Woody Caravans 15ft 2019 Review

Some people have the romantic idea of restoring that old 1950s or '60s caravan they found under an overgrown lean-to out the back of grandpa’s house.

‘Forget it!’ say brothers Shane and Morrie Hook, who with nephew Kaleb have built an internationally-known business from a small factory at Nerang on Queensland’s Gold Coast manufacturing replicas of the caravans of yesterday.

It's better and cheaper to start from scratch than deal with rust, wood-rot, asbestos and angry redbacks, they advise.

New for old

Woody caravans are based on the Hooks’ own interpretation of the traditional cute, oval-shaped, Bondwood caravans that with their families crammed Australian foreshore caravans parks in the 1950s and '60s.

Back then, caravans didn’t have home comforts like ensuites, microwaves and air-conditioning and neither do Woodys; unlike the replica 1970s Jackaroo caravans built from scratch at the nearby Caravan Repair Shop, which include many 21st century features inside their retro-styled ribbed aluminium bodies.

“We're appealing to different markets,” said Shane, who was a shopfitter before teaming with Morrie – also a shopfitter, turned panel beater –  to build Woodys.

While you can buy a Woody as a bare shell for around $20,000 and finish it off yourself to serve as a holiday house, overnight-style van, or office, 80 per cent are sold as complete, purpose-outfitted caravans for commercial applications.

Shane estimates that there about 100 of their Woodys on the road around the world, ranging from one doing a roaring trade as a beach bar in Fiji, to a wine bar in California, a creperie in  Paris and a coffee shop in Auckland.

Stylish mobile accomodation

Cute as button in off-white, with pale lemon and marine blue lower colour swathes, the one we reviewed was due to be shipped to New Zealand’s South Island where it will delight guests as an AirBnB.

Others are being used as photo booths, ice cream parlours and even as high-end mobile hairdressing salons. "The ideas are endless and they are classless,” says Shane. “Woodys have even been seen at the Melbourne Cup.”

As far as the Hooks know, no-one else is building caravans like this and word of what they are doing has obviously travelled far and wide.

Watching a Woody being built makes it obvious why each absorbs up to 500 man hours, with an average cost of around $38,000, depending on the fit-out.

The ones designed for living in are mostly like the 15ft tandem we reviewed, with a front dinette and rear twin singles or a double bed and a basic kitchen with a sink and a period-style fridge in between.

But Shane keeps a large drawer-full of other designs and ideas that customers can browse over.

Commercial-use Woodys are built for their specific purpose and can include up to four serveries to dispense food items like milk shakes, coffee, cakes and sandwiches.

“We have put stoves in for customers, but we try to talk them out of it,” said Shane. “Our vans all plug info mains power and commercial applications, and most have cooking facilities out the back.”

Basic underpinnings

While a popular length is 15ft with tandem axles, all Woodys share similar basic underpinnings, consisting of a sturdy steel chassis welded on site by Morrie.

Both brothers employ their timber-working backgrounds to erect the timber wall framing and attach the marine ply ‘cladding’, while Shane’s shop-fitting skills are used on detail areas and fit-outs, such as folding servery windows, the dinette, kitchen, bed options and cupboards.

Two marine two-pack colours are included in each design, with additional colours optional.

Without many of today’s creature comforts and designed only for on-road use, it was not surprising to find the review Woody light and easy to tow. Tare in this case was a featherweight 1100kg – remember that these vans in their day were often towed by early model Holdens – while its ATM of 1500kg was reasonable given its size, small fresh and grey water tanks and little need to carry much payload.

It seemed almost sacrilegious to put a modern tow car up front, so Shane obliged with his Chevy pick-up, which although not from the Woody’s style era, looked more the part.

Return to simplicity

Setting up the Woody reminds you of how simple caravanning used to be. As the ball weight is just 90kg, a couple could lift it off onto its jockey wheel, then simply open the door and step inside.

Once in, there’s nothing much else to do than boil the kettle, read a good Mills & Boon, Biggles or Favourite Five book, and soak up the serenity.

Unlike today’s caravans, there are no distractions like power management modules, cooktops or entertainment systems to distract you, although the retro-looking 110-litre fridge and under-floor fresh and grey water tanks are an acceptable tilt at modernity.

The layout of the review B&B Woody was simple: two single beds at one end with storage drawers below and a two person, fixed timber dinette at the other, with a kitchen cabinet on one side and only a few steps in between.

Surprisingly, the Bondwood kept ‘Annie’ (as ours had been named) surprisingly cool, with the roof hatch commonly fitted to most vans of the era doing a great job of extracting heat from the highest point.

Timber-veneer flooring, a porthole instead of a window in the entry door and slimline venetian blinds all round, maintained its period ambiance.

Summing up

So, should you eschew today’s modern lightweight caravans in favour of a Woody? That depends.

If you're a casual caravanner, with an interest in meeting lots of smiling people and have an interest in period things, like cars and a simpler life, it’s hard to think of anything better than kicking back with a good book, a cup of tea and a Woody!

Woody Caravans 15ft tandem axle

Travel Length: 5800mm
External Body Length: 4400mm
External body Width: 2350mm
Interior Height: 2060mm (at tallest point)
Travel Height: 2650mm
Tare: 1100kg
ATM: 1500kg
Ball weight: 90kg
Body: Timber frame with Bondwood marine ply cladding
Chassis: Welded steel
Suspension: Tandem leaf spring
Wheels:13 inch with LT tyres
Water tanks: 81-litre fresh and 81 litre grey
Electrical: 240v power only
Hot water: 7 litre, 10 amp system
Lighting: LED strip lighting
Fridge: 110L Woody retro fridge
Battery: None – All 240v
Hot water: None
Gas: None
Cooking:  None
Price: $55,000 (as reviewed)
Supplied by: Woody Caravans, Nerang, Queensland