Old Don Photos

[winterwood]

Hi all, I came across some old slides which I've had converted to a CD.

The 2 colour photos were taken in 1955 on the banks of the Tambo River (Victoria). I was about 9 at the time.

The black & white photo was taken approx 3 years later in 1958/59 at Swan Reach, very near the Tambo River.

The last photo was taken I think, in the early-mid 60's with Mum and their Viscount?? Can anyone confirm this??

Oh how I wish I still had the old Don & the Viscount today, and of course, the old Vanguard!!

[Don Ricardo]

G'day Winterwood,

Great photos which must bring back lots of memories.

Your van was a relatively late model Don 120 (12 ft) with the ventilation hatch near the door. If the coloured photos were taken in 1955, the van couldn't have been too many years old at that stage. Any idea of when your parents acquired it?

What I'm trying to work out though, is if there were five of you on holidays and four berths in the van, which one of you slept underneath the van or in the back seat of the car? ;D ;D

[winterwood]

Hi Don,

Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately Dad has since gone to the great caravan park in the sky ... Mum (who was 92 yesterday) sadly can't now really recall too much detail about the van. Although I was 9 at the time, my memory suggests that it was purchased new approx 1955 ... maybe 1954?

I can clearly remember the Don but like you, got a surprise to see the 5 of us. Dad, being the gentleman he was, slept in the Vanguard.

[Deleted]

great pics winterwood ......thanks for sharing those ......

Don R .....being the "attention to detail" person that you are (said with all due respect of course ), I thought you may have the technogoly to read the build No .......the build No plate is very clear in the photo (next to winterwood's right knee) ;D ;D ;D

Seriously though, that Don 12 footer is very much like the Don I recently purchased from Williamstown VIC, I wonder if it also has the larger front window as per the 14 foot series ??

Mark

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Mark,

No doubt it won't surprise you that I did actually see if I could read the serial number!

One of my dreams is that one day we will be able to link some old family photos like Winterwoods to a van owned by a current V V forum participant - and that applies to all the vans that appear on the forum, not just Dons (for those of you who think I am interested in only one make).

Judging by the ventilation hatch, and Winterwoods comments about the number of people sleeping in the van, it would appear that his family 120 had the two bunks at the front and therefore would have the smaller, non-opening window at the front. However, who knows - so let's throw the question to Winterwood:

Winterwood - can you tell us anything about the front window in your parents' Don? Specifically, was it fixed or could it be opened?

If you are able to tell us, it may help us to unravel another little bit of Don history.

Regards,

Don Ricardo

[winterwood]

Received a PM from Cobber today, saying these photos have somehow disappeared from this thread. With the magic of photo bucket (together with a bit of luck) these photos will now be reproduced.





Max