Time to Roam Magazine Issue 3 - June/July 2013 | Page 23

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features classic caravans

(Above) Vintage van get-together in the Barossa Valley to celebrate South Australia’s caravan heritage. (Below) Interior of a 1960 Adventurer with its
double-camber canite roof.

John Jennison in the 1930s and based in
Salisbury, SA. Advertisements from the
1950s describe these vans as “the aristocrat
of the road”. However Jeff acquired the
van more for its family connection than its
quality. John Jennison was his maternal
grandfather. So Jeff can recognise the
people shown in old Jennison caravan
advertisements because they are all family
and friends.
Ray Mossop of Adelaide also comes from a
caravan building family. His father Bert built
Broadway caravans, and Ray is the proud
owner of a 1950s Broadway. Herbert Mossop
began his caravan building business after
World War II in his partner’s backyard and
went on to build about 500 caravans up until
1960. To maintain the family tradition, Ray
built a custom teardrop caravan and named
it “Broadway”.
Yet another man with caravan building
in his blood is Larry Weepers of Adelaide.
His father bought the Roadmaster Caravan
company in 1968 and today Larry is still
in the caravan business, though carrying
out repairs and maintenance rather than
building new caravans. He has a passion
for the Roadmasters of the 1960s, with their

typically South Australian style of doublecamber canite roof. Larry’s own van is a
stylish 1963 Roadmaster which he tows with
a colour-matched 1967 Mercury Cougar.
Another South Australian caravan brand
which produced vans with a surprising
resemblance to Roadmaster is Adelma.
This brand was built from 1966 to 1980 by
the legendary Coppola Brothers, using the

jigs and designs that had previously been
used to build Roadmasters. To stress the
South Australian origins of their caravans,
the company name Adelma was a shortened
form of “Adelaide Made”.
The Coppola brothers, who were
immigrants from Italy, were skilled
craftsmen. They were also keen to embrace
new technology, like aluminium cladding that

Issue 03 June/July 2013

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