Van Identification

[dartweb]

Just bought this van. any idea on what brand and year?

flic.kr/p/25m5QQz

cheers

[hughdeany]

Hi dartweb,looks like an old Wayfarer or Skyline,interior pics will help.
Cheers
hughdeany

[dartweb]

Thanks Hugh, here are a couple of interior shots flic.kr/p/25mJhye doubt the bed is original and i think the previous owner added the timber lining. sorry all the pics i have for now.

[dartweb]

looks like aluminium? or did they build them in Gal at some point? any hints on polishing?

[hughdeany]

Hi Dartweb,
From what I can see it’s very much a Wayfarer.
It’s made with flat aluminium panels,which was common back then,you can polish them up ok with car polish.When new they were never so shiny you could see your face in the bodywork,but some people these days want to shine them up to mirror finish.😳
Cheers
hughdeany

[dartweb]

thanks Hugh, yes i like the mirror shine look even if it was not original. thanks for the ID. cheers

[dartweb]

Dont suppose you know the year for rego purposes?

[sportsman 1]

I would need a little more detail to be exact but I reckon it is 1958 or 59.

[DC3Td]

Good looking van Dartweb. You`ll have fun polishing it....or not. Be worth it in the end. Autosol or Purple seem to be the polishing brands used.You`re going to get black & grubby from doing it though. My take on it (and this is only my way as looking at your pics) mag wheel cleaner sprayed on & pressure wash off once foaming is seen.Apply polish over a metre square area at a time & machine buff. A word of warning - mag wheel cleaner is a nasty product being caustic it can cause irritation if not used correctly - rubber gloves/goggles.A number of members have buffed their vans without using the mag wheel cleaner & returned a beaut finish. As a former 30 years detailing veteran i`ve used Autosol.My choice though would be Purple.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Dartweb and Hughdeany,

For what it's worth, I don't think Dartweb's van is a Wayfarer. Wayfarer vans of that era had rectangular wheel arches, not round, and the placement of the windows is not quite correct, based on what I've seen.

I agree with Sportsman1's suggestion of a 1958 or 1959 build date though.

Don Ricardo

[hughdeany]

Hi Don Ricardo,
Sorry to disagree,but Wayfarers did have round wheel arches,I will send you a pic on messenger of one I found.
Same wheeel arch,windows front and side.
Cheers
hughdeany

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Hughdeany and Dartweb,

Here's the photo of the Wayfarer Hughdeany referred to in his last post:



The photo is a bit blurry, so I've reduced the size to increase the definition a bit.

This van has the same features as Dartweb's van, so I now agree with Hughdeany's ID of Dartweb's van as a Wayfarer. The features of the Wayfarer vans that I compared to Dartweb's are a bit different in the ways that I mentioned, and I haven't seen one like Dartweb's before. However, that shouldn't surprise me, because I have been collecting photos of different Wayfarer models for quite a while, and what that has taught me is that Wayfarer made more variations to their models than almost any other manufacturer. I think it is fair to say that the founder of Wayfarer was an inveterate "experimenter" who was always seeking to improve their vans.

Dartweb, does your van have a serial number welded on the drawbar? If it has, I'd be interested to know so that we can start putting the various Wayfarer models in some sort of order. That will also help us begin to get a fix on build dates.

Don Ricardo

[hughdeany]

Hi Don R,
Can you show me the difference about the windows?
To me they look exactly the same as in this pic,round frame fixed front window,and square top side windows with rounded bottoms?
Cheers
hughdeany

[dartweb]

I cant see a serial number Don, is there somewhere else i might be?  

Looks exactly like the one in your pics though.   even down to power points, vents etc.   I have bought some wayfarer stickers based on this. thanks. 

[dartweb]

I also have a 1977 air stream exceller 500 about to land in Melbourne in 2 weeks so i will be experimenting a lot with polishing materials and tools to polish that 31foot behemoth.