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Post by 330OLX on Apr 28, 2016 19:17:27 GMT 10
Hi everyone, we purchased our van around 2 months ago & would really appreciate some help to identify the year & manufacturer.
It's approx 11 1/2 feet long, just under 6 1/2 feet wide,
has a kerosene stove,
an icebox instead of a fridge (no gas fitted to van),
a rock n roll bed,
a timber frame,
aluminium cladding,
cable over-ride brakes,
& has W187 welded into the drawbar (serial number?)
We were told that a member of the original owner's family can remember it back as far as 1966.
We'd really like to find out the proper brand & year so we can adjust the rego details from the current "unknown manufacturer"
Any information would be much appreciated, BRUCE
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Post by 330OLX on Apr 30, 2016 9:46:52 GMT 10
Anyone ?
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Post by Franklin1 on Apr 30, 2016 10:28:21 GMT 10
G'day Bruce, I've been looking, but haven't found the answer yet (...but if it's any consolation, I did discover during my research that another recently listed van appears to be a Travel-Eze and not a Viscount  ) The general appearance of your van suggests it is from the 1964/65 time period, with the wide painted band along the sides, and the plain aluminium cladding having the profile launched during 1963. The prefix 'W' on the chassis number may be a red herring in terms of the "W" relating to the manufacturer's name. If the chassis was manufactured by an outside supplier, it may have got a number relating to the supplier's name rather than the caravan brand. None of the brands in our Down History Lane index that start with "W" seem to have any connection with a van that looks like yours. You might have to do the hard yards yourself and work your way through the index of brands in the DHL section ( Index ) and see if you can find something that matches your van. cheers, Al. |
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Post by DC3Td on Apr 30, 2016 11:19:52 GMT 10
Hi Bruce. Some interior pics might help as the layout of fixtures could narrow it down to the maker.Also it was quite common for builders to scribble a name/date under/in/behind drawers/table/cupboards/beds.
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Post by 330OLX on Apr 30, 2016 20:00:52 GMT 10
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Post by Don Ricardo on Apr 30, 2016 21:56:47 GMT 10
Hi 330olx,
The profile of the ribbed aluminium cladding and the coloured panel look about right for around 1966 or maybe a year or so earlier.
Can you tell us what state (of Australia) you found the van in, and what state it was last registered in? That might help us narrow down the possibilities for its origins. Up to the 60's caravan manufacturers were almost all state based and for the most part only sold vans in the state in which they were located. That remained true into the 60's for the smaller manufacturers.
Don Ricardo
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Post by 330OLX on May 1, 2016 8:54:15 GMT 10
Hi Don, we purchased the van from NSW & I believe it'd been NSW registered from new.
There was a change of ownership from parents to daughter around 1988 & during this change the manufacture date on the rego was altered to 1988 for some strange reason (obviously not correct).
As I understand it the previous owner bought it from the original owner's daughter in the Sydney area as an investment & brought it north near the Qld/NSW border.
We were at a car show when we met his neighbour & heard about this gem - wife just had to have it.
Bruce
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Post by Don Ricardo on May 1, 2016 14:01:41 GMT 10
G'day 330OLX, Thanks for the extra photos and the information about where you acquired the caravan. Putting all the info together I am almost 100% certain that your caravan is a Gypsy caravan built by Homebush Caravans in the second half of the 60's - from around 1965 to at least 1969. At this stage we don't know a lot about Homebush Caravans' Gypsys, and whether or not there was link with the earlier Gypsy caravans built by the Gypsy Caravan Company in St Leonards. However, there are a number of features of your van that are a match with the Homebush vans - the overall shape of the caravan, the slope of the rear wall, the shape of the wheel arch, and the internal fit out and furniture. You can find more information about the Homebush Gypsys - including some photos of a couple of examples - by clicking here. The first part of the thread refers to the Gypsy Caravan Company caravans, but go down to the posts from April 2015 onwards and you'll see the discussion about the Homebush Gypsys. Have a look particularly at the photos of Tooleyau's Homebush Gypsy. Tell us what you think. One thing that is interesting about your van is that it is 11 ft 6 in, and as you will note from the Gypsy thread, the info we have on the Homebush Gypsys is that they only produced a 10 ft 6 in model. However your van is proof that at some stage they built a slightly roomier van. By comparing your van to Tooleyau's you can see where the extra foot in length has been added into the design. I will be interested to hear your thoughts. Don Ricardo |
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Post by 330OLX on May 1, 2016 20:32:03 GMT 10
Gee Don, looks like it may be a Gypsy. I reckon you might be onto something.
The NSW rego said "Home-made" but that may have been mis-interpreted from Homebush back in 1988 when they transferred the rego & messed things up.
As per the suggestion from DC3Td, I searched in as many nooks & crannys as I could to try & discover a date.
Under the rock n roll bed I found an attached tag with what may be a date, 3-2 59 ??
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Post by 330OLX on May 1, 2016 20:48:05 GMT 10
The only other marking I found was this stamp on the ply under the seat for the dining table. It could be a manufacturer stamp from whoever made the ply but it wasn't clear enough for me to recognise it.
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Post by 330OLX on May 1, 2016 20:52:40 GMT 10
Also, the windows & screens have original manufacturer decals which are still in very good condition.
The condition of these decals leads us to believe that there were never caravan manufacturer decals fitted, cause they'd still be in good condition too, or at least visible where they were once fitted.
BRUCE
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Post by DC3Td on May 1, 2016 21:29:16 GMT 10
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Post by Don Ricardo on May 1, 2016 23:05:38 GMT 10
G'day again 330OLX,
Yes, I am certain that your van is a Homebush Gypsy - the internal fitout of your van is identical to Tooleyau's (with the exception of the extra foot added and that Tooleyau's van has had a refrigerator retro fitted), and the shape is the same. So I think you can be confident that you now know the origins of your van, with the downside that at this point we don't know too much about Homebush Caravans or their manufacturing history.
You may be right about 'Home-made' being an interpretation of 'Homebush'. However, it has been common in cases where the manufacturer of a van is not known (or the manufacturer is not listed on a modern pre-set list of manufacturers) for the rego authorities in all states to just brand a caravan as 'homemade'. I think that is probably the most likely explanation for how your van has been registered.
Similarly when the actual build date of a van is not known or can't be proven with documentation, the rego authorities have commonly used a random date (in Victoria this has often been 1900) or the date on which the van is being re-registered. That explains why your van was given a build date of 1988 when it was re-registered.
I think your van probably had a small Gypsy nameplate above the front window as shown in the picture from the Winser caravan manual on the Down History Lane Gypsy thread. However it would appear that the nameplate wasn't very well fixed to the wall, because all of the Homebush Gypsy's we have seen on the forum have lost the plate without a trace of it once being there.
It's interesting to see the tag attached to the bed/bedding in the van. I'm not sure what it signifies, except that I'm dead certain it doesn't indicate that your van was built in 1959. The design/styling of your caravan, the profile of the cladding used, the coloured panel at window height, and the use of laminex for the cupboards, etc, inside the van, are all very different to the vans of the late 50's and early 60's, and entirely consistent with the vans of the second half of the 60's. We have now accumulated enough information on the forum to be able to recognise the design trends and developments which occurred at different stages. In addition, we have no evidence that Homebush Caravans were building vans as early as 1959. On that basis I think you can be reasonably confident that your van was built between 1965 and, say, 1970. However, unfortunately we don't have any info at this stage that will allow us to be any more precise than that.
It's a great little van, though. Are you intending to travel in it?
Don Ricardo
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Post by 330OLX on May 2, 2016 8:22:13 GMT 10
Thankyou so much to all that have replied.
Don Ricardo, I especially need to thank you for such informative replies..
As far as our van goes, we don't really intend to travel much with it as such. We are entered at Cooly Rocks On at the Gold Coast in June & as yet unsure which tow car we'll be using. Most of it's use will be to/at/from car shows & similar retro style events being towed by either our LX Torana or our EH Holden Premier. We recently debuted the van at Smiles Of Strength car show at Nambour & it was very well received. It's a bugger of a thing to sleep in though when you're 6 foot+ tall & the van is only 6 1/2 foot wide. Had to sleep diagonally.
I looked through Tooleyau's thread & found it interesting that his drawbar has W 177 welded into it. Ours is W 187.
One noticeable difference inside is the single door wardrobe in his van with a small cabinet between the wardrobe & the bed. Our wardrobe is two door & we have no cabinet there.
Another difference is the extra distance on ours between the side window & the front of the van - we can seat 4 at our table where I suspect Tooleyau would only seat 2.
So, so many other features of his van are shared by ours though.
Sadly his thread doesn't mention how he discovered it was a Gypsy, & in fact the only mention I see of Gypsy in his thread was when referring to the Gumtree ad when selling it.
BRUCE |
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Post by Don Ricardo on May 2, 2016 10:39:32 GMT 10
Hi 330OLX, Great pickup on the serial number on Tooleyau's van. I had missed that, but that's conclusive proof that your van and his came out of the same factory. Interesting to read about the differences in the cupboards, etc. Just goes to show how well an extra foot in length can be put to use.  Like you, Tooleyau went through a long search to discover the origins of his van. I remember discussing the possibilities with him at the Broken Hill Nationals. Various suggestions were made, but there were features of his van which meant that the suggestions didn't quite fit. It was only when he was preparing to sell the van that he saw the post on the Homebush Gypsys and made the connection with his van. Over the years on the forum we have found that caravan builders often included (sometimes quite minor) little features in their vans which enable us to identify who built them, even when there is no nameplate on them. The features were often carried over from one model to another over quite a long period. An example is the shape of the wheel arch which can be quite distinctive. There are quite a lot of such features built into the Homebush Gypsys which can assist us now in identifying them. I hear what you are saying about the length of the bed in your van and the length of your frame. Our van is only 6 ft wide. Fortunately I am less than 6 ft high, but even then I tend to sleep with my feet against the far wall! Now that we have seen your van, and given that we don't know whether there is any connection between the Homebush Gypsys and the earlier Gypsy Caravan Company caravans, I will move the information about the Homebush Gypsys to a separate thread in the Down History Lane section to make it easier to find in future. I will also add some photos of your van, if that's OK, as evidence that they built an 11 ft 6 in caravan. Don Ricardo |
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Post by Mustang on May 2, 2016 17:09:13 GMT 10
Well the panel have sorted the brand but I would call it a "HONEY"
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BlueBird
Full Member
Monica and Shaun
Posts: 209
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Post by BlueBird on May 2, 2016 20:46:27 GMT 10
Hi Bruce, I love your van and your Torana. We have two Toranas so its nice to see a fellow Torana lover on the forum. We have a LX (4 door) and a LJ (2 door). Our LX is on the road, but rarely driven. It has a 308 - A9X motor in it. Our LJ is a work in progress. It has a VN motor in it. We're hoping to have it on the road to attend The Torana Nationals in Canberra in November. This will be our tow vehicle for our VV. Monica |
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Post by tooleyau on May 3, 2016 20:55:49 GMT 10
Sadly his thread doesn't mention how he discovered it was a Gypsy, & in fact the only mention I see of Gypsy in his thread was when referring to the Gumtree ad when selling it.
BRUCE The answer to this question is rather simple. When we were at the Broken Hill nationals a request popped up on the forum from someone called "led" who had bought a van and the picture supplied was similar to ours. He lived in Mildura and since were coming home that way we met up in the Mildura Caravan park. He had his original rego papers that said it was a "Gypsy" and he said out as was identical to his in every way. I think he had a bit of a challenge to get his finished. Have not heard from him since. |
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Post by firefighter on May 3, 2016 22:50:00 GMT 10
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Post by 330OLX on May 4, 2016 18:02:55 GMT 10
Hi 330OLX, Great pickup on the serial number on Tooleyau's van. I had missed that, but that's conclusive proof that your van and his came out of the same factory. Interesting to read about the differences in the cupboards, etc. Just goes to show how well an extra foot in length can be put to use. Like you, Tooleyau went through a long search to discover the origins of his van. I remember discussing the possibilities with him at the Broken Hill Nationals. Various suggestions were made, but there were features of his van which meant that the suggestions didn't quite fit. It was only when he was preparing to sell the van that he saw the post on the Homebush Gypsys and made the connection with his van. Over the years on the forum we have found that caravan builders often included (sometimes quite minor) little features in their vans which enable us to identify who built them, even when there is no nameplate on them. The features were often carried over from one model to another over quite a long period. An example is the shape of the wheel arch which can be quite distinctive. There are quite a lot of such features built into the Homebush Gypsys which can assist us now in identifying them. I hear what you are saying about the length of the bed in your van and the length of your frame. Our van is only 6 ft wide. Fortunately I am less than 6 ft high, but even then I tend to sleep with my feet against the far wall! Now that we have seen your van, and given that we don't know whether there is any connection between the Homebush Gypsys and the earlier Gypsy Caravan Company caravans, I will move the information about the Homebush Gypsys to a separate thread in the Down History Lane section to make it easier to find in future. I will also add some photos of your van, if that's OK, as evidence that they built an 11 ft 6 in caravan. Don Ricardo Thanks so much for your help, very much appreciated.
I'd still be wondering what it is without your detective work.
BRUCE
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Post by 330OLX on May 4, 2016 18:04:54 GMT 10
Well the panel have sorted the brand but I would call it a "HONEY" Yep, we reckon it's a beauty.
Not cheap, but such awesome condition with zero evidence of ever having water damage
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Post by 330OLX on May 4, 2016 18:13:31 GMT 10
Hi Bruce, I love your van and your Torana. We have two Toranas so its nice to see a fellow Torana lover on the forum. We have a LX (4 door) and a LJ (2 door). Our LX is on the road, but rarely driven. It has a 308 - A9X motor in it. Our LJ is a work in progress. It has a VN motor in it. We're hoping to have it on the road to attend The Torana Nationals in Canberra in November. This will be our tow vehicle for our VV. Monica Hi Monica, I got my first Torana back in 1985 & have never managed to get them out of my system.
We won't be making the trip to Canberra for the Torana Nationals. The 9 hour trips to Toranafest back in 2012 & 2013 were enough distance for us, Canberrra is a few extra hours. Our club (QTCC) also hosted Toranarama up here in 2014 when HVTC decided to have a break after 20 years of putting on Toranafest.
The LJ should drive nice with the V6 in it, but I've always had a thing for the LX myself.
BRUCE
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Post by 330OLX on May 4, 2016 18:18:36 GMT 10
Sadly his thread doesn't mention how he discovered it was a Gypsy, & in fact the only mention I see of Gypsy in his thread was when referring to the Gumtree ad when selling it.
BRUCE The answer to this question is rather simple. When we were at the Broken Hill nationals a request popped up on the forum from someone called "led" who had bought a van and the picture supplied was similar to ours. He lived in Mildura and since were coming home that way we met up in the Mildura Caravan park. He had his original rego papers that said it was a "Gypsy" and he said out as was identical to his in every way. I think he had a bit of a challenge to get his finished. Have not heard from him since. Thanks for clearing that up.
Some awesome people on here with an amazing amount of knowledge, & most importantly they're very willing to share it.
BRUCE
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Post by 330OLX on May 4, 2016 18:19:27 GMT 10
Thankyou for the link.
BRUCE
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