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Post by razorback on Jun 24, 2019 18:10:30 GMT 10
Can anyone please help my partner and I work out what our van is? We received it as a gift 3 years and was told that it was a 1968 Roadmaster Luxury Liner so thats what we've always thought it was but after speaking with the owner of Roadmaster this morning he was unable to recognise the van and we were told that it is not a Roadmaster caravan even though the sticker on it says it is. All we were told was that it's an early 60s van. We are currently in the process of renovating the outside and interior so any help would be greatly appreciated as we have no idea what it is. Here are the photos of our van when we first got it The wheel carrier on the back is not factory fitted. it was added on for a big trip they did in it years back thanks, Grant    |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jun 24, 2019 23:36:00 GMT 10
Hi Razorback, Welcome to the forum. That’s an interesting caravan you have there - rather nice lines. The van’s origins are quite intriguing. I agree with Lazza (the name the owner of Roadmaster uses on this forum), for a couple of reasons. 1. While the general shape of your van is similar to some Roadmasters, the way the front and back walls meet the roof is quite different to Roadmasters. Have a look at the vans on the Roadmaster thread in the ‘Down History Lane’ section of the forum here. As you’ll see Roadmasters had a quite distinct corner join between the front and rear walls and the roof, whereas on your van the front and rear walls flow into the roof in a curve. In addition the Roadmasters had a double cambered roof - in other words, a roof that curves both side to side as well as back to front, whereas your roof only curves back to front. 2. Lazza has been involved in running Roadmaster for close to 50 years, and has refurbished many older Roadmaster caravans, so knows the various designs pretty well. Having said that, there are a couple of comments that I can make about your van. First, it has what we refer to as a Tudor ceiling inside. That’s where the ribs of the roof are exposed. That is a particularly South Australian design feature. So that is a strong indicator (close to 100%) that your van was built in South Australia. Second, the shape of the van is from around the second half of the 50’s into the early 60’s. The cladding on your van was first introduced around 1963, and was used for a short period after that. So that fits with an early 60’s build date for your van. However, as somebody suggested on Facebook, it’s quite possible that your van was originally clad in bondwood, and then reclad in the aluminum at a later point. You may be able to tell if your van was originally clad in bondwood by checking inside the cupboards to see if they are lined with bondwood (ply) which is reasonably thick - say 5 or 8 mm - compared to normal three ply. So who built your van? I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for that yet. There was quite a lot of different caravan manufacturers in South Australia in the 50’s and 60’s. Some of those manufacturers we know quite a lot about, and we also know quite a lot about the designs of their vans, eg Roadmaster, Rowvan, Adventurer, Harris, Hardy, Furness, etc. Your van wasn’t built by any of those. But there are a number of South Australian manufacturers that we know very little about at this point, and we don’t know much about the designs of the vans they produced. I’m happy to tell you more about some of those if you’re interested, but I am thinking that your van was produced by one of those “other” manufacturers. I know that’s not very helpful at one level, but hopefully it will give you some clues. Talking about clues, anything you can tell us about your van will help us do some detective work for you. For example, is the van clad in bondwood under the aluminum/ Also is there any sign of a serial number anywhere on the van, for example on the drawbar? If you can show us some inside photos that will help too. Don Ricardo |
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Post by Roehm3108 on Jun 25, 2019 7:21:08 GMT 10
Hi OP That van is certainly a bit of a mystery. I'm not sure what Don Ricardo is referring to when he speaks of Lazza's response, as Lazza's post seems to have been taken off. I agree with Don Ricardo that it could be a SA van and if I was making a guess, I would say Quest. If you look at the second post post here vintagecaravans.proboards.com/thread/2026?page=1 there is a fifties van there, quite similar to yours. It even has wheel spats. I know that your van doesn't have a porthole, but the porthole in the Quest could be a renovation addition, because that van was changed from bondwood cladding to aluminium at some point and reclad the same way at it's last reno. Perhaps, in addition to what DonR has suggested, you could also post some interior shots? |
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Post by Don Ricardo on Jun 25, 2019 9:50:34 GMT 10
Hi Roehm and Razorback,
My reference to Lazza's response about Razorback's van was in connection with Razorback's comment that he had been in personal touch (off the forum) with the owner of Roadmaster. I was assuming he was meaning Larry, who owns Roadmaster, and who goes by the name of Lazza on the forum. (Of course there may now be a new owner - Lazza was talking about retiring a few years ago - so my reference to him may have been mistaken.)
Your suggestion about the Quest is an interesting one Roehm. As you observe, the early van shown on the DHL Quest thread is a similar shape to Razorback's van. However, if you look at the photos of the Quest, it still has that distinct edge/corner where the front and back walls meet the roof at each end, which was a feature of so many South Australian built caravans. Razorback's van lacks that edge. Instead the front and rear of the van flow in a continuous curve into the roof (albeit with a small hump). In addition, the Quest has a distinct edge at the front (but not at the back) where the front wall meets the floorline. On Razorback's the front wall continues in a curve into the floor without any edge. That's why I discounted Razorback's van being a Quest. (Razorback, just to explain, some of these little differences may seem insignificant but they can be quite crucial in identifying a van because manufacturers tended to carry those styling features over from model to model, and sometimes they can be quite distinctive.)
Quest is one of those manufacturers that we don't know a lot about, in terms of their designs in between the early one on the Quest thread you've referred to Roehm, and when they started producing fibreglass vans around the mid 60's. So I shouldn't rule Quest out altogether.
It will be interesting to see photos of the inside of Razorback's van.
Don Ricardo
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Post by razorback on Jun 25, 2019 18:46:27 GMT 10
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Post by Roehm3108 on Jun 25, 2019 20:13:09 GMT 10
Hi OP
I've seen hughdeani be correct too many times to want to argue with him. On another site he mentions that he felt your van was home-built, after seeing the interior pics. Personally I'm not totally convinced. If it was home-built, then it was done by a very good tradesman, going by the quality of the cabinets. After doing my own build with Cino Vardo, I have a new/greater respect and appreciation for anyone who builds their own caravan, especially in the days of fewer tools than we have today.
I am rather intrigued by the cooking alcove, very much ala Rowvan and their ilk.
When it all boils down, in so many ways, it doesn't really matter if the van can't be identified, as nice as that might be. You have the makings of a very comfortable caravan with which you can spend a lot of time exploring this great country. Good luck with whatever you do with it
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Post by hughdeany on Jun 26, 2019 0:24:17 GMT 10
Hi Roehm3108 and Charlotte,
I’ve had a closer look at the interior pics and it has some Quest similarities,maybe a one off,as all the manufacturers used to experiment with their vans back then.
I have seen a hell of a lot of home built vans that were better than factory though,so I’m still undecided!
Happy to be proven wrong and get to the bottom of this one.😉
Cheers
hughdeany
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