Newbie with mystery van :)

hi isambard

don't be too harsh on not getting a response about your van at this stage.

a lot of our members, and mainly the ones who might be able to give you some advice, are still on their way home from the nationals event in cowra.

hang in there, you'll get some help soon.

sorry i can't help you, but if you post some photos of your van it will help us to help you.

it's difficult to make judgements from written descriptions.

there's instructions on how to post photos in your welcome letter.

conti

Conti
thanks for the link to the pics, we luv pics on this forum... ;D

isambarb
what a lovely van you've bought, not too much to do unlike some of us sigh! ;D

welcome

G'day isambard,

I'm blowed if I can find any info about the Crestline name as well, but your van is certainly not recognisable in any of the hundreds of photos I have in my computer collection.

Where have you got the Crestline name from? Is that what's on the rego label, or is it showing on the van somewhere?

Is there any chassis number welded or stamped on the front drawbar somewhere? Look on both the outside and the inside, and top and bottom of the steel channel that the drawbar is built from. (You'd be surprised where some manufacturers put the chassis number )

As a general observation, the flat aluminium cladding was used in the industry up to about 1964. The first ribbed profile cladding was introduced around 1963 and was only used for a short period of time, and then a second-generation ribbed cladding (sourced from America I believe) started to be used from late 1963.
You can read all about aluminium cladding in our History section ( Aluminium cladding "library" )


I'd be inclined to think your van is from the early 1960's period, so you could click on this link of 1960 Caravan Prices, and start the hard slog of working your way through the list and then research all the names to see if you can find a van similar to yours (...Well, what else are ya gonna do with your spare time?? )

cheers,
Al.

if it's any help dating the van, the handles with the star background are the same as the ones in our '65 roadmaster.

geoff 'n jude

Well done Dave!
Another brand mystery solved!You can go to the top of the class and then have a well earned rest,your eyes must be sore after looking through 107 pages!
Cheers
hughdeani

G'day Dave and Isambard,

Dave - Congratulations on working out the identity of Isambard's van. A very nice piece of detective work indeed! So satisfying when you say to yourself "that's it, that's it, I've got it!".

Isambard - Congratulations on your purchase. Looks like a very nicely kept van. Funnily enough there was a bit of discussion on the forum recently about the vans which were built by various Mr King or Kings - one in SA, one in Vic, and reputedly one in Tas. There's a very little bit of info on your type of Kings van in the Down History Lane section here. There are also some references to Kings vans in the recently published caravan history book "Still Swinging the Billy".

I hope you will be OK if I post some pics of your van on the Down History Lane section? There don't appear to be many Kings around, so it is good to have the info there for future reference.

PS I have been enjoying the style of your posts - they have put a smile on my dial as I've read them!

Don Ricardo

Why would you want to install a black and white checkered floor? Im sorry, but to me that is one of the most overdone things in the vintage van scene today, but yet I have never seen one original advert or van in the world, that came from new with such a thing. I am all for recreating history, but not creating a personalised version of it. It just seems to me, when ppl these days think "1950s" they automatically think checker floors, whitewall tyres, poodle skirts and ducksass hairstyles. Its your van and u can do with it what you wish, but both my vans are going to have their grey slate redone, because thats what they started life with. I guess Im just a passionate purist.

Many years ago I studied interior decorating as a hobby. One of the most important thing teachers told us was that there's no such thing as bad taste. It may not be to your taste, but that person is entitled to their choices.

If I choose to paint my van zebra stripes or have black and white tiles, then surely that's my business and doesn't deserve such open criticism Let people live their dream as they see it, I say.

Ray

Many years ago I studied interior decorating as a hobby





Hi Ray......did you pass?


Sutcac

Hey there,
I will definitely be finishing the lino in black and white checkerboard, so agree with you there! Actually, it is my wife's decision, but she is taken with that look (checkerboard) as it really looks the part, is classy and...she likes it! Just need to keep her on track with that idea. Nick aka Ozziestirling.