Ambassador (by Viscount) - chassis numbers

[Franklin1]

G'day dave79au,

According to my computer filing system, the photo of E6417 came from an ebay listing in May 2012, almost 12 months ago. I pinched the photos from the listing because the chassis number was showing in one of the photos. There were only external photos, no internals.

I don't have any more info about the van, sorry.

cheers,
Al.

[dave79au]

Hi Al would it be possible for you to email me those photos you have got cause im interested as to see them
cheers dave79au

[jimbojones]

Found this while searching on the net ;D

Make - Viscount
Model - Ambassador
Year - 1968
Style - Caravan
ATM - 740
Length (ext) - 15'
Chassis No/vin - E7384
Berth - 5
Layout - Front cafe style dinette converts to double bed, mid kitchen, rear single bed and single bed bunks


Great to get away with the family, the Viscount Ambassador has a cafe style dinette which converts to a double bed, creating 5 berths in total. The kitchen features a Kambrook two burner hot plate, Electrolux 90 L fridge and stainless steel sink with drainer. The simple features of this van make for a light ATM, so it can be towed easily behind most family vehicles.

[mibosa]

To Don Ricardo, I am a recent joiner to this forum so please excuse my inability to communicate properly. I think I have added to this particular site because of your mention to being connected to a member of the SA Ambos. Does that mean you are in SA, as I am also and have recently purchased a 1966 Viscount Ambassador van which I would certainly appreciate an opportunity to met personally and hear your advice. Regards, Bob (Adelaide)

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Mibosa,

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the purchase of your Viscount Ambassador. I would be happy to catch up with you but unfortunately I live in Melbourne and not in Adelaide.

I've re-posted your post on a new thread you can find by clicking here, and asked whether there are any of the forum members in Adelaide who might be able to meet up and have a chat with you. Hopefully someone will get in touch with you - watch out for a reply on the thread or by PM (Personal Message - see the 'Messages' button on the menu bar above).

I also just noticed one of your earlier posts:

May 7, 2014 22:38:46 GMT 10 mibosa said:

Hi Don, I'm a newcomer to this site.  Earlier tonight I left a few questions to people about a Viscount I recently purchased with the two smaller side windows as is seen in one of the photos you have uploaded.  The seller and rego papers state 1969 but under the table appears to be 28/10/66 faintly written in pencil.  My number is E1419, do you think it might be a 66'ish and previously had the bunk beds on that side of the van?  Regards, Bob

Apologies for missing your post and questions. I think you've probably already worked it out by looking at the Viscount Ambassador thread in the Down History Lane section of the forum, but I agree with you that (without having seen it) your van sounds as if it is a 1966 model. The serial number E1419 is close to the serial numbers of other 1966 vans, and I think the date you found confirms that.  The two small windows on the side, one above the other, do indicate that your van once had bunks.

If you would like me to post some photos of your van for you, just send them to me by email - click on my forum name in blue on the panel to the left of this post and you will see my email address.

Don Ricardo

[earlee]

Hello experts.

I am trying to date a viscount duralvan with chassis number A10612.

White acrylic sides so could be from mid 1969 up to 1973?

I have read the threads but need more help....is it a vintage van or a classic van?

thanks in advance.

[carl]

Jun 10, 2014 13:11:28 GMT 10 earlee said:

Hello experts.

I am trying to date a viscount duralvan with chassis number A10612.

White acrylic sides so could be from mid 1969 up to 1973?

I have read the threads but need more help....is it a vintage van or a classic van?

thanks in advance.

I can't answer your question, but I need to ask the same question.

I posted on the Classic Caravans website that I had just bought an old Viscount Ambassador which I thought was early 70's, see attached photos - some of you might have seen it in the original Ebay add. Anyhoo, this little van might actually be a 1969 so I thought I'd post here too because I'm trying to figure out what sort of decal it should have on the front and rear of it. From reading a lot of posts in the Classic Caravans Hall of Fame and this Ambassador chassis thread , I'm pretty sure it should be the older style decal, but my van's chassis number is pretty high for an 'E' series Ambassador (E9890), so it's possible that it might have had the later series Ambassador decal from later in 1970. Does anyone know for sure? These decals are reproduced and sold on Ebay for $60 or $70. Pretty exxy for decals, but would really finish off the look of the old girl. I have not found any dates written anywhere, but under one shelf in the kitchen cupboard and one of the over head cupboards is written "4571 VAL" in pencil or crayon. Does this provide any clues?

The original side flash was blue and the interior matches, so one day I'll paint the side flashes blue again. In the mean time I've pulled the original fridge and 'burped' it so it now works great, I've replaced the water tank, I've stripped back the surface rust off the chassis rails and painted them with silver POR15 and they look brand new. I've also replaced the bent rear jack legs and also replaced the jockey wheel. I had to 'chisel' off all the dried grease and dirt from the spring shackles and they cleaned up great and only needed a squirt of grease to make sure they are good to go. 

I'm going to tow it with my 1962 Chevy Impala.

I also have only one unbroken cupboard handle so if anyone has any left over from a reno, I'd love to replace my broken ones.

Cheers, Carl

This is the decal I think it should have.

Here's a couple of the photos from the auction.

This is the 62 SS Impala I'll tow it with.

I need about 5 of these.

Cheers, Carl

[Franklin1]

G'day Carl,

On the CC forum there is a thread about a customised Ambassador with the chassis number of E10091. Click on this link: Interesting 1970 Ambassador van 15ft

One of the photos shows the original sticker on the front of the van, and it's the version that you think should be on yours.

Is your van a 1969 or a 1970 model?? Hmmm...who knows. We do know that the owner of Ambassador E8135 found the date of Feb 1969 inside one of the cupboards, so it's quite possible your van was built sometime throughout that same year. Might be worth grabbing a torch and go hunting throughout all the cupboards to see if something is written on the inside anywhere. Get hold of a mirror and check the inside face of the cupboards.

cheers,
Al.

[carl]

Dec 17, 2014 20:17:16 GMT 10 Franklin1 said:

G'day Carl,

On the CC forum there is a thread about a customised Ambassador with the chassis number of E10091. Click on this link: Interesting 1970 Ambassador van 15ft

One of the photos shows the original sticker on the front of the van, and it's the version that you think should be on yours.

Is your van a 1969 or a 1970 model?? Hmmm...who knows. We do know that the owner of Ambassador E8135 found the date of Feb 1969 inside one of the cupboards, so it's quite possible your van was built sometime throughout that same year. Might be worth grabbing a torch and go hunting throughout all the cupboards to see if something is written on the inside anywhere. Get hold of a mirror and check the inside face of the cupboards.

cheers,
Al.

Thanks Al, I'm going to order a couple of those older style decals. If anyone is interested in my progress doing up this old girl, my post on the Classic Vans site is here: ditzygypsy.proboards.com/thread/3000/1970-viscount-ambassador-e9890

Cheers, Carl

[dorisday74]

HI Carl,

My name is Christina and I definitely have the brother van to yours! Same interior colouring, (on the reverse of that blue vinyl...is there big blue floral fabric?) but much smaller and a light blue flash. My chassis number is E9200. I'm hoping it's just squeezing into 1969 somewhere...

All my handles are in fine order, but sorry...I need to keep them!

My sticker also needs to be replaced. If you go to the guy on ebay's website www.rvstickers.com.au He's selling the alumvan sticker for $65. (I know it's only $5 cheaper than ebay, but there you go) He's off now until late Jan- I need to get onto ordering one.

I'm off to look at your renovation post. Mine was in super overall condition when I got her in September 2013. I've got her parked in my back yard now, and just gave her a good clean on the inside, but now am in the middle of painting the exterior. Also, my issue is with the roof hatch. We've taken it off, and I can't figure out if it's worth replacing the badly weather laminate on the underside, or if I'll never get the capped pop rivets sorted back on...maybe it's better to leave it all alone, and just give it a wipe.

[dorisday74]

Oh and BTW the decal you have chosen is definitely the one. I couldn't quite make out mine at first...but when I stripped back the white paint, the sticker imprint had eaten into the aluminium, and it's that alumvan one you've chosen for sure... (I'd include pics, but I can't figure out how to in a "quick reply")

[carl]

Dec 28, 2014 20:42:35 GMT 10 dorisday74 said:

HI Carl,

My name is Christina and I definitely have the brother van to yours! Same interior colouring, (on the reverse of that blue vinyl...is there big blue floral fabric?) but much smaller and a light blue flash. My chassis number is E9200. I'm hoping it's just squeezing into 1969 somewhere...

All my handles are in fine order, but sorry...I need to keep them!

My sticker also needs to be replaced. If you go to the guy on ebay's website www.rvstickers.com.au He's selling the alumvan sticker for $65. (I know it's only $5 cheaper than ebay, but there you go) He's off now until late Jan- I need to get onto ordering one.

I'm off to look at your renovation post. Mine was in super overall condition when I got her in September 2013. I've got her parked in my back yard now, and just gave her a good clean on the inside, but now am in the middle of painting the exterior. Also, my issue is with the roof hatch. We've taken it off, and I can't figure out if it's worth replacing the badly weather laminate on the underside, or if I'll never get the capped pop rivets sorted back on...maybe it's better to leave it all alone, and just give it a wipe.

Hi Christina, my reverse seat pattern is a bit freaky and it's pretty dirty so I need to clean it somehow, but it appears to be original. What do you think?

I still haven't found any of the cupboard handles, there's no caravan wrecker near Canberra, so I hope somebody one day sees this thread and has some to sell.

I've found threads about two vans with chassis numbers after mine (E10033 and E10091) that both have the earlier decal so it's definitely the right one. Thanks for the tip on rvstickers, they look great. I'm now pretty sure my van was made in early 1970 because the owner of chassis number E8135 found the date of Feb 1969 inside one of the cupboards. I have no idea how many vans Viscount made each year, but there's 1755 vans between that chassis no. and mine which means they would have had to complete about 5 vans per day (every day including weekends) in the remaining 11 months of 69 to squeeze mine into 1969. Yours is only 1065 vans after E8135, which means they would have had to complete a little over 3 per day, still a lot of vans...

I don't think you can post photos with a quick reply, I always have to quote somebody's post to attach photos. 

Cheers, Carl

[dorisday74]

I don't think you can post photos with a quick reply, I always have to quote somebody's post to attach photos. [/p]

Cheers, Carl

Hello Carl. Thanks for the tip regarding quotes to get your photos uploaded. Here are some pics of my viscount van...

My floral fabric needs steam cleaning also! We're repainting the outer shell of the van this week. It's a really big job to do it properly. Your paint looks freshly done.

[carl]

Dec 30, 2014 6:42:39 GMT 10 dorisday74 said:

I don't think you can post photos with a quick reply, I always have to quote somebody's post to attach photos. Cheers, Carl

Hello Carl. Thanks for the tip regarding quotes to get your photos uploaded. Here are some pics of my viscount van...

My floral fabric needs steam cleaning also! We're repainting the outer shell of the van this week. It's a really big job to do it properly. Your paint looks freshly done.

Hi Christina, I can assure you my paint is not very good. The white is patchy and has been touched up in places with random spray can squirts and there's several runs. Also, the purple flash needs to be repainted in the correct blue. I notice that your blue flash is a sky blue colour, but mine was originally a darker blue. There's still a small patch of the blue in the door jamb of my van and I've bought some paint that is very close for when I mask it off and repaint it. Here's a photo from an original brochure that shows how mine would have looked when new. I've already painted the wheels silver to match the original look, and pinched the chrome EH Holden hubcaps off my box trailer and put them on the van. 

And your floral pattern is much nicer than mine.

Cheers, Carl

[d820]

Hello. This is a very interesting thread.

Here's my contribution in the hope it helps you unravel the mysteries of Ambassador shapes, logos etc. 

These pics are from the outside of my D820. At the moment I am storing a bunch of boxes etc in the caravan so I don't have interior photos - but the interior still has the original furnishings, lights etc.

Hope these few photos are interesting. You'll see the original colour on the louvres ... and while I haven't repainted it at all, the shape where the colour should go is still evident on the body.

Attachment Deleted

Attachment Deleted

Attachment Deleted

Attachment Deleted

Attachment Deleted


I reduced the size of all these photos so they are each between 100 and 200 kb. Hope their quality is okay.

Oh, and you'll probably want to see this one as well ...

Attachment Deleted

[gregh]

Hi Peoples,

Make: Viscount

Model: Ambassador

Year:1968

Length: 16ft

Chassis No: E7193

I've had this old girl for around 10 years now and she has travelled the entire east coast of Australia with us; including Tassy. When we first got her, she was washed and the suspension, brakes and tyres were overhauled or replaced. And apart from adding a battery setup, that's pretty much all she needed. She's registered as a 1968 Viscount Ambassador.

I'm in the throws of tidying her up at the moment for a trip we have planned to Glen Innes early in May for the Celtic Festival, so I thought it was time she was added to the Viscount register. The gold yellow stripes are something that I have just repainted; straight over existing stipes. They were really faded and I thought they were red originally, but when I started lightly sanding the paint back, I found they were this rich gold yellow colour, so I paint them what I thought was a close colour match.

By the way, this old girl will be up for sale when we return if anyone is interested.

Cheers
Greg



.



.



.


Cheers.
Greg


.



.



.



.



.

Because the Viscount logos were so badly deteriorated, I decided to replace them. The new ones are not an exact match, but they're OK.

.



.

[justforfun]

Hello I am a new member and I have a viscount ambassador with the serial number E 694c4 just wondering how old it is.cheers

[mibosa]

Well, the rear split windows are certainly interesting, used in some models/years and not in others. My 1966 Ambassador has the solid glass rear window which I am not happy with and I have sourced a split rear window to install, mainly to increase the ventilation when any breezes are available.

[chrissie05]

Hi,
I've just bought my first vintage caravan. 

Make: Viscount
Model: Ambassador
Year:? 
Length: 15ft
Chassis No: A55365

The owner told me it's a 1976 model but I will have to wait until I receive the paperwork. 











Big Mick delivered the van for me. Thanks Mick. However, on the way from Sydney to Melbourne one of the windows broke! I believe there was a slight crack in it and considering it hadn't been used in over seven years, it's hardly surprising. 

Now, how do I replace the window? Is it best to replace it with glass again? Any recommendations would be much appreciated. 

The condition of the caravan is very good. There are no leaks that I can find. It was well looked after. I will have to take a better look tomorrow when I have a bit more time. 

[Don Ricardo]

G'day Chrissie05,

Great to see the photos of your van. Congratulations on your acquisition.

Your Ambassador is a 1975 model - that's indicated by the '5' after the 'A' in the serial number. The papers may not tell you much more, especially if the van has been re-registered at some stage or has had several owners. Sometimes the owners are a bit hazy on the details and take a stab in the dark re the build date (and to be fair, sometimes they are 100% accurate!).

You can read more about vans from the same period if you click on this link that will take you to the relevant section on the Classic Caravans forum, which covers vans from 1970 to 1979.

It's fantastic to hear that your Ambassador is in such good nick. I'm sure you'll have lots of happy travels with it. Enjoy!

Don Ricardo

[gregh]

Apr 19, 2015 20:18:10 GMT 10 mibosa said:

Well, the rear split windows are certainly interesting, used in some models/years and not in others. My 1966 Ambassador has the solid glass rear window which I am not happy with and I have sourced a split rear window to install, mainly to increase the ventilation when any breezes are available.

Hi Mibosa.

That rear window has been a real bug bear for us. Because that part of the caravan rakes forward, the water running off the roof in heavy rain hits the lower window and doesn't flow away quick enough and water does spill in sometimes. I recently had that whole window out and reseal it to try and resolve the problem. So far it seems to of worked.

One other annoying thing about the design of the back of the van and the way it rakes forward. When it rains; not heavy but just enough to have water dripping off the roof onto the section that protrudes below the lower window, it drips really loud right above your head when your trying to sleep.

Cheers
Greg

[mibosa]

Thanks Greg, that is something I hadn't thought about but thank you for mentioning it. It sounds like one of those situations where if it rains you have that problem and if I don't have the split windows I could miss out on some badly needed breeze when the weather is the quite the opposite! I have also decided to renew all my window seals as I don't know how old the current seals are and just to start of afresh, especially if I am sealing everything else properly .

Regards,

Bob

[jayb1]

Attachment DeletedG'day, This is my first post, so I hope I get it right first time.

In 1978 I brought a Viscount Ambassador Alumvan second hand in Townsville. The previous owner had it for accommodation in Mt. Isa. I lived in it myself for 3 years. Some modifications had been done The front windows had been taken out & an Air Conditioner put in the hole. I guess in Mt Isa you would need Air Conditioning. The original Refrigerator & Stove had been removed & an Electric Fridge & a Roden Oven/Stove replaced them. It was plenty big enough for me as it was an 18'6" 6 Berth with Tandem wheels. After that It was used as a weekender on a farm until I moved to Beaudesert from Townsville. The Van sat on top of a mountain for 10 years & deteriorated quickly.

I have just retrieved it & I am doing it up at the moment. I have stripped it down to the chassis. The Aluminium Frame is still in good condition although the interior has just fallen to pieces.

I just found Observatory's rebuild, very interesting & helpful.

The information on vans is extensive & a great help.

I have no Idea of the year it was built. The Number on the Drawbar is 581E. I did have a Gas tank holder but it had been cut off. Also the Air brake thingy was still there. Things I have researched thanks to the Information found here. The Soft Upholstery is the same pattern as Cobbers 65 Harris Van with brown split buttons. The Tag relates to the Polyurethane Foam with the N.e.a. Shield. However the vinyl is blue with the white edging. It has the Large roof Hatch as on Don Ricardo's 67 Tandem Trailer. The Front & rear don't have wrap around windows. It had the twin Windows & the flat front & rear. The flash is the same as the Apricot one on Don Ricardo's 13' Alumvan only Blue, or I should say was as it's barely visible now.

I don't think the van has ever been Registered. It had a permit to get it to Townsville & I've just used Permits to shift it around. I would like to know what year it was possibly made.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Jayb1,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for telling us about your Ambassador. As you can see, I've taken the liberty of moving your post from the Viscount thread to this one, which is about Viscount Ambassadors. Ambassador was one of three brand names used by Viscount, which related to trim level and price.  The others were Viscount and Valiant.

The reason I've moved your post is because this thread is all about Ambassadors and chassis/serial numbers. If you read this thread through, it should help you work out what year your van was built (plus or minus a bit). There are a couple of things which will help you date your van: (1) the serial number, (2) the shape of the coloured flash on the side, and (3) the profile of the aluminium cladding and finish (acrylic paint or unpainted).

Having had a quick look, I'm tending to think that your van might be around 1969, but have a read for yourself and then let us know what you think.

One thing which has got me bemused a bit, though, is that you have quoted your serial number as 581E. All of the Viscounts/Ambassadors/Valiants that have been discussed on the various Viscount related threads have the alphabetic letter before the number, eg E581. Also '581' seems quite a low number for your van given what appears to be the shape of the flash on the side. Is 581E in the correct order and/or the complete serial number? (Hope you don't mind me asking - I'm just trying to work it all out.)

Don Ricardo

[mibosa]

Hi jayb1, further to Don Ricardo's comments, did you observe any pencil markings (eg dates) underneath the table, underneath or behind drawers etc, which was a method used by some of the assemblers at that time?

Regards, Bob