Tru Blu caravan races to Sandown

Following New Age Caravans’ sponsorship of the Dick Johnson Racing team in this year’s V8 Supercars championship, the fast-growing Melbourne manufacturer has created a racing car-themed caravan designed to appeal to ‘true blue’ Ford fanatics as well as motor racing fans.

New Age Caravans’ Brendan Murphy said the Limited Edition 21ft Oz Classic Dick Johnson Racing Van celebrates 30 years since the Queensland racing car driver's Tru Blu XD Falcon was used to win both the Australian Touring Car Championship and Bathurst 1000 race.

The unique caravan is based on New Age’s 21ft Oz Classic model, and is packed with features including a washing machine, microwave, air-conditioner, four-burner cooktop, griller and oven, 186 litre fridge, touchscreen multi-media unit with two TVs, and external slide-out BBQ.

But it’s the retro racer styling that really makes it stand out, with DJR decals including the famous ‘no.17’ car number and Dick’s signature, plastered all over the van, along with blue checker plate cladding and a gold, powdercoated chassis to match the colours of the old race car.

The tandem axle van even rides on special 15x7 inch alloy replicas of the car's gold-painted wheels, while the roll-out awning also has matching white and blue canvas.

The high-octane theme continues inside, with a bedhead featuring an original photo of the Tru Blu car above DJR-embossed leather cushions. While the fascia of the 186 litre Dometic fridge incorporates a photo of Dick in his heyday and a list of his career highlights.

Dick’s signature is also engraved behind the coat hooks inside the entry door, and each van sold will come with an individually numbered, limited-edition plate.

As well as the DJR regalia, the new model features a Cruisemaster DO35 off-road hitch, Al-Ko independent rubber suspension, and front and rear-mounted toolboxes.

The roomy layout includes a north-south bed up front, and centrally-located kitchen and dinette/lounge area incorporating a small, fold-down table in between two, swivelling leather recliners.

While New Age’s signature gloss white interior look dominates, there’s some extra touches like the new, granite look splashbacks and laminate benchtops, and leather magazine pockets.

The extra-large rear bathroom also features a large shaving cabinet and a two-person shower with a showerhead at each end!

The DJR van is currently on display at New Age’s Little Joeys dealership in Epping, Melbourne, but will make its official debut at the Melbourne Leisurefest at Sandown Racecourse on Oct 3-6.

New Age is currently working on a second production version with some minor changes, including a slightly darker blue checker plate that better matches the race car's.

Murphy wasn’t sure how many the company would produce, but said it has already got the thumbs up from many fans on Dick Johnson Racing's Facebook site.

“We have no idea how many we’ll sell but the enquiries we’ve got back even from Dick Johnson Racing has been quite incredible... they’ll have a lot of fans that are looking for it,” he said.

The Leisurefest show will be the van’s second appearance at Sandown, after it was used by the DJR team at the recent Sandown 500 endurance race. The limited-edition van will also make an appearance at this year’s Bathurst 1000 on Oct 10-13, joining Craig Lowndes’ racey new toy hauler at the Mt Panorama circuit.

Standing out from the crowd won’t come cheap though, with the DJR-themed caravan expected to cost around $90,000, or around $15,000 more than the Oz Classic model on which it’s based.

Murphy said New Age Caravans is also looking to buy the machinery that produced some of the ‘signature’ pieces in the new van, so buyers can look forward to similar individualisation on other New Age models.