Once in a while, along comes a restoration project that is so painstakingly accurate, overseen by an owner so dedicated and committed, that the result simply makes the jaw drop. This 1965 Coronet Princess project, a labour of love by Andrew Phillips of The RV Repair Centre in Bayswater, Vic, is one such restoration.
INCREDIBLE DETAIL
Andrew is the former owner of Coronet Caravans, having acquired the name many years ago. However, he sold this business last year in order to focus on repairs and services. But it’s fair to say the Coronet caravan brand is special to him. And to say he knows a thing or two about the Australian caravan industry’s history would be an understatement. He’s also no stranger to restoring vintage vans.
So I was intrigued, though not particularly surprised, to hear that he was at it again. This time, the beneficiary of his care and expertise was this 55-year-old Coronet, which had its share of problems – including rot in some parts of the frame. At some point in its life, someone had even turned the two single beds into one double. Naturally, returning the layout to its original state was one of the first orders of business.
However, it’s not as though the original plans for this van were still available. In order to restore this 65 Coronet Princess to its factory state required countless hours of research. Among the tasks: sourcing old advertising material and brochures, and literally using a magnifying on those grainy black and white images. And if that wasn’t difficult enough, he then had to source the many various components he’d require. The goal was to always replace damaged parts with original or replica parts. However, when that wasn’t possible, Andrew had no choice but to settle for something that was as close to the original look as possible.
When I dropped in to check out the result so far, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Though the caravan was not quite complete, it was clear that Andrew had risen to the challenge. The caravan was looking… mint. In some cases, he was unable to source timber of the correct thickness. For example, a piece of hardwood under the front window had to be re-milled by Andrew down to original thickness. Returning the layout to its original twin single-bed arrangement also required re-milling some timber.
ORIGINAL SCREWS!
While the pattern on the silver external cladding isn’t an exact match, it is closer than anyone might’ve hoped to find, considering the age of the van. More impressive: the screws used to hold the cladding in place are new versions of the original item. After plenty of research, Andrew discovered they were still being made – but in the UK.
He had them sent over and, being the stickler for detail that he is, fixed them in exactly the same position as Coronet did 55 years ago. And then there’s the taillights. the original light fittings were made by Hella. You might think there’d be Buckley’s chance of finding replicas. But it turned out that while Hella no longer made them, Narva did. Andrew recreated the lighting configuration designed by Coronet; however, for safety’s sake, he is planning to add additional side LED tail lamps. He was even able to salvage the original porch light!
It seems that Andrew always has an interesting project on the go at The RV Repair Centre. While we’ve only scratched the surface of what he has managed to achieve thus far with this 1965 Coronet Princess, suffice it say we’re very impressed and can’t wait to see the final product.
