The Caravan - Beginning and Growth

[Richard]

Overview.

Caravanning is one of the oldest forms of travelling in reasonable comfort known to man. Merchants and travellers were using crude versions of our modern caravans to travel overland along the worlds trade routes. Gypsies, showman etc have been using caravans for the last 500 years at least. The covered wagon, in effect a caravan, played an important part of civilisation through America and Australia.

However it was until the 1930's that someone hit upon the basic design of caravans as we know them today. Since that auspicious, for us, occasion, caravan has spread to every country in the world. Manufactures are producing caravans of all shapes and sizes for a large market. The annual production of vans in Great Britain in 1955 was approaching 60,000 units, with 1/6 of that number being exported to Europe.

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean the Americans, with their genius for improvement and improvisation, have extended caravanning to their own needs until their caravans sometimes just become homes. Thousands of people in the united states now in what they call "Mobile Homes". These are large so called caravans which are semi permanently anchored to a site. They are large and comfortable and because they are still basically caravans their owners pay no rates. Mobile homes are also becoming popular in England, although it will be some time before the idea really takes off here.

Another form of caravanning developed especially in America is the motorised caravan. Here the wood be holiday makers buy large vans and convert the rear section into a caravan. this form of travelling is also popular in England as well as Australia. In this country there are several manufactures producing motorised caravans on VW Kombi Vans which can be adapted well.

The touring caravanner who tows his caravan behind his car is the real holiday caravanner, and he has set us certain standards of behaviour and conduct, with the result that he is beginning to be accepted and welcomed by the community. the touring caravan holiday can be the finest and healthiest form of recreation yet devised.

The attraction of a caravan either as a permanent residence or as holidays is not easy to explain, but essentially it is the freedom aspect which makes it so popular. This includes freedom to move from one location to another, freedom from crowed spaces, housework and in some cases freedom from land lords. the idea of mobility is alway attractive and there is also the point that of recent years accommodation of every kind has been a problem. Either for a home or for a holiday the right accommodation at the right price appears to be scarcer each year. and this is one reason for the expansion of caravanning in the last 2 decades.

History of Australian Caravans.

When we see a sleek, streamlined caravan travelling up to 100km's equipped with all the conveniences usually found in a modern home, it is difficult to associate it with our very early caravans.

Drovers Vans.

Drawn by bullocks or horses, they played no mean part in opening up our vast inland. They could be seen on the goldfields, on the narrow mountain tracks, crossing the famous black soil plains.Even today many a drovers out fit is not complete without a dust covered four wheel drive towing a caravan, perhaps a few trusted sheepdogs resting in a specially made hammock under the caravan.
The original vans were of rugged construction, tyres of 2" x 1" chilled steel and huge hand forged axles, with anything up to 6 powerful, slow moving bullocks as the motive power, made them the ideal vehicle to negotiate bush tracks, flooded streams and mountains high.


Beginning of The Industry in Australia.

About the end of 1928, Mr R. J. Rankin, a young Sydney businessman and keen outdoor sportsman, decided to have a caravan constructed for his own use. After six months of planning, he had completed the plans of the small "covered wagon". Lightly constructed and lacking floor space and head room, it was at least a caravan in which one was reasonably comfortable, and it could be towed by a small car.

This little vehicle proved such a success that Mr Rankin decided to manufacture a number, and so a workshop was set up for this purpose in Missinden Road Newtown.

Model No 6, for instance was 6ft long and 5ft.6in. wide, a compact two berth weighing in at 5 cwt and selling for $75 in the middle of the 1930's.It had cupboards and was complete in itself.Commercial production was achieved in the latter end of 1929. A larger model was designed and marketed during 1930.
This model was more livable, as it had a water tank, ice chest and electric lighting.

Model 9 was 9ft.long and was considered quite comfortable for its day. Although a large number of "covered wagons" were sold and model 9 being the most popular, Mr Rankin realised that there was room for improvement. Being of a collapsible type, with partly canvas sides and roof, it was most difficult to prevent road dust and water from seeping in.

At this period our engines were more powerful, roads also were in a much better state, and it was time to improve the "Covered Wagon".

Luxury at Last

In 1932 the first "Teardrop" was marketed, with a steam vent and coachwood frame, clad in steel with a ply lining on the inside, the Teardrops were a huge success.Totally enclosed and fitted with an all steel chassis, two large windows, 16" wheels, stove and were completely water and dust proof, with many of them still on the road today. A feature of the Teardrop was the dinette and they were even supplied with an innerspring matress.

Weight of the Teardrop two berth was 7 1/2 cwt. Over ride brakes were fitted but it was found that they were really light enough not to warrant them. These little vans proved so popular that a hire fleet of 6 units were in operation from Missenden Rd Newtown by the end of 1932. By 1934 the caravan industry was firmly established and a hire fleet of approximately 25 vans was being operated by Mr Rankin, the founder of "Caravan Park" and later to be called "Carapark Pty Ltd". The company prospered untill 1962, when "Motels of Australia" bought out the company and sold the naming rights to various independent operators in each state.

Modern Designs.

Caravans come in all shapes and sizes, but in Australia today a caravan buyer can make his choice from units designed on three different but basic principles.
1.The Vacation caravan. 9 ft to 18 ft.
2.The Mobile home. 19 ft to 30 ft.
3.The Motorised Camper or Mobile Home.