Our Touring Past

G'day Griffin,

I don't know 'Due Date', but if you're interested in an Australian movie which has a great chase scene involving a caravan - a Don no less - check out 'The Big Steal'.

It's good fun, but again not necessarily one for the children, at least in parts.

Don Ricardo

G'day Richard, Interesting to know that there was a Coventry Knight floating around (metaphorically speaking) Queensland at some stage in the past. Coventry Knights were built by the Coventry Steel company and designed by Clifford Dawtrey. They were a BIG unit in their time, with multiple rooms, cen...

Fascinating thread Richard. And thanks too to Shirley for sharing the photos of her father.

Don Ricardo

Hi Richard, Some interesting items here regarding the Victorian built Glider caravans, and also the item you have on the Tasmanian built Gliders. Gets a bit confusing when different manufacturers in different states used the same name doesn't it? It wasn't uncommon in the 30's, 40's and even 50's, a...

G'day Richard, Great to see the Glen in all its restored beauty in the pics from the Coledale run. I'm not sure whether you've 100% completed it, bit it looks magnificent in any case. Congratulations. I look forward to seeing some more pics at some stage. You commented "Silversheen has long bee...

Hi Richard, That's a nice find, particularly with the details in the letter to Mr Wattling. That sort of documentation doesn't turn up very often. The only trouble is that in this case you've got the documentation but we don't know where the van is! Hopefully the owner will put his or her hand up at...

G'day Richard, That order tag is a great find! Congratulations! There are not too many vintage vanners that have something as concrete as that to date their vans. It's interesting to know (a) that Glen were building vans as far back as that, and (b) that they kept on building vans through the war ye...

A 1959 ad for a huge 25 foot long by 8 foot wide Arrow. I wonder what the weight of this little beauty would have been ? Hi Richard, Can't find the weight of the Supreme 25 footer in my records, but the narrower Arrow Royal 18 footer of the day weighed in at 22 cwt or around 2.1 tonnes, so by exten...

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!...

G'day Richard, Well that explains that! :D :D :D I was thinking that there surely must have been some changes between 1956 and 1964 - I couldn't imagine Winser not updating the info on the caravan parks and the photos at the very least. So the mystery deepens - what is in the 1964 edition? Guess we'...