Coronet caravan history

[Franklin1]

G'day All,

I have revamped the first post in the Coronet history thread in the DHL section. It now includes information and photos I gathered together during my recent visit to Ballarat and their library.

If tenoroc happens to read this, could you please tell me where on Creswick Road the Coronet factory was actually located?

DHL link: Coronet caravans - Ballarat, Vic.

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Don Ricardo, during the hours I spent scrolling through microfilms in the Ballarat library, I came across two other names of caravans that I can't recall hearing about before...

1. A 1956 classified advert for Belvedere caravans...



(...two mentions on the forum in the last 1000 days are for Plymouth Belvederes.)


2. A 1956 classified advert for a Coastliner caravan...



(...no matches on the forum in the last 1000 days.)



Anybody heard of these names before??

cheers,
Al.

[tenoroc]

Hi Franklin

The Creswick road factory was located beside The John Valve factory with the showgrounds on the other side.

From there they moved to Dowling street in the late sixties and the old factory was used for all the steel work.

In 1972 they moved the caravans to Norman street (now the Davis Bus line depot) and used the Dowling street complex for the production of mobile homes and portable classrooms, as well as the production of the laminated ply and particle board and head office was also located there.

They built Coronet street to gain access to the large trucks that where required to move the portable buildings from the site.

I have a copy of an old film made by BTV6 in 1967 at Creswick road and if I can work it out I may post it on you tube. It runs for 20 mins.

[tenoroc]

This map off Google shows the Coronet factories in Ballarat (if it workks)

[awd]

G’day, just joined the group.
The Belvedere Caravan were built by my grandfather James Donald in Hames Crescent Ballarat.
The advertisement you posted is great to see.
I have a photo to post soon.
Andrew Donald

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Awd,

Welcome to the Forum and thanks for posting about your grandfather's Belvedere Caravans. We'd love to hear more, as well as to see photos of the vans.

It's always fascinating to hear from the descendants of the people who were involved in the Australian caravan industry in the Vintage era (ie up to 1969).  It's also very important in documenting the history of the Australian caravanning heritage to include the low volume manufacturers whose names and caravans are rarely spoken of these days.

There is information on how to post photos on the Forum if you click here. If you use the 'Add Attachment' button it's fairly easy to post photos, but note there's an extra step to take to get the button to appear if you're using a mobile.

If you have any issues with the photos, you're welcome to email them to me to post on your behalf: [e-mail]   But please don't give up because we'd like to hear about your grandfather's activities.

It's a long while since I read Franklin1's original post, and I note that we haven't set up a thread on Belvedere Caravans in the Down History Lane (DHL) section. I've now done that and included it in the DHL index. You can find the thread here. You're welcome to post on the new thread or on this one.

Don Ricardo