Panorama 50s van?

[judyandkev15]

Hi. Newbies here, and we have just bought our first Vintage Van.

From our research and info on here, we think it is a Panorama or Pathfinder, based on:

Ply side body
Metalic front/back/roof
Shape of van
"Bay" front windows
Inside looks and fittings

There is also a gas lamp fitting over the front sitting area, which we know nothing about.

Some of the ply will need replacing and some of the vinyl cushioning will need replacing/rejuvenating.

IF it is a Panorama, we are excited as my mum and dad tell me both grandfathers worked on making Caravans in Ballarat!!!!(near where we live, and my family/hometown)

Ideas/suggestions welcome!

Cheers

Judy and Kev

[judyandkev15]

DSCF9984 by Judith Szalontai, on Flickr

DSCF9972 by Judith Szalontai, on Flickr

kitchen by Judith Szalontai, on Flickr

front by Judith Szalontai, on Flickr

Close by Judith Szalontai, on Flickr

DSCF9985 by Judith Szalontai, on Flickr


DSCF9979 by Judith Szalontai, on Flickr

[Deleted]

Hi Judy and Kev,
Your van was made by Franklin and sold by a Panorama dealer,and was built in the early 60s.
It also has the unique to Franklin kitchen shelf!
Hope this helps
Cheers
hughdeani

[cster]

WOW, Proper gas for the light and the stove. You're going to have fun with this one. First thing to come to mind was that you can gaslight people in this van.
I cant recall ever seeing cupboard sliders like that, a real space age or Atomic period piece perhaps.

[gerrynshaz]

Lòok forward to seeing your restoration

[BlueBird]

Wow, what a lovely project you have there.
I LOVE all the blue and the curtains. They are just so lovely.
Looking forward to seeing your progress on getting this lovely on road.
Monica

[judyandkev15]

Hi Monica. Thankyou...it is just gorgeous and we're excited about restoring it....but we're new to this game, so HOPE we do a great job!!

[judyandkev15]

Thanks gerrynshaz. It will be trial and hopefully too much error as it's all new to us, but pretty excited. It's so cute!

[Roehm3108]

Good to see you've done some research and tried to identify your van. I can't help in that direction, but think hughdeini might be able to help when he reads the thread.

[judyandkev15]

He did thanks Roehm3108. Early 60's Franklin, sold by Panorama.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Judyandkev15,

Congratulations on joining the vintage caravans crowd. It's always good to have some new members. And lovely to hear of your family connection to caravan building in Ballarat. Wouldn't it be wonderful to know if your grandfathers were involved in building your van?

Excellent to see that Hughdeani has been able to identify your van as a Franklin for you as well. It looks very similar to the 1964 van shown in this post, so I think that gives you a pretty guide as to its date. Does it have a serial number welded onto the A-frame? (It'll be numbers actually created out of weld.) If so, we may be able to confirm the build date for you.

Can you tell us how long your van is? It looks a bit shorter than the 1964 van in the post I've referred you to, so I'm guessing it's a 3-berth (as opposed to 4-berth). Is that right?

You have mentioned that your van may have a connection with Panorama (which is quite possible). Can you tell us what led you to that thought? Have your found 'Panorama' somewhere on the van?

Don Ricardo

PS I've combined the three threads I found about your van. It was a bit confusing as it was (I wasn't sure which thread to reply on), and it's easier to keep track of the conversation about the van if they are all on the same thread. Hope that's OK?

[catherine636]

Jun 19, 2017 17:48:42 GMT 10 Don Ricardo said:

Hi Judyandkev15,

Congratulations on joining the vintage caravans crowd. It's always good to have some new members. And lovely to hear of your family connection to caravan building in Ballarat. Wouldn't it be wonderful to know if your grandfathers were involved in building your van?

Excellent to see that Hughdeani has been able to identify your van as a Franklin for you as well. It looks very similar to the 1964 van shown in this post, so I think that gives you a pretty guide as to its date. Does it have a serial number welded onto the A-frame? (It'll be numbers actually created out of weld.) If so, we may be able to confirm the build date for you.

Can you tell us how long your van is? It looks a bit shorter than the 1964 van in the post I've referred you to, so I'm guessing it's a 3-berth (as opposed to 4-berth). Is that right?

You have mentioned that your van may have a connection with Panorama (which is quite possible). Can you tell us what led you to that thought? Have your found 'Panorama' somewhere on the van?

Don Ricardo

PS I've combined the three threads I found about your van. It was a bit confusing as it was (I wasn't sure which thread to reply on), and it's easier to keep track of the conversation about the van if they are all on the same thread. Hope that's OK?

[catherine636]

And now I am the proud owner of Judy and Kev’s Franklin Panorama van! We will store it for now and start the restoration in about 6 months.

What I will be looking for is some sheets of the patterned Masonite that is shown on the roof as some is missing from old water leaks. If anyone has some I would swap my left kidney for it!!

Looking forward to the project - our other van is a mid 60s Franklin Freeway diamond pattern and rubbed aluminium van which we had at the Nationals last year in Wangaratta.

Cheers Catherine