Classic Coronet caravan hits the road

When Andrew Phillips, aged 10, began working on caravans for his father, internal bathrooms and the modern caravan conveniences were a rarity, not the norm.

“I remember the first caravan I ever saw with an internal shower was a 26ft 1952 Bondwood Aerolite,” he said. “It was a real novelty.”

So when the former Coronet Caravans owner purchased an old Coronet Princess about 10 years ago, he wanted to restore it as a time-warp caravan – just the way it was when new in 1965.

Phillips, who runs The RV Repair Centre in Melbourne’s outer eastern suburb of Bayswater, has just completed his six year labour of love in exquisite detail, adding the restored Princess to his personal collection of around 15 classic caravans dating from the late 1940s to the very last Coronet he built in June 2020.

The collection also includes an old Don caravan and a 1977 Windsor Statesman with a corner shower.

The process of turning the rather sad Princess he purchased for around $2000 into a showpiece that is today valued as much as $65,000-$75,000, involved replacing all its original silver aluminium cladding, windows, rubbers, vinyl floor tiles, cupboard doors and upholstery with period materials that Phillips sourced after an exhaustive search, then installed expertly.

The 1100kg Coronet now tows perfectly behind his personal 1962 Ford XK Falcon Automatic sedan, but you will need to be lucky to see it on the road. Unlike previous times, when Phillips used to display his classic vans at local caravan shows, the Coronet Princess was restored for his private satisfaction during COVID lockdown times.

“I get enjoyment re-creating caravans using the techniques and materials available when I built my first caravan, aged 15,” he said. “It’s not for sale, but its value to me is close to $100,000.”