Somewhere Else

Last weekend we showed you a 1977 Millard caravan. Here is another 1970s van – a 1979 Viscount. Like many caravans of that decade, it is a poptop. And the interior still retains the distinctive lime green decor of the era:

Although it is over 30 years old, this classic caravan has done some serious touring recently. Owners Liz and Ed L have towed their Viscount from Perth to far north Queensland via Alice Springs – a journey that even owners of a brand new caravan would view as quite a challenge. And the old Viscount coped just fine. For more details of this caravan, see our 1970s feature in the Sept 2010 issue of Caravan World magazine and the short video on their website.

There was a time when that headline would have created an argument, since the 1970s were initially viewed as a decade without style. That was the time when safari suits, Afro hairdos and eye-stabbing colours like lime green and burnt orange were in fashion. But these days many people look back to “seventies style” with nostalgia.

We have photographed many vintage caravans from the 1930s through to 1960s and featured them on this site, but none from the 1970s. However Caravan World magazine is celebrating its 40th birthday this month, so we took a closer look at 1970s caravans.

Among the seventies style caravans we found was this proud 1977 Millard poptop belonging to Alan C and Delma of Wollongong. The poptop roof was one of the big technical innovations in caravans of the 1970s, and that fashion is still with us today. You can read more about this Millard in our 1970s feature in the Sept 2010 issue of Caravan World magazine, and see it popping its top in this video.

We have just completed one of our more fun tasks for the year – producing a 2011 calendar for the vintage caravan community. It features a variety of caravans from the 1930s to 1960s, and is a very small scale edition with only about 200 copies printed.

If you want a copy, don’t write to us about it. You can only obtain this calendar through the forum at the vintage caravan website.

Two months back we attended the vintage caravan national get-together in Mildura, Victoria. At the time we showed you a few of the vintage caravans, and here are some more. The one above is a 1950s home-built caravan, while the convincingly retro-looking teardrop below was actually built just a few years ago.

You can read more about the vintage caravan nationals in the August 2010 issue of Caravan World magazine, and see our online video of the event at their website.

At yesterday’s Super Model Car Sunday display, we particularly looked out for vehicles relating to caravans, since they are one of our pet interests. The hotrod and teardrop above was part of the “Red ones go faster!” display.

And there were also these two miniature motor homes among the general vehicles on display.

This morning we went along to Super Model Car Sunday in Perth. With around 800 models on display, this is Australia’s biggest little car show. And since there were a few scattered rain showers, everyone appreciated the fact that it was all under cover.

As usual, there were plenty of tiny hotrods and custom cars.

The Meccano model car display was a blast from the past in more ways than one.

And since we are big fans of Italy, this one really caught our attention:

If you’re a fan of model cars, you won’t want to miss Australia’s largest display of model cars this weekend. Super Model Car Sunday will have about 800 models on display. It will be held at West Coast Street Rod Clubrooms, 12 Cusack Road, Malaga (a northern suburb of Perth), Western Australia on Sunday 11th July from 9am to 4pm.

These photos are from last year’s event and give just a “little” hint of what you’ll be missing if you don’t go.

Here’s one more building that we admired in Beverley. The Beverley Hotel looks pure art deco style, but is older than it looks. It was built in 1886 and then given a new-look make-over in 1938.

But by now you will have guessed that we went to Beverley to see more than the historic buildings. We were also photographing vintage caravans like this 1964 Harris, which is towed by a 1965 HD Holden Special (GM) station wagon. The rig belongs to Mark T, and yes it’s the same one that we saw in Quindanning several weeks back.

It must have been a good year – this Austin Princess and Carapark Superb caravan were both built in 1947. The amazing retro touring rig belongs to Alan and Christine S of Bendigo.

Caraparks have a distinctive shape – sometimes unkindly described as an electric toaster – which continued through into the 1960s. The 1947 Carapark Superb was unusual in being built of steel, rather than wood, aluminium or fibreglass used in most vintage caravans. The tow car is actually an Austin Sheerline with Princess trim, and has a 4 litre, 6-cylinder engine which easily copes with towing the Carapark.

For more information about this rare 1947 rig, see our write-up in the July 2010 issue of Caravan World magazine.

Here is a mystery vintage caravan. Even the owners, Mark and Maureen P of Bendigo, haven’t been able to pin down its exact origins. If you look back at yesterday’s entry on a 1949 Don caravan, you will see an immediate resemblance.

But this one is not a Don, since it differs in many details. It appears to be a one-off, home built caravan from the late 1940s – and roughly based on the shape of a Don. You can read more about this caravan in the July 2010 issue of Caravan World magazine: