Unsold Elite vans go to auction

Bargain hunters will have the chance to pick up a cut-price, late-model caravan from embattled Melbourne manfacturer Elite Caravans during a special online auction that kicks off next week.

Pickles, which is conducting the ‘Luxury Caravan Clearance Auction”, has listed 29 near-new Elite caravans for sale worth around $2.4million. Most are 2017 models, with a few 2015 and 2016-build vans thrown into the mix.

Models include Balistic, Eildon, Goulburn, and Luxury Class, with a number of big Hume family models and a Palazzo slide-out van also on offer to bidders.

Of particular interest are a couple of smooth, composite vans believed to be one-offs, including a 2016 Elite Balistic 1910 LW that was displayed at last year’s Melbourne Supershow with a price tag around $160,000.

The auction follows news late last year that Elite was the subject of a $1million-plus fraud investigation and had shut down its Melbourne dealership. At the time co-owner Adrian Cappola said it was “business as usual” at the attention-grabbing Melbourne manufacturer which continues to sell vans in Melbourne directly from its Campbellfield factory.

The auction vans will be sold unregistered and their condition in most cases is described as “general wear and tear (with) scuffs and scrapes”.

The Elite caravans will be available for public viewing at Pickles’ Victorian facility at 12-30 Altona Drive, Altona North from 9am-4pm, February 9 and from 9am-1pm on February 10.

The online auction will run on the Pickles website from 10am, February 8, to 7pm on February 11.