Top-20 unique caravans
Standing out from the crowd isn't always a winning move in the RV gameJayco XPLO
Jayco’s one-off, 13ft hardcore off-road XPLO prototype was the star of the 2017 Melbourne Leisurefest, and still looking for a buyer until recently. One of the toughest and rarest Jayco vans of the 200,000 plus built since 1975…
On the Move Limitless
Custom built for motor racing legend and caravan enthusiast Craig Lowndes, this racy toy hauler caravan was a joint venture between Queensland’s Kratzmann Caravans and several businesses including Melbourne’s On The Move Caravans and Brisbane-based metal fabrication specialists Storm Custom Worx.
New Age Oz Classic DJR Limited Edition
Believed to be another one-off, this Melbourne-built 21ft touring caravan came about due to New Age’s sponsorship of the Dick Johnson Racing team, with the unique gold/blue colour scheme celebrating the 30th anniversary of Johnson’s Tru Blu XD Falcon winning the Australian Touring Car Championship and Bathurst 1000 race.
CR-1 Carbon RV
Despite the happy smiles, we’re pretty sure this is the only CR-1 Carbon RV caravan ever built. Dubbed the world’s first carbon-fibre caravan back in 2014, the 35ft long, American-designed super-luxury caravan was probably priced out of reach of most buyers even before the first brochure was printed…
Soul 22
Despite all its cutting edge innovation and marine-style construction, probably the short-lived Soul 22’s biggest claim to fame was the fact it was sold to an overseas buyer for $185,000 – an astronomical amount for a humble, albeit very stylish caravan at the time.
Winnebago Minnie
Well before reviving the Coromal/Windsor brands, Queensland’s Apollo Group had a good hard crack at selling brightly coloured American-built Winnebago caravans down under. We believe this 'baby pink' example was an orphan, at least in Australia…
Unimog Kruiser
This stylish, 4WD truck-based motorhome was a collaboration between Queensland-based expedition vehicle specialist Unidan and well-known RV manufacturer Kimberley Kampers – until the NSW manufacturer fell on hard times and the project was discontinued.
Brut-es camper
The ‘Brut-es’ was the brainchild of a Sydney-based fibreglass specialist and off-road enthusiast, who built his unique composite bodied camper trailer (complete with bullet-proof Kevlar-reinforced floor) because he couldn’t find anything else on the market he liked – and also wanted something that colour-matched his Jeep tow vehicle!
Another one-off hybrid camper design, built as a showpiece for the South Australian designer’s unique DekPod fold-out hybrid camper balcony, complete with built-in kitchen and bathroom, that he hopes to introduce to the market in a different production guise in 2021.
Jackaroo
Like the old-school styling of caravans of yesteryear, but with modern day finishes and appliances? For a short period you could order a period-style Jackaroo caravan (almost as retro-cool as a timber Woody van) from a Gold Coast-based caravan repairer, priced around $40,000 depending on how many mod-cons were fitted…
Seachange TuffNut
For a while there, Queensland boat building giant The Haines Group built an impressive range of off-road fibreglass caravans, including this compact 14ft bush basher complete with quirky rear slide-out…
Jurgens Solaris
South African owned, Victoria-based manufacturer Jurgens Australia released this glossy fibreglass Jayco Silverline rival not long before hitting hard times. Despite its appealing rough-road set-up and practical and stylish fit-out, it was a seemingly slow seller for the Melbourne factory that was once one of Australia's biggest RV manufacturers.
Bolwell Edge
Originally built in Melbourne before production was seemingly offshored to China, the Bolwell Edge turned plenty of heads with its cutting-edge construction and crossover caravan design but in the end probably impressed the judges at the Good Design Awards more than the buying public…
Cell Estate
Big American tow vehicles are all the rage right now, but for a few years it was big US-built caravans like this 26ft double-slider that pulled in the punters. Apart from the sheer size of it and ‘powered’ everything, the chief selling point of the Cell Estate model was its apartment-style interior complete with island kitchen bench…
Sky-Deck caravan
One of the great Aussie RV inventions of the past decade is the Sky-Deck verandah, a unique contraption that folds out from the front of the caravan to create a flow-through indoor/outdoor living space. Melbourne’s Royal Flair was quick to adopt the clever feature, with its latest Piazza Sky-Deck caravan delivering a real apartment-on-wheels experience…
Equivan
Toy hauler caravans are pretty common these days, but the Melbourne-built Equivan horse hauler is something completely different; blending the best bits of a caravan with clever horse-carrying capacity in the rear ‘stable’…
Caraboat
NSW-based Composite Cats released the CaraBoat around five years ago; essentially for buyers who can't decide whether to buy a caravan or boat so opt for a hybrid version instead. The floating, twin engine caravan is equally at home in the caravan park as out on the lake, with inside kitchen, bathroom and sleeping for up to four people…
Dryden Trailers Custom 46ft
Aussie-built fifth wheel caravans don’t come much bigger or pricier than this monster 46 footer, which was custom designed to sit behind a Western Star truck and keep its owners self-sufficient for weeks on end…
Aerovan
The Echuca, Victoria build Aerovan was another great idea that never got off the ground, production wise. Unlike most boxy, heavy, locally built caravans, the Aerovan was designed to be lightweight and easy to tow with its wind-slicing curvy shape…
Kratzmann Liberty 1
Like the Craig Lowndes’ toy hauler (see above) this is another ‘Kratzmann Special’ from the big Queensland dealer. Almost space age in its construction and interior design, we wouldn’t be surprised if this show-stopper was another RV ‘orphan’ given its eye-watering $100,000 price-tag (for 2007)!
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