Viscount circa late 60's

[baldrik]

Hi all, baldrik here from ravensthorpe, south east west Australia. just joined and happy to be here. I'm 58 and have been given an old alloy sided 18' tandem caravan. I'm calling it a viscount because the chassis no is v11611 or v1161. Not a welded on number but ground in or arced in with quick welding (gouged). It has rite angle bent Perspex front outer Windows. No paint patterns just white top and bottom and red in the middle. Can any one shed some lite on its age and model. Are there any identifying features/ tags anywhere that will help me identify it. [e-mail] 0898381643 fotos and private calls

[Franklin1]

G'day baldrik, and welcome to the forum.

What would really help us to identify your van would be some photos. The only brands I'm aware of that got V-series chassis numbers are the Viscount Valiants in 1974 (but the first number after the V would be a 4), and the Franklin vans built in 1974. Neither of those two brands would have had right-angled perspex windows on the front, as far as I know.

Does your van have push-out, or wind-out windows? Wind-out windows started to be used in 1973.

Does your van have a Starlite 4-Seasons hatch (or hatches)? These square hatches have the four flaps that independently open and close. These were introduced into the caravan industry around 1974.

Hope this helps,
cheers,
Al.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Baldrik,

Just to add to Franklin1's post above, there were in fact some Viscounts with 'V' serial numbers produced in the early and mid-60's. Some of them had the corner windows as you've described. You can see a couple of them on the 'Down History Lane' section Viscount thread - click here and see especially page 4 and 5 on that thread. I also have some photos of a later model Viscount with a 'V' serial number which I'll try and dig up.

My guess is that Viscounts with the 'V' serial number were produced in Viscount's Victorian factory, but as I indicated it's only a guess at this stage. But anyway, have a look through the thread I've pointed you to and see if there are any vans which look like yours. Let us know what you think.

As Franklin1 has commented, we will be able to help you best if you can post some photos of your van on the forum (via Photobucket or similar). There are instructions on how to post photos in the 'Forum Guidelines & Helpful Hints' section of the forum. Alternatively you can email the photos to me and I'll post them for you. If you click on my forum name in blue in the left hand panel of this post it will open up a window which shows my email address.

Don Ricardo