Australia has a caravanning heritage worth celebrating. Old Dons, Coronets, Franklins, Millards, Viscounts… if you’re of a certain age, you’ll also have fond memories of seeing these vans on the road, or perhaps even staying in one.
For Andrew Phillips, the owner of The RV Repair Centre in Bayswater North, Vic, restoring these vans is a passion. He might use the word obsession. One look around his shed, which is filled with collectible memorabilia that he has restored over a very long career, tells you all you need to know about his attitude towards restoring stuff. He doesn’t do it by halves.
Andrew’s fully restored two-door, 26 6in 1975 Franklin Princeton is the latest in a long of painstaking restorations. We’ve covered some of his projects in the past – one of which was an old Don whose offside wall was being held together by duct tape when he bought it – and when Andrew had finally finished the Franklin, we were given the grand tour.
REBUILT KITCHEN AND BUNKS
Regular readers might remember this project – we detailed part of this resto within our pages quite a while ago – but Andrew got busy on other projects and the Franklin had to wait. But now, it virtually looks like it would’ve done when it rolled out of Caravan Village Croydon, the dealership where it was sold more than 50 years ago. In fact, Andrew even went so far as to recreate the original dealership sticker! He has also retained the Princeton nameplate, the original approval sticker for the stove, and even the original numberplate has been restored.
To say a lot of work has been done would be an understatement. Stepping inside, the extent of the work became clear – but only because Andrew pointed everything out. To the average eye, it looks almost 1975-factory-perfect. The kitchen had to be almost completely rebuilt – a mouse had found its way behind the cabinetry and chewed the timber out. The mouse also had its way with the original stove, but Andrew was able to dismantle it, fix it, and it has since passed its inspection.
There is, however, one appliance he fitted that was definitely not available in 1975 – a new Dometic fridge, as the original unit was beyond repair due to the mouse also eating its way through the wiring of the fridge and the insulation. The fascia on the new fridge, however, came from the old one.
As for the upholstery – there are two seating lounges in this huge caravan – was all redone to the original design, and some of the internal ply sheets had to be replaced. While the pattern in the new brown ply isn’t an exact match, it’s very close – how he sourced such closely matching ply is anyone’s guess. But that’s one of the advantages of being in the trade – the contacts you develop are priceless.
Speaking of his work in the trade, it meant that he had a lot of ‘new old stock’ and just so happened to have items like old-style Four Seasons hatches and reflectors that perfectly matched the original equipment.
The bunks in the van had to be completely rebuilt as the van’s previous owner had removed them to make space for a baby’s cot.
The small bathroom opposite the bunks, meanwhile, was also restored to original condition. Given the impressive length of this van, it’s quite instructive that it’s bathroom is so small – a bit like a combo bathroom in a modern caravan. Clearly, we prioritised living space back then. Can you imagine the size of the bathroom in a 26ft 6in caravan today?
What about the bedroom? It sits at the back of the van and even has it’s own door to the outside world. But the steel bed base needed to be replaced and, fortunately, Andrew came across a bloke who was removing the bed base from his similar Franklin of similar vintage, and Andrew snapped it up. He even sourced a period-correct, Mission brown bedspread of the type that was used by Franklin as a prop in the black-and-white advertising for the van at the time – Franklin would also supply a bedspread with each van.
NEW CARPET FOR THE FRANKLIN!
Now, we need to talk about carpet in caravans. A bad idea, right? Perhaps, but in the 1970s, it was considered quite luxurious and this 1975 Franklin had some in both the front lounge area, the bunk room, and the rear bedroom. Unsurprisingly, the old carpet was done for… but rather than replace it with lino, Andrew replaced it with new carpet because, well, he doesn’t do things by halves.
Almost every aspect of the van has a story, from the coupling to the cladding. Speaking of the cladding, the front and rear aluminium had to be removed and replaced as it was too far gone (this sheeting, however, was still available) while the dents and other damage to the side cladding could be repaired. The complete side sheeting was repainted, which included matching the paint colour to the original green and around colour flash. As Andrew said, it would have been easier to replace the sheeting, but the Franklin F1 sheeting is no longer produced.
A true restoration has to be a labour of love. Otherwise, the temptation to swap old parts for new would be too much. At least, it would be for me. But detail pieces, such as the original clock inside the van, the light fixtures and cupboard catches were painstakingly given a second lease on life.
Sure, there were some items that didn’t make it, and genuine replacement parts weren’t available, but in those instances, new parts were chosen very carefully to ensure the match was as close as possible.
Finally, what would you guess this van weighed? 2800kg? 3200kg? In fact, despite its size, it weighs about 1700kg! Some of the weight savings come from how this van was built. Believe it or not but it contains no traditional frame, except around apertures such as doors and windows. The walls are a structural sandwich panel comprised of external aluminium and internal ply, while the ‘filling’ is polystyrene foam.
As for his next project, Andrew has started work on a 1976 Statesman caravan, while also working on an old Don. Meanwhile, I have asked him to restore a DeLorean. Sure, they’re apparently pigs to drive… but there’s something about them that appeals to the little boy in me. You might even say they take me… back in time.
So what do you think? Could you see yourself travelling Australia with this restored beast on the back of your car? Write to info@gorv.com.au to let us know what you think of Andrew Phillips’ latest labour of love.
More information: www.thervrepaircentre.com.au
