Looking For Caravan To Renovte In NSW

[daniellees]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Daniel & I am totally new to the world of caravan's. I have been a camper all of my life and I am now looking to venture into caravan's. I would like to make this a new hobby of mine.

I would love to buy an old caravan to strip out and renovate / restore to its original beuaty. Myself & my wife are planning on a big family so something around the 20ft - 24ft mark would suit. I have been having a little look however there are so many different types of caravans out there, i do not know what type of model or make I should be looking at.

It would be great if someone could point me in the direction of where to look or what type i should be looking at. Probably a 4 berth or 6 berth model is what im looking at. Also if someone could let me know the standard heights of these old style caravans, this would greatly help me as I am currently building a garage at home for the caravan i hope to buy.

Look forward to hearing everyone's expertise and sharing the journey of renovating and restoring a golden oldy.

Thanks,

Daniel

[Cruz]

Hi Daniel,
Good to see forward planning and building a shed. the old girls need a little shelter. Sorry i can't offer much help on the large van's ,mine are all small bondwoods.
Best of luck.
Cruz

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Daniellees,

Welcome to the forum. Good to hear of your interest in vintage caravans. Be careful though it's a pretty insidious condition - before you know it, it dominates your life. ;D ;D ;D

Choosing a caravan is a pretty individual thing, but if you are looking for something 20 to 24 ft long and up to 6 berth, you are probably looking for a van built sometime in the 60's onwards. Before 1960 the very largest vans tended to be in the 14, 16, or perhaps 18 feet range, and to be 4 berth. By 1961 adverts show that various manufacturers had begun to build some bigger vans of the kind you are looking for.

You may get some idea of what you like by working your way through the Down History Lane section, which has threads for various manufacturers and shows some of the vans they made. You might also like to have a look at our sister forum, the Classic Caravans forum, which is for caravans built from 1970 to 1979.

Vans are often offered for sale on this forum in the For Sale/Wanted section. Also keep an eye on Ebay (search for 'vintage caravans'), where there is a fairly constant stream of vans of varying sizes, ages and conditions on offer.

Good luck with you your search, and keep us posted on how you're are going. I can tell you from experience that vanning with your family is a great thing to do. My parents took me caravanning, and we took our kids. None of us would have missed a day of it.

Don Ricardo