The Sunliner Story.
In the early to mid 1950’s caravan hire businessman BR ( Bert ) Tickner was on a search in Australia to find a modern, light yet strong caravan for four that would be tough enough for the Australian roads. After a fruitless search he decided to go into the business himself, using a comparatively new material, fibreglass reinforced plastic.
In 1956 while preparing moulds and patterns for Australia’s first fully reinforced plastic caravan, a lightweight suspension unit and numerous other fittings were designed for the caravan. While all this was under way Mr Tickner purchased land in bushland on The Lakes Way, Forster to build the factory.
The four berth caravan which passed all tests with flying colours, measured 13 ft by 7 ft, was of ultra modern design and featured full wrap around moulded windows front and back and also a moulded wardrobe, sink and cupboards inside.
Estimated cost of production of the first caravan was around 30,000 pounds, with the keys to the first produced Sunliner caravan being handed over to the new owner in early February 1958. Even in these early days the Mid North Coast Moulded Products factory was the largest reinforced plastics factory in the Southern hemisphere, and were producing 2 caravans per week, with plans to produce 2 caravans per day.
The factory was later extended to cope with the growing demand, and the original staff of 20, overtime expanded to 50, although the estimate to produce 2 caravans per day was never reached.
The factory remained in operation until sometime in the early 1970’s when, partly due to the growing competiveness of the industry, production ceased and the factory closed. It was later sold to Berry Haddon and became a second hand goods store.
The factory was sold again in 1983 and sadly burnt down in November 2003.