18 July 2025

Great Aussie Caravans Tonka 196: Conquering Frontiers with Style & Durability

The charms of an alpine hut are no doubt enduring. What with the morning sun weaving through wild scrub and grandly framed in this Great Aussie Tonka, like a McCubbins scene. Pioneering and quiet, it speaks to a collective yearning. What if you could take that picturesque ambiance with all the modern-day camping indulgences wherever you please? The tough, fully equipped Great Aussie Caravans Tonka 196 brings manners to the Murray, offering a blend of rugged capability and refined comfort.

Natural Finishes Throughout

Stepping into the Great Aussie Tonka 196 couple’s caravan during our Tough Tested 2024 program, powered by GUSTO, Vantec, and NCE, our crews were immersed within the Murray Region’s splendour, but it was as if it had wiped its feet on entry. Waterfall timber benchtops, filtered water, splashbacks, and soundproofing on the walls, wide vertical panelling on the leather dinette, and high-gloss ceilings felt natural and indulgent simultaneously. Great Aussie’s luxury finishes flow through to the wall-to-wall ensuite at the rear, where you’ll find ring lighting and digital readout on the backlit mirror, brushed gold tapware, and small details like a front-loading washing machine fitted into the cabinetry. While in the master bedroom up front, a leathered bedhead for the queen-size bed makes a grand statement.

Inside the Great Aussie Tonka 196, a timber waterfall benchtop provides a pleasant space to cook and prepare food, with the deep black square sink serviced by the gold swan neck faucet with filtered water

A sound-proofing panel with vertical ridges behind the premium upholstery creates a refined space to breakfast at beneath a long horizontal window. A perfect view in this Great Aussie Tonka 196 off-road van

A Kilowatt of Solar Power

Power-wise, the Great Aussie Caravans Tonka 196 harnesses a full kilowatt of solar generation flowing at 40A to support 400Ah of lithium storage. It’s even quicker when plugged into mains power with 180Ah-rated charging, supporting 3000W of inverter capability for full access to your appliances off-grid. Generous storage for auxiliary power expands firewood, fuel, and water capacities with stone-chip proof front and rear toolboxes smartly tucked out of harm’s way, including the drawer out the back.

Up front, on this closeup side view of the Tonka toolbox, we see compression locks provides access to pole storage and a fridge slide-out. Note the firewood tray up top

Adjustable Airbags for Tough Terrain

To tackle the tough stuff, this classic mid-size layout rides tall on a laser-cut truss chassis atop the Cruisemaster’s luxury ATX airbags, 17in Mickey Thompson mud terrain tyres shod with MPC rims, 12in electric drum brakes, the Cruisemaster M60 dampers with a DO45 up front, and BOSCH Trailer Sway Control (TSC), featuring algorithms for managing sway off-road. This formidable blend improves agility in this 2900kg Tare-weighted van. To its off-road arsenal, Great Aussie Caravans fitted Bosch Trailer Safety Control (TSC) on the Tonka 196 demonstrator with advanced algorithms designed and tested for off-road use. See how John Cullen driving for Great Aussie takes advantage of the tech on the Tough Tested 2024 Time Trial Track.

Only the best off-road. This closeup shows of the Mickey Thompson mud terrain tyres reveal the Tonka's twin axle configuration, with the gold and black raised suspension poking through

Great Aussie Tonka Allytech Construction

Being a Tonka, the 196 features Allytech construction, one of three Great Aussie Caravans manufacturing techniques available. It comprises a welded 1.3mm box section alloy frame with an aluminium outer shell, dense XPS insulation, a one-piece fibreglass roof, and fibreglass on the internal walls. Climate control comforts like the reverse cycle air-conditioning perform at their peak, with light but strong honeycomb flooring rounding out the fully insulated shell.