even tho' i've made a few posts here on DSK, and have logged on to "listen and learn" almost every day for the last 12+ months, have been to a few VW events, have managed to scratch together quite a neat collection of splitties, and have even met a few of the "regulars" over here in Sydney, i've never really officially said "hello" ... so finally after a year or so of DSK "membership" here is my official "hello" ...
i thought that i might start with just a bit of background ...
i live in Sydney, Hills District, but grew up in the far West Coast of Sth Australia, right on the edge of the Nullarbor Plain ... Mum and Dad drove splitties for as long as i can ever remember... in fact, for many years ours was the ONLY splitty in the district and was certainly the only car i ever remember Mum and Dad having as a child ... i will do a seperate thread on this in the ANZAC Historical section ..
Mum's first splitty
More recently i became interested in Kombi's thru an interest in vintage caravans .... i'm not quite sure why i like vintage caravans ... but i have had an interest in them for ages .... i am lucky enough to have two very rare aussie "bondwood" caravans .... both are "Don" caravans - a make that is very highly sought after in the vintage van scene ....Don was a victorian based "luxury" caravan manufacturer ... in fact, Don was one of the very first (1923) aussie companies to manufacture caravans in a modern production facility ....much of the Don caravans were "hand made and assembled" ... at it's peak, Don had a staff of about 50 and they produced about 3 caravans per week - compare this to the "new kid on the block" - Franklin Caravans with a staff of under 20 people producing in excess of 10 caravans per week ...
Don Factory
prior to that time most caravans in aussie were made in small numbers by part time "back yard" craftsmen of varying degrees of skill ... with most making a fairly small number of vans in any given year ... a lot of vans were also sold as "kits" by aussie engineering companies - and hence built by the "home enthusiast" .. as far as we know there are less than 15 Don caravans left in australia....
my total pride and joy is a 1955 built 12' 4 Berth Don. It is historically important as it was one of the very last of the "egg shaped profile" Don's built. The workmanship in this van is incredible ... dovetailed joinery, original leadlight windows, a "gentleman's wash basin" that drops down from the wardrobe ... and even tho' it is over 50 years old - all the cupboard doors open and close with a perfect click.. This van has been continuously registered since new ... and altho in pretty good condition is in storage in melbourne awaiting transport to sydney, where it will undergo a "back to bare wood" total restoration once i have finished restoring my 56 Don.
1955 12" Don
Don Brochure
i also have a 1956 built 14' 4 berth Don. It is a very rare aussie caravan, and is historically important for a number of reasons.
Up until 1955 all Don caravans had the very traditional "egg shaped profile" as seen in my 1955 12'Don. In 1957, in response to increased competition and the "mass production" approach of the new competitors, the Don company made a number of important changes that ultimately led to their demise ... they drastically decreased the amount of "hand made craftsman" content in their caravans and increased the amount of mass produced prefabricated components. They abandoned the "hand made" leadlight wood framed windows, replacing them with mass produced aluminium frames. And most importantly, they dropped the egg shaped profile and introduced a more "modern" squarish frame .... i could go on ... but i can tell that you are already falling asleep
... from this time forward, the Don caravan gradually lost it's premier position as the "Rolls royce" of aussie vans, eventually closing it's doors .... The 56 that i have is a hybrid between the old and the new ... it has the older "pre 56" style rounded rear end profile with the newer "post 56" squarish front end. It still has many of the luxury finishes so typical of the Don caravans, including a full sized enamel bath! Most importantly, it is the only one of this year and style know to exist. Even more importantly, it has a well documented history. If you look at the June 1956 Modern Motor magazine you will see an article and photo's of this actual van - it was used as a "display model" for the release of the new Don model "a new modern, luxury caravan that retained all the traditional Don features" at the 56 melb motor show where it was purchased by a family who NEVER actually used it. And for a whole lot of reasons that i won't bore anyone with - it has spent it's entire 50+ year life in a covered garage - and has NEVER actually been towed away on a holiday. So the interior paintwork, carpets, woodwork, sink, stove etc are as pristine as the day that it left the factory 50+ years ago - right down to the original box of matches (one match only used - presumably to test light the stove) ... talk about a "Barn Find" ... unfortunately the exterior was damaged in parts by 50+ years of the sun beating down on it thru a window .... so it is currently in a workshop here in Sydney undergoing a complete and total restoration - right back to it's original colors ... the water tanks are being replaced (and old ones kept aside) ... the electrics redone etc ... all exterior chrome has been removed, stripped, rechromed and replaced .. it should be ready in a few months ... and we then intend to take it on a well photographed maiden voyage .. it's never too late they say
150 Model 14' Don brochures
My 150 Don - exterior stripped
so how do these old caravans lead to splitty's ..... simple really ... we were looking for a tow car for the 1955 12' Don .. and after many frustrating nights on the net, going thru pix of old holdens, fords, etc etc ... the ONLY car that my wife liked was a Kombi ... that of course led to much excitement when i went thru the family connection to Kombis ...
After a lot of time looking thru the various VW forums here and overseas we eventually settled on the possibility of getting a Kombi to restore as a tow car .. (the 12' Don is actually fairly light for a van ... weighing in at 700kg) ... and eventually found the DSK forum, which has now become my second home ..
to cut a long story short .. i ended up buying Mikki's old 55 ... as it was a pretty solid, never hacked about, pretty complete 11 window that would match the year of manufacture of the van nicely ...
since then i have been neglecting the vans a little while hunting down and building up a collection of buses to gradually restore. I think that i am almost at the point where i have what i want, and am pretty happy to finish off the 150 Don caravan and to then start work on the restoration of the first Bus ... but perhaps that's a story for another thread
in fact, i think that the Kombi's have gradually taken over as the main interest ... and it's good to see the kids get really excited when out and about and one of them spots a "beetle" or a "kombi" ... i am really proud of the fact that my 6yo can tell the difference between a splitty, an early bay, and a late bay ... and she soooo wants a "pink" beetle when she "grows up"
i have really appreciated the heaps of advice, info, help and encouragement that i have recieved over the year from all the DSK members that i have had contact with ... and i look forward to sharing the resto of my buses over the next few years ... stay tuned
regards
A|T
