While many caravans sold in Australia are still built using the traditional ‘stick and tin’ method – essentially a timber or aluminium frame with foam insulation and external aluminium cladding added – there are an increasing number of more advanced, full composite caravans on the market.

By ‘full composite’, we mean full-thickness laminated, insulated sandwich composite panels for the walls, roof and floor, that offer a range of benefits including lighter weight, improved insulation, and better water and impact resistance.

For those looking to buy a full composite caravan, there are a growing number of choices in Australia. Here are some of the latest and greatest, to suit a range of budgets…

Paradise Pinnacle

While a starting price of $167,500 drive-away will put off many, the just-released 22ft Pinnacle off-roader from Queensland motorhome specialist Paradise shapes up as a quality built, full fibreglass composite caravan with plenty of style, features and comforts.

The all-new tandem axle caravan borrows many of the construction and design elements of its upmarket motorhome stablemates, from the auto-style two-pack gloss paint finish to auto-locking electro-magnetic interior drawer catches.

Zone Base

For the past five years, Queensland’s Zone RV has built a solid reputation as a leader in composite caravan manufacturing, creating some of Australia's most innovative and opulent caravan offerings.

With its $90,000 starting price the new entry-level Base model puts a luxury off-road fibreglass composite Zone caravan within reach of more buyers...

Roadstar Safari Tamer

Melbourne’s Roadstar Caravans is one of few Campbellfield Victoria caravan manufacturers that offer a range of 'six star' full composite caravans With its $140K-plus RRP, the 18ft 6in Safari Tamer Extreme is near the top of the pack when it comes to off-grid, off-road caravanning, but for those on tighter budgets you can get the same floor-to-roof fibreglass composite construction with a few less frills for closer to $100,000.

Coromal Appeal

Apollo’s Brisbane mega-factory specializes in the production of a range of full composite-build caravans and motorhomes for rental and retail markets, with the sub-$50,000 entry-level Coromal Appeal one of the more affordable options. Apollo also builds a range of more off-road oriented Windsor brand composite caravans that are still priced competitively around $55-$60,000.

NewGen NG20F

Affordable, Chinese-built caravans offering all the benefits of full composite construction are becoming increasingly common, with the NewGen brand one of the latest to arrive. Built in the same factory as the popular Snowy River vans, the NewGen composite caravan range comes in a range of layouts and reasonably well equipped for its $50-$60,000 price range.

Rhinomax Lost Trak

Designed for hardcore off-road adventurers who still want to enjoy some the comforts of home when out in the bush, the Rhinomax Lost Trak boasts a full-height, fully fibreglass sandwich panel body but with a rear cutaway and narrow 2.1m width that makes it better suited to squeezing down tight off-road tracks.

Crusader Chameleon

Not everyone wants a big caravan, nor has the heavy-duty vehicle to tow one with. For these buyers there’s the Chameleon from Melbourne's Crusader, a lightweight full composite caravan that manages to pack in many of the features and comforts of a larger caravan into its compact, full height ‘box camper’ body.

Adria 472PK

Four-berth family caravans don’t come much easier to tow than this compact, lightweight European-built fibreglass composite caravan from Adria. The 17ft, 1600kg ATM single axle 472PK family model is part of a range of Adria vans imported by Apollo, which also includes two even lighter couple’s vans and a larger couple and family van, all with ATM ratings of under 2000kg.

AOR Quantum

While Queensland’s Australian Off Road has been focusing on entry-level box campers of late, its bread-and-butter remains a line-up of bigger, full off-road hybrid caravans and pop-tops built with fibreglass composite ‘moncoque’ bodies, like the 16ft Quantam Pop-Top.  

Like most of AOR's fibreglass composite models, the Quantam blurs the lines between compact off-road camper trailer and luxury caravan, making it an ideal choice for extended ‘glamping’ off-road adventures.

Track T4

While Melbourne's Track (Trailer) is best known for its hardcore Tvan micro-caravan, the award-winning T4 hybrid off-road caravan from Melbourne’s Track is an enticing prospect with its ‘ narrow body’ off-road pop-top body designed to cater just as well to families as couples.

Blending space-age styling with bullet-proof build quality, the T4's unique aluminium bonded and riveted sandwich panel walls with fibreglass two-part pop-up roof, are designed to last the distance..

Also consider: Sunseeker Vision

Built by the former manufacturer of Noosa hybrids, the new Queensland-built Sunseeker Vision hybrid pop-top caravans are well equipped for the money, offer excellent 'bushability' and promise strong build quality thanks to their fibreglass sandwich panel walls, one-piece composite roof and poly honeycomb floor.

Related reading:

The case for composite caravans

Buyer confusion over 'faux' composite caravans

Top-10 most expensive caravans