Caravan World – May 2019

58 caravanworld.com.au

Ofallthesevanrenovators,Richardis

probablythepickofthebunch.Butthenas

a painteranddecoratorbytrade,hehasa

slightadvantage.

Heiscurrentlyworkingonhissecond

van,afterrenovatinga vanforhisbrother

— alsoa residentoftheNorthernBeaches.It

wassomethingheloveddoing,giventheir

upbringing.

“MybrotherandI grewupinSouthWales

ina fairlypoorminingvillage.Wehad

summerholidaysina caravaninWestWales

andit wasa bitbleakerthantheNorthern

BeachesofSydney.Alotofgreyandrain.

Sowhenmybrotherboughthimselfanold

caravantodoup,I reallywantedtohelp

him.”

Thevantheyrenovatedwasa beautyand

Richard’sbrotherregularlyusesit totakehis

youngfamilyupanddowntheeastcoastof

Australia.NowRichardhasstartedworking

onhisownvan,sothathecanjointhemon

familyholidayswithhisgirlfriendandyoung

son.

Richardrecentlyboughthimselfanold

Franklinvanthatinitiallylookedbeyond

repair.Butwithhisskillsasa painterand

decorator— andbeingquitea handyman—

heisrestoringit toitsformerglory.Butit has

beena labouroflove.

“Ilikea challenge,andthisisasbigasit

gets,”hesaid.“Ihadtoguttheinsideofthe

vancompletelyasnothingcouldbesaved,

andI hadtoreplaceallofthewallsandthe

floor.It’spracticallya newvaninside.

“Theoutsidewasinmuchbettercondition,

butit’sneededplentyofsandingand

restoringbeforeI couldpaintit.”

ThetouchesRichardhasaddedinsidehave

takenthevantothenextlevel— hehaslined

theroofwithreclaimedlightweightwood

togiveit anauthenticvintagelook.He’salso

useda lotofpineandwhitelinestocreatea

lightandbrightappearance.

Richardlovestheaestheticshehas

created,andprefersthevintagestyleto

modernvans.

“Ourneighbourhasa newvanthatcost

10 timesthepriceofthisvan,”hesaid.

“It’sprobablymorepracticalandeasierto

tow,butI lovethestyleoftheseretrovans.

They’rea workofart.”

Inside,Richardwantstocreatea unique

AGE: 44

LIVES:CROMER,NSW

NATIONALITY:WELSH

FAVOURITECARAVAN:

FRANKLIN

RICHARD

PROFILE 3:

layout, mostly making things from light

wood and buying original equipment online.

He’s been scouring Facebook and eBay

for original sinks and cookers and fridges,

rather than buying modern stuff. And he’s

been making his own doors and cabinets.

Most of the things he is doing is using

wood that he has picked up at decorating

jobs over the years — things discarded by the

owners of the houses he paints.

“I always thought it would come in handy,

but I didn’t expect to use it in a caravan!” he

laughed.

Richard is planning to build a lightweight

bed, new kitchen, seating area and bespoke

cupboards. He’ll paint and varnish the whole

thing using his skills in decoration. And then

he’ll try to add further retro touches.

“It’s got the original badges on the outside

of the van and I really want to bring those

back up to scratch as a final embellishment.”

“I hadtogutthe

insideofthevan

completely as

nothing could be

saved, and I had to

replace all of the

walls and the floor”

utthe

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Richard is a painter and decorator by trade; bringing a high level of skill and

expertise to the exterior paint job; cleaning up the shutters; the whole kitchen needed to be gutted

Restoring

vintage vans

GREEN

ISSUE