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Post by sds79 on Jan 8, 2009 12:22:24 GMT 10
Hello all,
I am a newbie to these forums and enjoy reading your stories and information. - thank you one and all.
My Partner has just updated from a 14 ft Series 80 Millard to an 17 ft Hallmark Grand Deluxe. Have to say there is a quantum leap between these vans, in terms of quality and size.
The thing is we are able to find a lot of information about Millards but scant about the Hallmark - Who made them - how long for? When did they start making them and when they were last made.
I have read that the builder was - pedantic and other things, but was hoping that someone on here maybe able to put me in touch with anyone else who has one or knows of the history of these vans.
Little things like the suspension being independent using leaf springs...
Cheers for now...
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Post by millard1399 on Jan 8, 2009 13:23:03 GMT 10
G'day sds79 and welcome to the forum. I presume you are the same person that's posted a similar question about Hallmarks on a few different caravan forums, without much luck in getting any info it seems  Serves you right for buying such an obscure brand!!   Whenever I'm looking for information about old vans, I use the on-line Sydney Morning Herald newspaper archives ( archives.smh.com.au ), and this is what I've been able to find... The first mention of a Hallmark caravan occurs on Saturday 12 Jan 1985, when there is a private classified advertisement for a "Hallmark 20 x 8, 5 berth caravan and annex, front kitchen, only 6 months old, suit new caravan buyer, $9900, no offers ... "Prior to this advertisement, the only mention of Hallmark is in 1974 and 1984 in relation to truck bogie trailers. Whether that means Hallmark started as a trailer business and evolved into a caravan business is anybody's guess at this stage. Perhaps the engineering knowledge gained from trailer suspensions, etc, carried over into caravan manufacturing (but then I'm only guessing). On Saturday, 7 Nov 1987, another private advert says, "CaravanHallmark, quality built, rarely used, suit new caravan buyer, 4 berth, Knee independent suspension, electric brakes, 6 ply tyres, Priv sale, $8300 ono ..." There are no advertisements showing from any sales yards or dealers in the Sydney region, so I can only presume Hallmarks were not sold around the Sydney region by any businesses. I see in another Google link that the Sth Aust Caravan and Camping Association rates the Hallmark and Evernew brands as being two of the more robust brands, so whether that means they are a Sth Aust build or not, who knows. And that's about all the information I can find for you. The SMH archives only go to 1990 at this stage, so beyond that has to come from other sources. Hope this gets you one step closer to resolving your Hallmark history. cheers, Al. |
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Post by sds79 on Jan 8, 2009 15:24:23 GMT 10
Al, Thank you very much - will get to the bottom of this soon, still amazes me that there is so little around online about Caravans and the history of them,.. Hope that this is note all lost and all we hear about caravan history is Jayco..... the victor being the writer of history as we all know..  |
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Post by bobt on Jan 8, 2009 19:48:16 GMT 10
Hi All I made mention a little bit about the Hallmark on the Vintage site. They were built in Langwarrin, Vic. By a rather small operation. They were/are a high quality van. I don't believe the builder did a lot of marketing as he did well out of word of mouth sales, a bit like Evernew in its early days. I do vaguely recall seeing Hallmark caravans in my caravan club in the early 80's and these caravans were not new. Unfortunately the owners of these have passed on so I cannot ask them about the company. Arthur Pullen, the builder of Joker 11 bought one of the last of the Hallmarks in 1999... Thanks Mark T I couldn't remember when... I have no idea when or how they started up. bobt  |
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Post by CJurgens on Oct 16, 2012 11:10:01 GMT 10
Hi there,
This thread may be old but oh well. Hallmark Caravans was owned by my Grandfather. He went on to retire and refussed to pass on the name "Hallmark" as he feared the quality would be run into the ground and the name ruined.
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Post by bobt on Oct 16, 2012 21:19:53 GMT 10
Hi there CJurgens
Hope you Grandfather is still going strong. Last I heard he shut the door, hooked up his caravan and headed off. I also heard that his son started building camper trailers.
I would love to know what has happend to him and any infor you care to share about the starting of the Hallmark brand.
The one I referred to earlier is still going strong.
bobt
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Post by CJurgens on Jan 6, 2013 14:14:24 GMT 10
Apologies on the late reply
My grandfather is now retired and goes on yearly trips to Queensland and back in his Hallmark. Unfortunately he is getting older and will soon be looking to sell the van.
My father has gone on to work at Jayco in Dandenong so as my mother and in fact me.
Unfortunately I was not born to see the beginning of Hallmark and was far too young to remember much of it at all but i shall visit my grandparents soon and ask them about the history of the company.
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Post by Chris grant on Mar 28, 2015 18:30:46 GMT 10
i bought a Hallmark Grand tourer deluxe 1989 model best buy ever for its age. Trying to find out the water capacity tank I think it is 65 litres. Can anyone advise me?
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Post by Chris Grant on Mar 28, 2015 18:36:41 GMT 10
can you successfully wallpaper over water stain walls in old caravan?
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Post by pisces51 on Mar 28, 2015 21:47:07 GMT 10
G'day Chris Grant,
Water tank sizes vary considerably from brand to brand. You would only know by crawling under and measuring the dimensions of your tank and doing the calculations.
You should be able to wallpaper over the stained section, providing the plywood is still sound and not rotted. The original panelling was paper-faced anyway, so you are just adding another paper face. I'd test a small bit of wallpaper first, to see how well it sticks to the surface of the panelling.
cheers,
Al.
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Post by Chris Grant on Mar 29, 2015 19:04:08 GMT 10
thanks for the info on wallpapering. I unbolted the water tank from under the van to flush it out filled it then used 3x 20 litre water containers plus 10 litres which all up equals 70 litres. I say the models around 1989 Hallmark models.or thereabouts would have the same water capacity
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Post by Chris Grant on Mar 29, 2015 19:06:28 GMT 10
can you paint the ceiling with an oil based flat white or can you wallpaper that as well?
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Post by Toni Horsley on Apr 22, 2015 9:57:10 GMT 10
We have a 2000 Hallmark Clipper Deluxe and would like to know some history as its a great van
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Post by Toni Horsley on Apr 22, 2015 10:07:58 GMT 10
I own a Hallmark caravan grand de luxe year 2000 20ft. Love it.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2015 17:11:32 GMT 10
Hi Toni,
If you click on this Hallmark link you will find info going back to 2009 telling you about the vans.
Cheers
hughdeani
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Post by S Frank on May 8, 2015 17:16:07 GMT 10
We bought our first caravan, a 20 foot twin axle custom built by Mr Juergens. The vans were built in Clayton/Vic in Centre Rd. Mr Juergens was of German extraction and near enough was NOT good enough. We owned the Van for over 20 years, and had No problems. We always considered Hallmark Caravans AS THE BEST at a good price.There should be more Mr Juergens about with his work ethics.tv TV
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Post by cjurgens93 on Jul 21, 2019 13:18:17 GMT 10
Hi All,
I hope you are enjoying your Hallmarks. I have found some photos of one of the first Hallmarks my grandfather had ever built and of the old factory. Unfortunately the circumstances in which I came across these were due to the passing of my grandfather, Gerhard Jürgens at age 87 on the 15/07/19. I will try and get these photos posted on here. I would absolutely love to be able to start up the business again in the memory of my grandfather and keep the quality of the vans as he had them.
Thanks
Curt Jurgens
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Post by hughdeany on Jul 21, 2019 17:23:21 GMT 10
Hi cjurgens93,
Would be great if you could start them up again,they were beautiful extremely well engineered vans,I remember seeing them being built in Centre Rd Clayton,then Carrum Downs at the factory.
2 years ago I found one for some friends new to vanning,they loved it And it gave them a good grounding into caravanning.
I remember when the Caravan World magazine would give proper write ups on them after your Grandad torture tested them in the outback!
Sorry to hear of his passing.
Cheers
hughdeany
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Post by bobt on Jul 22, 2019 16:13:33 GMT 10
Hi cjurgens93
Sorry to hear about the passing of your grandfather. I have friends who own one of the last caravans to be built. They were a quality product. Good luck with your future ventures
bobt
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Post by almezz on Aug 11, 2019 17:25:22 GMT 10
Hi cjurgens93, Would be great if you could start them up again,they were beautiful extremely well engineered vans,I remember seeing them being built in Centre Rd Clayton,then Carrum Downs at the factory. 2 years ago I found one for some friends new to vanning,they loved it And it gave them a good grounding into caravanning. I remember when the Caravan World magazine would give proper write ups on them after your Grandad torture tested them in the outback! Sorry to hear of his passing. Cheers hughdeany Hi Curt and everyone else interested in this thread. Firstly we’d both like to send our condolences for your family’s loss. We’ve been looking for a new van for a while now and found a 1999 Hallmark Clipper advertised as having all the trimmings, solar, batteries, shower and great build quality. Now ive seen a small few of these on the road so had to do some research. What we found through this thread and others was really really encouraging. Built by e guy that wouldn’t accept “good enough “, tested his vans on true Aussie roads (true research and development) and had an amazing sense for the finer details. So I call the guy and he guarantees that if I come and look at it I’ll buy it Me: Ok honey, we need to drive to Tea Gardens Wife:So it’s a good van? Me: YEP! We need to go look tomorrow!!! Wife: Sweet We get there and we found out the couple we’re buying it off has had it since new and spent 5yrs building the van to Their specs. Anything they wanted in it was achieved and the finished product is nothing other than spectacular. They went through the story of them thinking that they must be his worst customer but on picking the van up complete with strawberry’s and chocolates were told that they were the opposite, perfect customers and new what they wanted (and they were good payers) then told me how they’d gotten the phone call re the passing of a true tradesman Needless to say we bought the van. It looks brand new still and has been fastidiously taken care of. It does have all the bells and whistles and was better than the description in the ad. I I’m brand new here and haven’t looked at how I upload pics, but I WILL work it out and post pics of the nicest van we’ve ever owned.  |
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Post by bobt on Aug 11, 2019 21:36:17 GMT 10
Gidday almezz
Congratulations on your purchase. We would love to see pictures of your van.
I cannot copy a link using the device I am so all I can do is point you in the direction of the instructions.
Take a look under the heading "Terms & Conditions & Instructions" under this heading you will find a post that provides instructions on how to post pictures. Create a new thread under the heading "General"
Bobt
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Post by almezz on Aug 12, 2019 10:20:47 GMT 10
Hi All, I hope you are enjoying your Hallmarks. I have found some photos of one of the first Hallmarks my grandfather had ever built and of the old factory. Unfortunately the circumstances in which I came across these were due to the passing of my grandfather, Gerhard Jürgens at age 87 on the 15/07/19. I will try and get these photos posted on here. I would absolutely love to be able to start up the business again in the memory of my grandfather and keep the quality of the vans as he had them. Thanks Curt Jurgens Hi Curtis A few pick of the van we purchased from Robert and Glynis on the nsw north coast yesterday  1999 Hallmark Clipper purchased for $21000 with all the bells and whistles. Love it, a very sexy looking unit and can’t wait to start using it   |
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Post by almezz on Aug 12, 2019 15:03:47 GMT 10
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Post by hughdeany on Aug 12, 2019 21:57:57 GMT 10
Hi almezz,
What a beautiful van,I remember that model when it came out,with wheels well back it will tow like a dream!
The interior was good,with those 2 front singles if needed and the split kitchen,you have bought well!😉
Cheers
hughdeany
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Post by almezz on Aug 13, 2019 4:30:19 GMT 10
Thanks Hughdeany. We are very happy. After doing the research and finding out more about these wonderful Hallmarks the decision was easy. The layout and construction is what sold it. I was concerned about ball weight but with the 300kg allowed on the Triton and was assured the vans max was 280kg fully loaded I’m not too concerned now, maybe a little, see how it goes when we pick it up
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