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Barry and Joy Price’s 1977 Millard might be pushing 30, but she’s had a number of tweaks over the years to keep her in her prime

Words by Simone Costi
Photography by Paul Worsley

Barry and Joy Price are brilliant company. They have some great tales about their vanning life and were more than happy to share them. But what really blew me away was their van – a 1977 Millard. It might not be anything to flash to look at, but consider all the things they have done to it and you’ll be mighty impressed. Some of the innovations were, well, rather innovative! I reckon that a fair few people out there (van manufacturers included) could learn a thing or two from Barry.

“I look back now and think I should’ve tried building my own van about 15 years ago,” says Barry. “But I didn’t have the time because of work.” So what about now? “Oh no, we’re far too busy travelling!” Joy interjects.

Early in the 70s, the Prices were curious about vanning. They had a couple of kids and really weren’t sure if buying a van would suit them. So to test out the lifestyle, they hired a van and took the family away. They loved it and towards the mid-70s bought a 14ft single axle Millard – that slept six! That’s right – six. Bunks up the front, a double down the back and a dinette that converted into another double. They did a few trips with that, including one where Joy and Barry, their two kids and Joy’s parents went away.

In 1977 they upgraded to a 17ft Millard with a double in the back and bunks up the front. They can’t remember for the life of them how much it cost though. “Maybe $5000?” suggests Joy. They bought it from Burgess Caravans in Bathurst. “They were having a sale,” recalls Barry. “The Bathurst Races were coming up and they wanted to sell the new vans with a trade in, so they could rent the second-hand ones out during the races.”

The mighty little Millard’s 30th birthday is right around the corner, but much has changed on this girl over the years.

You see, Barry is a tinkerer. No job is too big or too small for him to tackle. “I’m just not afraid of playing with things,” he says. “I’ll give anything a go.” Joy testifies to this, “If there’s a problem, Bugalugs here will think of a way to fix it.” Barry constantly likes to improve the van and if there is something he can do to make it more functional, lighter and just simply better – he will find a way.

He has fitted solar panels to the roof. No biggy you say? He devised a system where from inside the van he can turn a dial and move the position/tilt of the panels. “When they are flat, they don’t start charging till about 10am. If I move them to face the sun, they start at 8am,” he explains. Barry also picked up some locking mechanisms from Super Cheap Auto that locks the panels down flat for both security and when they’re on the road.

He also made a fibreglass nose cone. “Oh, be glad you weren’t here when he was making that,” laughs Joy. “He got a little grumpy!” Barry created a mould, lined it with wax and poured in the fibreglass. Perfect. That was until it had set and he tried to remove it. “The wax was too sticky and I could not get the fibreglass panel out!” Eventually everything worked out. “It is fantastic for head and crosswinds, and it has improved the van’s stability when passing trucks,” Barry states and adds, “but unfortunately it hasn’t increased fuel economy.” To make the most of the space between the curve of the nose and the front wall of the van, Barry added two lockable doors so they could store light items up there.

Not so noticeable, but a nifty little invention, is his seven-point plug holder. “There isn’t really anywhere to put your plug except wrapping it around the A-frame,” he comments. “Often it will end up in the grass or dirt and corroding.” To solve this problem, he made a seven-point female plug holder out of metal and welded it to the A-frame. Simply detach the plug it from your car and plug it into the A-frame.

Once all the kids had grown up and stopped going on holidays with mum and dad, Barry and Joy had no need for bunks in the van. So Barry got to work and drew up a plan for a bathroom, air-con unit, water heater, pump and washing machine to replace them. Since Barry was working at the time, he contracted them out. He has adapted it a bit since the 1999 installation, mainly swapping the thick, heavy MDF for ply in areas.

Whenever they go away, Barry takes a small tool kit with him for repairs or improvements while travelling. One such augmentation is a drawer under the dinette lounge. Joy had said that it was a bit inconvenient to keep lifting up the seats to get to the stuff stored beneath them. So Barry knocked up a drawer (on rollers) for easy access to the under-lounge area. Since that drawer, he has made a few others. One replaced a shelf in the kitchen for pots and pans and another in the bedroom for clothes.

Another on-the-road invention was a spice rack. It is inside an overhead cupboard in the kitchen and moves on a hinge. When fastened with a latch it sits almost horizontal against the roof and when undone it slides down to sit vertically so you can pull the spice bottles out as you need them. There is still plenty of room for other pantry items too. I asked Barry if he had to do a few trial models for it and he said, “No, I just thought about it for awhile, worked out the best system, and made it.”

And then there’s the hat holders. “You’ve got to see these,” exclaimed Joy. Fixed to the wall and roof of the bedroom are modified rat-traps. Barry has tampered with them, added a big loop of fencing wire to the clasp and stuck the back of the trap to the wall. To keep your hat in place, simply pull down on the wire loop, place the head of the hat in the loop with the brim outside of it and let go, and it flicks back against the wall and stays there.

But there’s one other thing that Barry does particularly well. Apparently he makes quite a mean date loaf. “He often bakes one for afternoon tea in the van parks,” Joy comments. “All our friends hang around the door and wait for a piece!”

If Barry’s other creations are anything to go by, I am positive that his date loaf must be pretty impressive – but I can’t say for sure – I’m still waiting for my piece!