Determine Don 150 Year.

[hillbilly]

Hi, i'm new to this forum. I've had my Don 150 for quite some time and was wondering how to determine it's build year.

It's fitted with 2 matching serial id Tags, 1 in the overhead cupboard and the other located LHS on side wall next to the bottom of the door.

Don 150 serial 1064

any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Anthony

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Hillbilly,

Welcome to the forum. It’s fabulous to hear about your Don 150. (I say that because I have a special interest in Don caravans. )

I can’t tell you the exact build year for your van with precision, but I can provide you with some info that I hope will be useful and I think allows us to estimate the build year...

The 150 model Don was introduced in 1956 as part of a ‘model refresh’ which saw the replacement of the leadlight window Dons which had been produced with only very minor changes from 1934 to 1956. The new model range included a 15 ft Cadet model, which was a more affordable van than the previous models, and the 150 which was a luxury van along the lines - and using some of the same fittings - as the previous models, albeit in a very different, and much more modern looking shell. The 15 ft Cadet was soon joined by 12 ft Cadet and later by a 9 ft Cadet. Similarly, around 1957 or 8, the 150 model was joined by the 133 model (13 ft 3 in long).

The 150 model was advertised into the early 60’s, but as far as we have been able to establish only a very small number were ever built, possibly only a handful. They were an expensive van, compared to the Cadet and also compared to vans being produced by other builders such as Franklin and Viscount that were beginning to build vans in large numbers using production line techniques by the end of the 50’s. In contrast Don vans were still being built by hand.

The serial numbers for the 150 (and 133) models followed on in sequence from the numbers used for the previous leadlight window Dons (whereas the Cadets were given a new set of numbers beginning with 2000). A 120 (12 ft) leadight window van produced in mid-1956 was numbered 1023. The earliest 150 we know about - and are almost 100% certain that it was produced in 1956 to be shown at the 1956 Caravan Show - has the serial number 1050. It is possible that it just happens to have been the van produced after number 1049, but my strong suspicion is that it was given the number 1050 as a bit of symbolism - that is, it was the first 150 and therefore numbered 1050.

Your van is number 1064, which means that it was the 14th van built after number 1050, but we don’t know how long it took for those 14 vans in the leadlight and 150 model range to be produced. So was it the same year as 1050, which it would normally have been based on Don production rates, or did it take a while because production was focused on producing Cadet models? We don’t know for sure...but...we have a record of two 133 model vans with the serial numbers 1105 and 1107, and as I indicated the 133 was introduced in 1957 or 8. So that tells us that your 150, number 1064 was built before those 133 models, and I reckon that tells us that your van number 1064 was built either in 1956, the same year as number 1050, or 1957.

I hope you can follow my logic? Feel free to ask further questions though.

As I said there was only a very small number of 150 model Don’s built, and we only know of one other of them still in existence (that’s number 1050). For that reason I’d love to see some photos of your van. Does it have its original paintwork, etc, and if so what colours is it?

There is info on how to post photos on the forum in a special sub-section of the ‘Forum Guidelines & Helpful Hints’ section of the forum that you might like to follow. Or if it’s easier you welcome to email some photos to me and I’ll post them for you. There are a couple of ‘Don caravan tragics’ on the forum that will be really keen to see some pics and hear about your van. My email address is: [e-mail]

Don Ricardo

[hillbilly]

Hi Don,

I have sent you the link via email.

I'm very impressed with your knowledge on the Don Vans. Thanks for the well explained History. Production of the 150 Vans from "1956" i find this a very interesting fact.

One thing i have noticed with this van that might be different to other 150's is that it does not have a wash basin pull down cupboard on the wardrobe door!!!

This Van has 2 Don Badges on the front, 2 serial id Tag's, It given name is "The Red Baron", it had an original DON sticker inside the rear window Glass.

This Don needs a full restoration, which would include a Draw bar as it's cracked right through. The kitchen has been replaced with (see Photo's), the table is missing so to the rear clothes draws and cupboard. All cupboard doors are there, original light fittings and fuse box are there, one rear bed light is missing and also it's light shade. The roof vent hatch is missing. It seems it was fitted with two water tanks underneath but one is missing, all it's mounting brackets are still in tact. It has a solid floor. Also has it's original rims and tyres. Also it has it's original wheel arch spats that would make a good template. Some of it's edge banding is missing along with it's side banding. View photo's.

It has that many layers of paint and maybe some sort of render that makes it difficult to work out it's original colour. I did manage to remove some of it's paint surface to uncover a red stripe, this
would indicate it had red side stripes and possibly a red front - not to sure though.


I found and saved it, it was stored locked up in a pig pen, the pigs ravaged the rear of the van.

[Don Ricardo]

Photos of Hillbilly’s Don 150, serial number 1064, posted on his behalf:

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Hillbilly,

Thanks for emailing me some photos of your van. I’ve posted a good selection above.

There’s a bit of work to be done before the van can be roadworthy, but we’ve seen some amazing restorations done on the forum, so it’s all possible.

I was interested to read your comments about the colour of the van. Don adopted a different approach to the colour of the paint on the 150 model. From the late 30’s up until 1956 all Dons were painted cream with sage green trim, no variations permitted except for the commercial 121 utility models which were painted according to the requirements of the purchasing organisation. For example Board of Works vans were painted grey, and PMG vans a dark colour (possibly red). A similar rule applied to the enamel Don badges. In the early days the enamel on the badges was red, but from the late 30’s up until 1956 the enamel on the badges was sage green (as shown in my avatar in the panel to the left of this post), no variations permitted.

However, as part of the ‘model refresh’ and the introduction of the 150 model in 1956, different colour schemes were offered. For example, number 1050 is painted blue with a dark blue stripe, and I’ve seen photos of a 150 which was painted cream with an ochre coloured stripe. In addition the colour of the enamel on the Don badges for the 150’s were colour coordinated with the colour of the paint work. So the enamel on the badge of number 150 is blue to match the blue paint, and the enamel on the cream and ochre van was an orangey colour to match the ochre stripe.

The point of telling you all this is that because the enamel on your Don badges is green, I would expect that the original colour of your van was green - possibly cream with a green stripe, or a pastel shade of green with a green stripe. That would also fit in with the green ceiling in the van. Having said that, I would be interested to see the signs of the red stripe you’ve found. That probably isn’t original based on the above.

You mention red paint on the front. I am wondering if that is just the red lead undercoat that was applied to Don vans? Certainly I can see evidence of that undercoat in your photos. Our Don - which is a 1949 lead light window model - has the same red lead paint under all the top coats.

Don Ricardo

[hillbilly]

Hi Don,

Thanks for posting my images, I wasn't expecting that.

Thanks once again for very detailed information on these Vans. When i'm up there again i'll take some more photo's for you showing the red paint.

Thank you also about explaining the badge colour variations to the Van coating colour.

Yes this van requires a restoration, I've taken some time to properly view the vans woodwork, frame and chassis. There are many frame parts still in good condition to copy and make templates from so to steam bend new framing sections. This is nothing new to me as i'm a Builder and qualified Carpenter and have restored 3 other Vintage caravans.

This Don Van i'll offer one time only at auction on eBay. If no interest is shown then i'll commence the restoration process. I want people to know this 150 is out there and that they are Hidden in some very strange places.

Some maybe hidden in large 6 car garages - just speculating (or am I).

Thanks