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Post by freedom on Feb 9, 2011 18:27:11 GMT 10
Hi, I'm a new boy on the block. I'm in my early 60's and my first job was working for Skyline Caravans at the Highett Factory in early 1965. I worked there for a few years. I was employed as a painter. It was a great place to work. Jim and Keith Cheetham ran the place. Jim's son Bruce worked there also. Bob was the head painter, Ken the cabinet maker, Basil, John and David were the caravan builders. I would like to know if anybody still has a Skyline that was made in 1965 or 1966 at Highett. Does anyone know if the people above are still around? It's great to see the old vans, again thanks to this website  Freedom |
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Post by cruisindoug on Feb 10, 2011 8:53:46 GMT 10
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Post by freedom on Feb 10, 2011 19:54:54 GMT 10
Hi Cruisindoug,
Yes some of the Skyline's were rebadged. The original Skylines were built in Caulfield and Highett but some shells came down from Ballarat, the home of Franklin. We painted and fitted them out and badged them.
Yes I've been bitten by the VV bug.
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Post by Don Ricardo on Feb 10, 2011 22:34:16 GMT 10
Hi Freedom, Good to have you on the forum, and to read about your involvement with Skyline. It's always a special pleasure when one of the people who were involved in building V V's in the 50's and 60's join the forum because they are able to contribute to the information we have about particular brands or van building techniques. You mention about the link with Ballarat (and Franklin), but I was wondering if you read my theory on the Skyline thread in the Down History Lane section here along the lines that some Skylines were built by Hilandale, or maybe vice versa? There are pics of the Skyline and Hilandale vans I was comparing here. Do you have any info one way or the other on this? These vans may even have been from your time at Skyline, although they may be a bit later? I also noted your comment about having been bitten by the V V bug. Do you have a Skyline? Don Ricardo |
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noblesgarage
Full Member
A Man with many projects Dosen't have a lot of time."Cause He Walks Round In Circles"
Posts: 363
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Post by noblesgarage on Feb 11, 2011 22:14:28 GMT 10
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Post by freedom on Feb 12, 2011 22:04:47 GMT 10
Hi Doug,
I have had a good look over and over at the van you just purchased. It has a very familliar look about it. The door looks like a Skyline but the fly screen could be an add on, the original was wood. Also the curved wardrobe wall looks very Skyline like, when that curve was painted it looked like glass, not a brush mark in sight as no spraying was done then.
Hope this has been some help!
Kevin
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Post by freedom on Feb 13, 2011 13:22:03 GMT 10
Hi again ,Don.
I dont know much about the Hilindale they dont look related.
Skyline also had a factory around the corner from their Nepean Hwy location in Reserve rd Cheltenhan where i worked also. These vans seem to be desinged by the head honcho of that factory,His name was Cid ,he was brought down from Ballart to build a cheaper version for SKYLINE to put on the market. Now they had a bit of a franklin look.
Cruisindoug had a photo of one that looked like one of the ones that were made at the Cheltenham factory with the coloured stripe top and bottom on the sides all these vans were badged SKYLINE.
Regardes Kevin.
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Post by cruisindoug on Feb 13, 2011 22:59:48 GMT 10
Thanks Kevin for your input regarding our van - when we were at Lennox Head Troy and Nic (trub73) were there with their Franklin that is pretty much the same year just a tad shorter - it confirmed in my mind what Al (Franklin1) had said about ours being a rebadged Franklin as have your comments. Its good to find out these things and may make finding bits a bit easier - have an extra option to chase! The door on ours has been butchered with that screen, we will be fixing that up and going with the original style door and screen...  I was wondering if you had any thoughts on why our van has the roll front that is different to the Franklins of the same period when the rest is the same? And also if all the vans that Skyline produced carried the same style of stripes shown in the Skyline DHL thread? Thanks again for your input it is great to have someone that was there that is willing to share their memories ... even though our van won't be a full on restoration, we want to retain the key characteristics where we can. Cheers, Doug and Tracy.  |
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Post by nataliecheetham on Nov 14, 2014 23:30:31 GMT 10
Hi Freedom. I know this post was from three years ago but I just stumbled across it. My grandfather was Keith Cheetham. I am trying to do some research into Skyline unfortunately my knowledge is limited. If you want to contact me my email is cheetham_natalie@hotmail.com. I have some information about Keith. Cheers. Natalie.
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Post by Don Ricardo on Nov 16, 2014 16:02:14 GMT 10
Hi Natalie, Welcome to the forum, and great to hear that you are undertaking some research into Skyline caravans - and presumably your grandfather's involvement in the caravan industry. I know that you are trying to contact forum member Freedom about his work at Skyline, but those of us on the forum interested in caravanning history would be most interested in whatever you can tell us about Skyline and about Keith and Jim Cheetham. For example, how did they come to be involved in building caravans, when did they start and were they the founder/owners of Skyline? As you may have discovered, there is a thread in the 'Down History Lane' section of the forum devoted to Skyline caravans that you will find by clicking here. That's where we've been accumulating any information we can find. Unfortunately though we haven't been able to discover a whole lot about Skyline at this point, so anything you can tell us will be very valuable and much appreciated. In the meantime, I will try and pass your message on to Freedom to make sure he sees it. Regards, Don Ricardo |
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Freedom
