Ingenious - Skyline Caravan

Skyline Caravan
Bryce Leen

The skyline caravan sums up 1950’s Australia in such a way few other objects can accomplish. At 390cm’s long and 230cm’s tall the Skyline now housed in the Moreland Annex is testimony to a time in which technology was moving forward, Australians were exercising their newly enlightened sense of post war freedom and family values were at the forefront of society. Although both caravans, and caravanning itself as a past time, have changed dramatically in the past 50 years the ideals behind the caravan are very much integral to the current Australian lifestyle. Many a baby boomer will remember the good old days of being woken up early in order to begin their family caravan vacation, the early model falcon ready to tackle the endless Australian freeway, with the sturdy Skyline caravan taking up the rear.
The skyline company itself is synonymous with caravanning in Australia. The company built caravans to such a quality, for the era, that there are still the odd one gracing Australian roads. Created mainly from sheets of plywood, with extensive use of aluminium, the caravans were lightweight, able to be towed behind even the average 6 cylinder car of the time. As well as borrowing lightweight manufacturing techniques from the post war aircraft industry, caravans were also making use of improvements in aerodynamics. On the interior its 1950’s technology at its most pure, vinyl, laminates and linoleum cover every aspect of the available space. It’s possibly these very features that have kept the enthusiasm around these caravans’ fresh; helping them attained cult status among motor home enthusiasts due to the retro 1950’s décor as well as their humble yet utilitarian nature.
Since then caravans have come a long, long way, they now come in dizzying array of sizes and shapes to cater for the ever growing market. Ideally the small caravans of the 1950’s were designed to sleep 2-3, once annexed they could quite happily sleep a family of 6. By today’s caravanning standards these 50+ year old models are tiny and ill equipped. Contemporary tow able models now get as large as 30+ feet, with everything from king sized beds, to full sized showers adorning their interior, a far cry from the basic Skyline. The market for caravans in Australia has grown so large, mainly due to the ‘grey nomad phenomenon’, that within a 12 month period around 17,000 new caravans are sold accompanying a huge number already registered throughout the country. Typically these will be made up of standard annexable tow behind caravans, however pop top and off road caravans also make up a percentage of trade sales.
The caravanning industry in Australia is huge, employing not only production staff, but also maintenance and sales people, not to mention the designers and engineers behind the show. The flow on effect is also huge, caravan park operators and employees, rubbish removalists, service staff and aftermarket fitters just to name a few. These are the very people who will in the future have a very real chance of being largely into caravanning themselves, extending the ‘grey nomad phenomenon’ beyond that of the current generation of baby boomers.
The ‘grey nomad phenomenon’ has grown out of a generation of baby boomers, who are more financially stable, fitter and more adventurous than ever. They have flocked to the caravan as their mode of transport in that it best suits their attempts at an Ulyssean lifestyle outside of normal social boundaries. They are challenging the mindset that with age comes a decline in the quality of life, through activity, fitness and social outlets, and instead flocking in hordes to the bitumen tracks that make up the Australian highway.
Many are influenced by memories of family vacations in the back of a vinyl clad ply van, inspiring them to return to caravanning in the retirement, something many are now taking earlier than ever based on the back of many years of good growth in Australia. This in conjunction with a serious down turn in overseas travel, particularly to the likes of Bali etc, with the onset of terrorism as a realistic threat has, as well as the invigorated advertisement within Australia of our own iconic beauty are all contributing factors to the increased popularity.
However with such numbers taking to the road, many problems are also arising, many councils around the country are having trouble implementing effective waste disposal strategies in order to cope with all that the nomads bring with them. Caravan parks too are having trouble accommodating the vast numbers, with many now surrounded by residential housing the opportunity to expand in size is often limited, owing to the thought; where do you put all of these people during peak season?
Although in this regard there are negative impacts for both caravan and national parks there are also upsides, the usual pitching of a tent has the negative effect of degrading the grass etc beneath that the park soon looses patches of vital greenery, soon becomes a baron dusty landscape in frequently used areas, trailers however minimise the environmental damage once in place, hence the reason many of the countries national parks are putting in access routes for caravans, as to stop them ‘bashing’ there own tracks to destinations.
At first the nomads were seen much as backpackers were when that first took off, a seasonal crowd that busies hotspots around the nation, leaving locals in their wake. However with the explosion of infrastructure to support the ever growing trend, caravan owners are now having a positive impact for many towns all around the nation, with some even becoming reliant upon the seasonal monies that are brought by the cashed up retirees, some of whom have even sold family homes in order to cut loose of social tie downs allowing them to fully enjoy a new life on the road.
Another phenomenon to have surrounded the humble caravan is the situation involving permanent residence in caravans, and caravan parks. There are certain stereotypical views in society of people who live as permanent residence in caravan parks, owing mainly to the Americanism, trailer trash. For the most part many of those that live in permanent caravan lodgings are within a lower income threshold, although many also live 'permanently' during long term stays for seasonal work.
All in all, caravanning is wholly now the same concept as it was in the day of the Moreland Skyline, a way of holidaying and exploring that leaves little or no outside worries for the partakers, whilst allowing them to enjoy the time off they have, be it a short holiday stint or long retirement jaunt. It is an icon of Australian culture, alive and stronger than ever with a growth that currently has no end in sight. With its roots in humble vans such as the 1950’s Skyline, the notion of time spent with family in cramped and often jovial circumstance, the underlying enjoyment of caravanning is in fact the time spent with others, be it exploring Australia’s vast offerings or merely returning to the frequented family vacation spot. With an ever growing market and current interest in everything retro, its no wonder society is now taking objects such as the Moreland Skyline seriously as a part in the history of the Australian culture.