Our Touring Past

Made by Propert Gold Seal Products
Vaucluse. Sydney.
An original brochure for the Propert Trailaway caravans. The business was still trading as Propert Gold Seal Products.
The National Museum of Australia has a Pink Trailaway the same as this van, and they state that it was a one off. We have come across some photo's that shows 2 or possibly 3 of these vans in Vaucluse.
At the bottom edge of the caravan in between the door and the wheel arch is the Propert badge, as shown below.
Click on the Trailaway link to view a description of the van.

Something for the young and the young at heart. Click on the Pink Caravan for interactive games with the caravan.

Hi Richard,

It is great to get a better understanding of the background to the Propert Trailaway. It is fantastic to have an example of the Trailaway in the National Museum, but there have always been so many questions surrounding its origins. So, well done on the information you've been unearthing!

Your post mentions a brochure. Have I overlooked something?

Don Ricardo

Later: Ah, I found the Trailaway brochure on the Propert Folding thread. Is that what you were referring to? Is the brochure a single page leaflet or does it have additional pages?

DR

Hi Don R
Sorry about that, I decided to make the Propert section less confusing by putting the Trailaway caravans in a new section and that is as far as I have got. Its just number 3 on the list of 127 things I have to do on the website.
The brochure is just a single piece of paper but printed on both sides, when I get time ill transfer it to here.

Cheers.
Richard.

This first photo shows a Trailaway caravan on the back of Thomas Properts Chev ute.
This second photo shows an unpainted Trailaway caravan in the front yard at Vaucluse.
The last photo shows the front of a Trailaway caravan, and the back of what looks like a very similar van but with a slightly different rear end profile.
So with a bit of detective work, the Trailaway in the first photo has a tubular pipe chassis with very round wheel arches, with the Trailaway in the second photo it has a square steel chassis with swept back wheel arches the same as the Trailaway at the National Museum.

I have a couple of negatives from Thomas Propert's collection of a smaller version of the Propert Trailaway caravan. The front of the van is identical but the rear has a teardrop shape to it.
The photo at the top was taken in the front yard at 765 Old South Head Rd, and the workshop can be seen at the rear of the Property. The two photos also show 2 Trailaway caravans in the backgroung, you would assume that the 2 photos of the smaller Trailaway were taken on the same day.

Propert Trailaway Caravan at the Australia World Fair.

Propert Trailaway Caravan at the 1956 Australia Word Fair.
From left is Thomas Propert Jnr ,Tom's sister Dorothy and Thomas Propert Snr.

My memory could well be wrong but I thought the pink caravan at the national museum was built from original propert plans FOR the museum - not an actual restoration of an oldie.
Like I said I could well be wrong though. I better pop in and check it.
jennison

Hi Jennison.
No need to pop in, just click on the link at the very top which will take you to the National Museums web page on the Pink Propert.
The van came from the Thomas Propert Collection, and was built by Propert Gold Seal Products around 1956, but what I am interested in is that the Museum states that :

"The pink Propert was neither a production-line model nor a prototype. It was a one-off built for advertising purposes."

I have now come across photos showing 3 of these vans, and I also have the Trailaway brochure so does that now make them a "production line model".

To show that there was more than one of the Trailaways built, if you have a look at the van above
Item 1 shows that both of the vans have a c section draw bar.
Item 2 shows that the cupboard door layout is different.
Item 3 shows that the bench top and stove layout is different.
Item 4 shows that there are no overhead cupboards in the top van.
Item 5 shows the two vans have the same swept back wheel arch.



So these 2 photos show that there must have been 2 Trailaways built with a C section draw bar as well as another one that was built with a pipe chassis ( photo in fourth posting. ) giving us 3 in total that we know of.

One of the original printing blocks that was used to print the caravan on the Trailaway
brochure at the top of the page.