New Franklin Member

Hi Jodel1050

Welcome to VV forum.

Nice van you have there sure looks as if it has been well cared for .

Looks like you are going to have a lot wonderful trips and you will enjoy the way other campers will gravitate to you van, talk about old times when they went camping in a van like yours or one similar.

The lay out of your van is much the same as my 1967 "Franklin Freeway" with the exception you have a cupboard over the dinette just inside the door. I love the colour scheme , mine has timber tone on all cupboard doors.

Are there any signs inside of water leaking in , if so I would recommend some further investigation is required as your van would have a wooden frame.
Lot of old vans over the years have succumbed to wood rot due to water leaks.

As "Franklin 1" once quoted :

"Water damage you find in these vans is like an ice berg,
what you see is only the tip, there is ten times more hidden in the cavity of the walls"


I don't wish to upset you but others on this forum have had similar problem. if you don't know you have a problem you can't fix it.

Check out all of the different subject headings on this forum and you will see some of the wonderful work the members have done with vans which appear beyond repair and have brought them back to their former glory.

Happy VVing

Regards

Foxy

G'day jodel1050, and welcome to the forum! ;D

Goodness me, the things people bring to this forum! A Franklin Wanda, no less...or is that a Wanda Franklin?? I wonder who Wanda was?

We've seen other examples of people "badge engineering" Franklins, so I suspect you have another example of this, even though I've never seen the "Wanda" tag before, nor could I even guess where it's from. Are there any other plates stuck on the van showing where the van originally came from (ie. the dealership, etc)?

I hope I'm not bursting your bubble, but the van is a Franklin Premier model from around 1965. Certainly before 1966 when the new chassis numbering system came in, and later than 1963 because of that cladding profile.

The chassis number of 965C is interesting. We have a couple of xxxD numbers in our Franklin Chassis Register, but no "C" numbers yet. I'll add your van into the register so we can increase our knowledge of Franklin history.

I seem to remember similar tail-lights being on an early Viscount van. I'll see if I can find that photo for comparison.

Good to have you with us!
cheers,
Al.

(ps. hughdeani...where are you? Ever heard of "Wanda"?? )

That's interesting, DonR!

(Don't tell cobber, but I didn't know that Wanda thread existed. )

I did suspect we had another Norm Reeman situation here, and I think you might be onto something with this Wanda connection.

Just amazes me the new discoveries being brought along to the forum!

cheers,
Al.

Hi All,

Many thanks for all of the responses & do not worry about bursting my bubble - I do not have one. We bought this van because we liked it & the van really does have a nice feel even though it may well be badge engineered, could be that Wanda built this & Franklin copied it - shock horror.!

We checked it out thoroughly yesterday & sadly no more clues, only a 1992 West Australian paper shelf liner - very boring. No other plates, logo's nothing. Some old (dead) ants might need DNA dating, but probably 1984 - same as the fridge.

We were told that the van was originally purchased in Victoria (in 1959) even had a bath option under the bed? But sadly no confirmation. Thanks Al for your assistance & it does have some resemblance, even down to the light green hue of SN 600 D.

I wish it had been a sixties model as the RAC would not insure a 1959 model - made my life difficult & since I have serious thoughts about our house, main car, other car & other stuff insurance - eventually through Shannon's AMMI came to the rescue.

As for Wanda being a dealership in Melbourne it could well be true - I will try & confirm with the seller - who claimed to be the agent (relation of the original owner - a 91 year old gentleman from Victoria who has lived in WA for decades).

Hi Al,

Thanks for your update, & I have few more photo's that may help, the first being the coloured in version of the Wanda logo - had to raid the grand kids school bag! These are as close a colour match as I could get, the blue is quit close but the red is too red.

As for your photo's I'm really not sure where Wanda fits in, as side windows on her are all the same size & shape - all 4. Some of these must be bunk vans with the double rear windows, but the bottom right photo has the same spats & the light green colour seems similar, whilst bottom left has same stripe location. Our front window shade is supported by two struts in the middle, not at the ends as shown in your photo's, which by the way is the logical location, I bang my head everytime I try & secure these.

I also wonder if these have cladding riveted or screwed, can't see at this size? Our 240V connector is in the same location as the top middle van, as is the vent for the stove. When we next go to visit Wanda I will take a bunch more photo's from the same angle as yours above & send them on. Maybe a week or two as we are taking Wanda on her first holiday with us, Perth is getting hot again so we is heading off down south to Cape Leeuwin.



Wanda in glorious colour.



Fully refurbished spats.



Gas bottle is old & the handle is fully 3 inches taller than the modern bottle, hope BBQ's galore will fill her up, or new hold down brackets will be required?



Front View.



Kitchen open for a cuppa.

Hi Jodel,

My guess is that your van is the same design and around about the same age as the van in the middle of the top row of the pics Al posted - the one with the blue painted band. The windows look different to yours because it is a smaller van - 13 ft while yours is 15 ft. The extra 2 ft in your van seems to be mainly in the extra space you have in your dinette. The 'blue' van is probably still regarded as a 4-berth, but in reality is more likely a 3.5 berth - just a bit cosier than yours.

There are some more pics of the 'blue' van including internal shots on page 3 of the Franklin thread in the Down History Lane section here - see Reply #41.

If you look at the internal photos the cupboards, door handles (except the knobs which I'm guessing are non-standard), etc, look very similar to yours. The overhead cupboards look to be the same in shape, and are sliders.

The 'blue' van has a double bed at the back, whereas yours has two singles, but I reckon the double bed looks like a later addition.

What do you think?

You mentioned that the struts on the front sunshade on your van are in the middle, but the sunshades on vans were often an optional extra or after market item, so I wouldn't think that necessarily tells us much.

Don Ricardo

Hi Jennison,

Many thanks for your suggestion & I did google LPG pressure test & just around the corner is a pressure testing station. I will be rushing over there in the morning.

Hi Don,

You could well be correct, as there are some similarities with the blue van especially the sliding upper cupboard doors.
Our knobs are original & some are falling apart, & all have lost plating, but they are going to stay that way, kind of resembles me. The editorial under the photo's mentions that the owner converted the singles to a double, we will be leaving ours the way they are as that way the wife gets to sleep with the dog & I get a good nights sleep.

By the way you are not very popular with my wife or the dog - he missed his walk & my wife reckons I will go blind with the amount of time I spend reading this "blog" her words, but how can you just read reply#41 in DHL & not read the other 50 or so relies. Also of interest reply #56 OlFarts Franklin also has similar sliding cupboard doors.

Agree with you on the sunshade, but I think most telling is the screwed construction, most old vans I have seen have all been pop riveted I've never seen so many screws & the 50 or so I checked the other day were all at least half a turn loose.

Hi Beetles,

You are the second person to suggest the Morris Major as a possible source of tail lights. Can't seem to find a decent rear photo, but did find the Wolesley 1500 on which the Morris was based soley for the Australian market - never available in old blighty. Again the only photo I could find is too small for a detailed confirmation but it certainly is bullet shaped in the indicator section. I'm hopeful that Lucas may be able to help me, mind you in the aviation industry they are known as the Prince of Darkness! I also found a thread in the technical section with an email address for a fellow over east who manufactures new from old lenses, so that maybe the way we go. Many thakns for all of your help.

Regards
Jodel

Hi,

Spares Galore in Ferntree Gully generally have stocks of British Lucas lenses, both genuine & reproduction ( much cheaper) . I've bought a few off them over the years, & had no problems.

JBJ

Hi JBJ,

Thanks for the lead. Would that be Ferntree Gully Auto Salvage?

Jodel

Very nice van Jodel! I was thinking Austin Lancer lights, they'd be the same as the early Major I reckon