Our Touring Past

History Of Caravan Park Ltd
or later called Carapark Pty Ltd.

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 pounds in the middle of the 1930's. It had cupboards and was complete in itself.

Commercial production was achieved at the latter end of 1929. A very ready demand was proved and a larger model was designed and marketed during 1930. This model was more liveable, in so much 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".

In 1932 the first "Teardrop" was marketed, with a steam bent 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 mattress.

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 Missinden Rd Newtown by the end of 1932.

Meantime, plans had been drawn up of new models, larger than the previous ones, and it was not long before the Mobile Home models 14 and 16 were being marketed in fairly large numbers. By this time the caravan industry was firmly established and a hire fleet of approximately 25 vans was being operated by Mr Rankin.
Numbers of mobile homes were manufactured from 1932 until 1939, gradually improving through the years, more efficient brakes, welded steel chassis, use of lighter materials, with each problem overcome one by one and the mobile homes ended up a very satisfactory caravan.

Meantime, drastic changes had taken place in the car body design. Bitumen and concrete roads had been laid down on most highways. Mr Rankin then realised that the day of the mobile home was going, and the motorist required a new type of caravan. A caravan capable of being used as a temporary or permanent dwelling, having most of the conveniences usually associated with a modern home. Refrigeration, bottled gas, chemical sanitation, hot and cold running water were to be incorporated in the new models.

During the latter end of 1939, the new all steel Superb pilot model was completed. Tested thoroughly under all conditions including a trip to Darwin. The first Superb was then taken off the road and stored as the War had come and there was no longer a need for vans for pleasure. Caravan Park hire fleets went to Lithgow and Bathurst to house munition workers. Some even went to Tocumwal and Raglan aerodromes. A.W.C and C.C.C workers had No 1 priority. Hire rates were reduced to as little as one pound per week in some instances.

Production of caravans ceased completely by 1940, even though the need for mobile accommodation was urgent, guns and munitions were of the upmost priority. Needless to say, during this period, the caravan industry did not flourish. A caravan on tour was indeed rare, travel and petrol restrictions, with an extreme lack of accommodation of any kind drove them off the roads. They could be seen on any major construction job or adjacent to any factory, and usually the owner or hirer did not own a vehicle to tow them.

New tyres were almost impossible to obtain. Paint was also a major problem, consequently the hire fleet and privately owned vehicles deteriorated to a great extent, particularly the caravans which were exposed to all the weather conditions.
Plans were again brought out for the production of all steel Superb in late 1944. Limited quantities of materials were available and the first batch of Superb's rolled off the assembly line in early 1945. A very ready demand existed and production was soon approximately 14 Superb's a month. Material supplies were difficult to obtain and shortage of labour also affected production. In 1944 a branch was established in Newcastle and soon after production of the Hunter commenced.

Mr J.T.Walsh was manager of the Newcastle branch, and was the driving force behind the production of the Hunter. Several hundred Hunters had been manufactured in Newcastle, and it is claimed that the Hunter factory used the most modern methods of construction. One feature was that components for 50 units were machined at one time, with each section and panel being jig built and every Hunter is exactly the same in every detail. The full assembly line of Hunters was 18 caravans resulting in the completion of one every alternate working day.
Allocation of Hunters was made to the Sydney office, which in turn, Distributed to a network of dealers in practically every state. Approximately 50% of production was sold in Newcastle, principally to immigrants. The policy of Caravan Park Limited. was to give first priority to clients who require a caravan for use as a home.

During 1949, a very large percentage of Hunter's were purchased by British immigrants. As special sales policy existed for overseas clients. By paying a deposit of 25 precent of the purchase price, a caravan is reserved and made available for delivery on request. Should the purchaser not be completely satisfied with the caravan on inspection, any monies paid would be refunded in full. It is considered that this was a very fair arrangement, as the new Australian is not committed to complete the transaction unless he was completely satisfied. It was also possible to have a standard caravan altered to suit individual requirements.

Realising that there was a great number of light cars in Australia, and that it seems apparent that caravans would be required for this particular field, the company had commenced production of two new models. The Hunter Junior 3 birth for cars of 10 hp rating and Hunter Minor 2 birth for 8-10 hp. Both of these models were marketed in 1949 and performed very well, both in private use and in commercial hire fleets.
Production of the Superb at the factory was interrupted in 1948 to enable the manufacture of a number of Chalets of caravan type portable homes for the Department of Railways. These two proved very satisfactory and at that stage orders had been place by government departments for over 100 commercial type caravans. To combat the ever existing shortage of axels, couplings, etc they ended up producing them in the factory, in fact, tyres, wheels and bearings are the only major parts of caravans not being manufactured in the Newcastle factory.

Converting to a public company (Capital £250000.00) It was planed to build a new factory covering a new area of approximately 3 acres. By using the latest type of equipment and production methods, production was planed at least 100 caravans per week.


After the company was made public the name Caravan Park Ltd was changed to "Carapark Pty Ltd". In 1961 Carapark Pty Ltd aquired the Gypsy Caravan company and Carapark prospered until 1962, when "Motels of Australia" bought out the company for the several Motels and Caravan Parks that Carapark Pty Ltd had already set up and they seem to have sold the naming rights and caravan designs to various independent operators in each state.



A very old slogan of Caravan Park Limited has been A caravan for every car

The following link will take you back to the main website to look at the Caravan Park brochures.

Brochure Collection

The following link will take you back to the main website to look at the Carapark brochures.

Brochure Collection

1955 Carapark Crash.

1955 Advert for the "Carapark Build Your Own Caravan Kits."

This is a very rare 1934 Caravan Park promotional photo of Mr Rankins "Mobile Home". It is interesting to note that in later years, Caravan Park's workshop at Missenden Rd Newtown was across the road from Thomas Propert's workshop, who at that stage was building caravans to order.

A photo of a mid 1950's Carapark, possibly a Carapark 19-9.
The Holden and Carapark were owned by Mr and Mrs Enchelmaier with their grandson Michael from Margate Queensland.

A 1962 ad which introduces the new Carapark Zestline

While at Coledale a couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a chat to a bloke who's parents had owned a Carapark 10-9 and had towed it with the family EK Holden. He later came back with a photo of the van being towed behind his parents car.

I have recently had the pleasure of meeting forum member austin125 and have a look at his fabulous 1940's Carapark Superb all steel caravan. The van has its original annex and is packed full of period goods inside the van.
I have filmed a short video on the Superb and put it on youtube, if you click on the following link you can now view the video, its well worth the look.

I have been given thses couple of photos of the Caravan Park stand at a motor / caravan show in the 1940's.
It is interesting to note that caravanning was called "Vagabonding" in Luxury, and they had caravans For Sale, Hire and Exchange.

Hi Richard

With Christmas just around the corner its a pity we cant follow the advice in this advertisement from 1954 and pop out to the local Carapark dealership for a nice new van. Wonder how many Dads actually scored a van for Christmas?
Nice cutaway drawings showing layouts.

George