Time to Roam Magazine Issue 5 - October/November 2013 | Page 20

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features classic caravans

More of the fine Propert vehicles and an amazing look inside the Newtown bodyworks factory

were behind the Propert Trailways Products
division which grew out of the motor body
business in Newtown and began building
caravans behind a house in the upmarket
suburb of Vaucluse in the late 1940s.
Success came after the war as more families
took to the road and Thomas saw the need
for a light-weight van that didn’t require a big
American V8 to tow it.
The Propert Folding Caravan is yet another
ingenious design. Even today it’s hard not to

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marvel at how the three shells fold out of a box
trailer to make the vehicle double in size.
Entry is through a rear door and
inside is light and airy, with seven
windows including a skylight.
There’s a double bed over the raised
area up front, a kitchen down one side
including sink and stove. A table is hinged
on the wall opposite and below there is
a bench which can be made into a third
bed, albeit for a very short person.

While it has become known as the folding
caravan, in some ways it has more in common
with today’s popular camper trailers. In fact
the Properts were originally sold as “trailer
cabins”. Today’s camper trailer owners would
surely marvel at how quick and easy the
Propert is to set up.
The Propert folding mechanism was first
patented in 1952, with subsequent patents
> continued page 22