All over New Zealand, caravanners are dedicated to restoring vintage vehicles, with some dating back almost 100 years. These caravans, spanning four decades, have been revived with a lot of love.
1963 Princess / Tony & Kate
We first met Tony and Kate a few years ago when researching our Australasian book Vintage and Retro Caravans Downunder. We were in the Hahei Holiday Park to do a feature on a tandem ACC when Marilyn spotted a very cool mid-seventies Liteweight. It was Tony and Kate’s first excursion into retro caravans and they had made a lovely job of it, giving it a beach vibe inside. But Tony and Kate had itchy feet. They had found a 1962 14-foot Princess and wanted to try another retro fit-out and restoration.
Again, they made a lovely job of this restoration with a little help and input from Mike Wells from Retro Custom Caravans. Subsequently Mike found another Princess, a rundown 12-footer in a paddock. Mike mentioned it to Tony and Kate. It was a 1963 model. Even though they loved their 14-foot Princess and had bought a 1953 Ford Ranch Wagon to tow it, Tony and Kate thought it would be great to do this one up and really make it their ultimate retro design. Long story short, they bought it!
Well, short story long actually. They embarked on a four-year restoration with an amazing amount of planning and collecting of parts from around the world. Kate and Tony had a dream for this caravan. They wanted the interior to be art deco styled. They planned to hang on to their other Princess so they could still enjoy retro caravanning, but once their new project was complete, they planned to sell the 14-footer and just enjoy their new baby.
Now, a few of us knew they had a new project under way, but it was kept under wraps until its debut. The first step was to make the caravan sound. There were huge gaps between the front and back floorboards, which Tony and Kate replaced. They then fitted a new axle, hubs and stubs and new whitewall tyres that Mike had brought back from America for them. Then it was onto the inside. Tony stripped out all the interior cabinetry and wall and ceiling linings. He then reframed, rewired, and relined the interior of the caravan. Man, that’s easy to say in one sentence, but those of you who have been down that track with your restorations know just how hard and time consuming that part of a restoration is.
After that, Tony built all new cabinetry, keeping and using only the original wardrobe. By this time the collection of art deco pieces had grown and with Mike’s assistance they added the artistic flair and details. Mike was commissioned to paint the interior and exterior. He also designed the continental kit for the rear of the caravan. Tony designed and fitted the very cool travel box to the front drawbar and the entry step. We are great fans of these travel boxes and have designed and fitted them to both our caravans. They are extremely useful as well as looking very retro.
The interior finish of the caravan is outstanding. The wall-mounted, shell-shaped light shades became the inspiration for the colour scheme with cream walls and furniture, with metallic deep turquoise doors and pelmets. These colours are picked up in the fluted upholstery and the bench and table tops, which are a replicated cracked-ice pattern.
The wardrobe exemplifies the level of detail in the caravan, with its porthole mirror, chrome trim and swaged centre panel. Alongside the wardrobe is a 1930s-styled ‘smokers table’ made by Tony in a nod to the decadence and opulence of the art deco period, which is captured so beautifully in this caravan. This deco detail is continued in the backsplash and fridge, along with the pump-action tap. Little wonder their caravan was voted the winner of the 2020 Repco Beach Hop Retro Caravan Show.
Frankie-Jo is the name Tony and Kate have given to their Princess, after a dear friend’s daughter. Tony and Kate loved using their previous retro caravans and Frankie-Jo is no different. They have plenty of trips away planned, towing it with their 1953 Ford Ranch Wagon, including a trip to the South Island in the not too distant future.
1942 Terra Cruiser / Graeme & Megan
One of the questions we like to ask people when we interview them is: ‘What attracted you to owning a vintage/retro caravan?’ In Graeme and Megan’s case they had an old original 1970s caravan they used to take to Lake Benmore along with their boat to enjoy their pastime of waterskiing.
They heard about the Geraldine Classic Caravan Club rally and out of curiosity went along and fell in love with the beautiful old caravans. There and then, they decided they wanted their own vintage caravan, so the search began. Graeme and Megan had heard of a number of old caravans that had been on permanent sites at Lake Heron for a number of years that had to be removed. They managed to track down the owner of one they were interested in. Turns out he lived just a block down the road. The old registration showed it was built in 1942 and the original ownership papers were still in the top cupboard. They did a deal and transported it back home.
As is so often the case with these old caravans that look reasonable on the outside, this one was rotten to the core. The frame had rotted, and the more Graeme stripped it down the bigger the problem became. By the time they got to the rebuild all they had left was the chassis and the windows and the original 1942 ownership papers. A new axle was fitted, then Graeme and Megan hopped on the internet searching for 1942 caravans to gain some perspective of what such caravans should look like. They happened upon a site featuring a 1942 Terra Cruiser caravan.
They loved the shape, but even better there was a full set of build plans available. A quick measure of their chassis showed it matched size for size, so the plans were downloaded and Graeme and Megan began to rebuild their 1942 chassis into a 1942 Terra Cruiser, which was an American-designed caravan. Though slightly rounder than the original build of their caravan, it still captured the era perfectly. The chassis is the original New Zealand homebuilt 1942 one, and some of the hardware from the original caravan, such as hinges and cupboard door handles, were used in the build along with the windows.
Graeme thinks that at some stage the original caravan must have had its windows updated; I would agree, as the alloy window frames didn’t arrive in New Zealand until around late 1949. Graeme and Megan elected to keep the interior similar to the original style. They sourced a stunning vintage-style linoleum in a red and yellow diamond pattern. The interior lining and ceiling were varnished, as were the furniture and pelmets. Old-styled formica was sourced for the benchtops and Graeme fitted chrome beltings around the benchtops and chrome curves to the two ends of the sink-bench carcass.
Vintage-style curtains were made by Megan, and a friend at Tinwald Canvas and Upholstery made the tuck and roll vintage-style squabs for the dinette. The rear of the caravan is taken up with a permanent double bed. They have a collection of retro accessories in the caravan and when you step inside it feels cosy, snug and relaxing. It has a lovely atmosphere, and you really do feel like you’ve been transported back to 1942!
The outside paintwork matches the interior colour scheme with cream, yellow and red livery painted in a fashion reminiscent of the era. The exterior riding and tail lights are a retro design and when set up for camping or display, a red and white roof awning really sets this caravan off.
Graeme and Megan completed the build in 2009 and have used the caravan extensively since then around their home territory of the South Island. Their tow car until recently has been a Ford Galaxie, and even though they still own the Galaxie, it has been retired from towing duties and replaced with their newly rebuilt 1930 Model A Pickup hot rod, which was painted cream to match the caravan.
Asked how the Model A hot rod towed the caravan, Graeme replied, “Remarkably well. In fact, much better than the Galaxie did. The only problem I have with it is watching my speed. It’s inclined to creep upon you very easily!” When they had completed the build and went to register it, they were asked what model it was. The original caravan had been homebuilt, but what they had now was a genuine 1942 model Terra Cruiser that had been faithfully built to the 1942 plans, so it became registered as a Terra Cruiser.
1970 Cresta Craft Slide-On / Barry & Leanne
Slide-ons enjoyed some popularity during the caravan boom of the 1970s and are now rejoining the ranks of the retro caravan scene, still in relatively small numbers, along with the likes of the solid-wall folding caravans and poptops of the same vintage. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, they are basically a small caravan that sits on stands, which you could back your ute under and lower it onto the tray. Tie it down and, hey presto, you have your accommodation set to go. They were a great concept at the time and still work well today. They were mainly designed to fit onto a Holden or Falcon ute.
Cresta Craft were certainly at the forefront in producing this type of holiday accommodation and it was great to catch up with Barry and Leanne’s freshly restored rig. Barry, who is a spraypainter, was doing some touch-ups on the slide-on for a friend. Barry was quite impressed with the outfit and, long story short, ended up buying it off his friend. The idea was to fit it on his 1968 Chevrolet C10 V8 pickup. However, there was a small problem. The slide-on, as mentioned before, had been designed to fit a Holden or Falcon ute, both of which had a much lower cab roofline than the Chev did.
This meant Barry had to carefully dismantle the front part of the slide-on and raise the bodywork 200 millimetres to fit over the cab of the Chev. That sounds easier than it is to do, especially when you want to retain its period looks. Barry has done a great job in this area and if you didn’t know that it had been raised, you certainly would think that it was an all-original body shape. The outside bodywork was in reasonably good order and after a bit of massaging of the panel work here and there it was ready to paint. Barry themed the slide-on to match the black and orange of his pickup and the entire rig is a real standout.
If you think the photos look great, you should see it in the flesh, so to speak. It attracts attention wherever it goes. Barry and Leanne had got it to that stage and were able to attend the Kumeu Classic Car & Hot Rod Festival in January 2021. From there it was a mad dash to renovate the interior and get it certified self-contained in time for the Beach Hop in March. The interior has been very attractively done with an over-cab double bed followed by a dinette that also converts to a double bed. To one side is a full-length sink bench and to the other side a fridge sits next to the bathroom. The white furniture has been highlighted with varnished timber trim, varnished pelmets and the forward bulkhead which is shiplap timber. This adds a real warmth to the interior. It comes with all the mod cons, including threeway fridge, gas stove and portable toilet. With on-board water tank and grey-water tank it meets all the requirements for self containment. The door is located at the centre of the rear panel. A full-length window in the door allows plenty of light, as do the other windows. The window in the front of the slide-on has been cleverly aligned to match the rear window of the Chev to provide see-through vision right through the slide-on and out the back door window. It is a small space but packed with absolutely everything you need.
It is exciting to see slide-ons, hardtop campers, solid-wall folding caravans and poptops joining the ranks of retro caravans, because they were very much part of the caravan scene in the 1970s.
Extracted with permission from the book ‘More Retro Caravans’
by Don and Marilyn Jessen. Publisher Bateman Books
