I nervously made a bid of
$3,400 near the end and won.
A little more than I had offered
initially but I knew its condition
and restoration possibilities.
I was very excited.
that I had purchased second hand
and modified to suit the family. Since
Charmayne and I have been together we
have had classic cars. I enjoy tinkering
and thought it would be great to have
a matching car and van. I came across
this van by chance when I was working
at a friend’s place and saw the old van in
the garage next door. I asked my friend
to let me know if ever the van went up
for sale. A year later he told me that the
family was going to sell the van. I rushed
over to have a look and realized it was
in very good condition for its age. I put
in an offer that he thought was fair but
he said he had to put it to his family.
Unfortunately they had already put it on
eBay. I nervously made a bid of $3,400
near the end and won. A little more
than I had offered initially but I knew its
condition and restoration possibilities. I
was very excited.
The caravan was hand built by the
owner Stuart over a couple of years.
He started the project in 1958 and was
completed in time for their honeymoon
the following year in 1959. The owner
made the van from purchasing the
chassis and sides from Highway Caravans
Mentone and filling in the gaps.
When I brought the van home I could
not wait to get started on it. The van was
in very good shape timber-wise, and only
had some damaged ply on the rear top
right hand side and a small amount on the
bottom left rear. This was easily fixed. The
interior was clean and well preserved.
We decided to repaint the whole van to
freshen it up in keeping with the original
feel and era and create a Rock and Roll
theme.
vintagetrailermagazine | 21