caravan

"This is an interesting one because it is a semi-trailer arrangement and both the prime mover and the caravan are made up of the aircraft. There were quite a few semi-trailer caravans built out of aircraft after the Second World War (see higher up this thread) but no other instances that we’ve seen where both the truck and trailer were bits of planes." Don Ricardo Link: vintagecaravans.proboards.com/thread/4213/caravans-built-...

Vesna Verencevic

Vesna Verencevic Here is a aircraft based motorhome built in Brisbane and still in existence. www.flickr.com/photos/rosco500/14355851258/in/pool-147934...

Thank you. Looks great. Is it possible to be seen, and where?

Neil Chesney was born into a caravan family and for as long as he can remember he always wanted to build them. His father Alex was a successful caravan salesman, establishing what grew to become “Chesney Corner” at the busy intersection of Gympie and Rode Roads in Brisbane’s Chermside. Alex Chesney initially sold kit caravans that were popular in the early 1950s and was also the Queensland manager for Carapark caravans. Neil left school at age 14 to do an engineering apprenticeship and five years later he began making parts for his father to sell. His first factory space was underneath the family’s Queenslander home, however, demand increased quickly to the point where he had to find bigger premises and moved into an old boat shed at Breakfast Creek in Brisbane. It was there Neil Chesney built the first complete Chesney caravan, which proved to be a little too ahead of its time. In 1960 production moved to a new factory at Stafford as Chesney moved away from timber construction and started building stylish lightweight aluminum caravans. In 1965 Chesney received the biggest order of his career when he was commissioned to build 500 caravans to be used as temporary housing for workers at the new aluminum smelter at Gladstone. He later bought the vans back for a fraction of the sale price, refurbished them and held one of Queensland’s biggest caravan sales of all time. Source: www.timetoroam.com.au/neil-chesneys-60-years-caravans/#:~....

THE GREAT HOLIDAY BOOM The end of the war heralded the start of what the Sydney Morning Herald called in 1947, the ‘Great Holiday Boom’. A rush of affordable European and English sedans onto the market coincided with pay increases and big changes at work: two weeks of paid annual leave, a two-day weekend, and for many, regulation of the 40-hour working week and even long-service leave. While it might once have been just a dream, for Australia’s post-war families, owning a car became almost as important as owning a house and suddenly, everyone wanted to hitch up and go. With more time off and the money to cover holiday expenses, Australians embarked on annual beach holidays and forays into the little-explored outback, armed with maps provided free of charge by oil companies and motoring associations. The introduction of the production line revolutionised caravan manufacturing, and Australia’s Big Four led the way: Viscount and Millard in NSW, Franklin in Victoria, and Chesney in Queensland. In all, 22 manufacturers joined Australia’s inaugural 1954 caravan show in Melbourne showcasing their affordable, lightweight caravans decked out with Laminex benchtops, vinyl couches, carpeted floors and innovative gas and electric-powered kitchens. When Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley launched Holden’s FX in 1948, one in every 10 Australian homes had a car in the garage. Once homegrown cars went into production in the mid-1960s, most Aussies had access to one and with rental caravans readily available, the caravan holiday could finally begin. Source: caravan.hemax.com/News/10865/Rise_of_the_Aussie_nomad

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