you say about the tropical roof makes sense, but in this particular case the owner told me that the canopy was to solve a water leak...

Sept 2, 2009 8:48:42 GMT 10 @wannabe said:

Did you see me standing by the side of the road and waving as you drove past?

Sorry, Freefalling I must have shot through Ararat so fast I missed you. Actually I'm through your area a couple of times a year on average, so next time I'll let you know and I'll drop in and have a cuppa with you if you're home. Won't be until next year now though.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

Now where was I before I went AWOL for a couple of weeks... Ah, that's right! I was busy telling you about my V V watching activities in and around the Grampians, and was up to the second instalment, which involved a trip to Lake Goldsmith...

Lake Goldsmith is a little town about 15 kms south of Beaufort - which is not exactly in the Grampians, but not all that far from them. Lake Goldsmith's main claim to fame is that it is the home of the Lake Goldsmith Steam Preservation Association, which twice a year holds the Lake Goldsmith Steam Rally at what I think was probably the old showgrounds.

My reason for going to Lake Goldsmith was that I had been told that there was a 24 foot Gason caravan housed in a shed at the Steam Preservation Association grounds. When I got to the grounds I found that I had no hope of finding the Gason because the grounds were fenced - and even if that had not been the case, all the steam exhibits, etc, are kept in very well built and maintained sheds (which is fair enough for machinery which has been lovingly and painstakingly restored).

However, what did meet me when I found the Association grounds was something to cause the V V'er to rub his (or her) eyes in disbelief - row upon row of V V and Classic caravans, which I am guessing are used for accommodation by the steam preservers and/or rally attendees. Heading up two of the rows were these bondwoods:



The caravan closest to the camera was quite interesting:





I guess the louvre windows were added at some stage when it was renovated. It would be a bit hard keeping dust and water out of the front of the van when traveling with the louvres.

There were also a couple of V V Franklins in one of the rows:



Sorry Franklin1 I couldn't get the serial numbers. At least I have an excuse this time - I couldn't get past the fence and securely locked gates. ;D ;D ;D

Following are some more pics of the big Franklin 4th from the left in the above photo (or at least as much I could get of it):





This van appears to be similar to the Franklin Commercial Division van featured in the article in Reply #47 on the Franklin DHL thread.

[Sorry about the angle of the last pic - I was trying to dodge a bush, a tree and a bit of fence with my camera lens at the time. ;D ;D ;D]

If there are any V V'ers who are also interested in steam driven machinery, the next Lake Goldsmith Steam Rally is on the weekend of 31 October/1 November. And if anybody goes, please do try and get a pic of that 24 foot Gason. It is of particular interest because it was the largest Gason built, was only 2-berth, but also had a table seating 8 at a time. It was built for a contractor who had to feed his workers while out on the road.

Instalment 3 of V V watching in the Grampians still to come...

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Evening all,

Well I've finally got my last film out of my camera, and can finish the story about my wander around the Grampians on the lookout for V V's. The last instalment was about the vans stored at the Lake Goldsmith Steam Rally property near Beaufort.

On my way to Lake Goldsmith I happened across the abode of somebody who must be an avid vintage caravan collector!

Unfortunately the bondy in this photo looks as if it is close to its end:



The next photo shows a couple of ally vans, but the one at the front has a fibreglass front, roof and (I think) rear. I seem to remember seeing a similar van on the forum at some stage but can't think where or when. Does anybody know who made these vans?



Finally, a very shy little Franklin or Panorama or something similar peeping out from the shrubbery:



Don Ricardo

[Franklin1]

Hi DonR, if you keep this up, you'll have to go into rehab for overdosing on this stuff!

The fibreglass-ended van is one of the Chesney models from the late 1960s through to the very early 1970s.

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Would your employer be looking for a 'safety buddy' to travel with you when you go on these arduous journeys?? I was just thinking I might be available for such a role.

Great lot of photos, DonR! ;D ;D

cheers,
Al.

[foxy]

Hi Don

Loved the photos especially the Franklin Freeway at "Grampians Paradise camping and Caravan Parkland"

it's same as mine,

I wonder what state the wooden frame is in especially as it is out in the open

Along with Al I'm Available as an offsider/observer if you need one on your next trip


Regards

Foxy