Valiant (by Viscount) Caravans

[pencad]

I am new to forums so please bear with me while I come up to speed, I noticed the link in my previous message does not work unless you actually copy and paste it into your browser.

Hopefully the link below to the preliminary 1964/65 Valiant Caravan Decal Artwork will work:

flic.kr/s/aHsmBTkPCA

Regards,

Phil Nunn

[wildbrumby]

Jan 15, 2019 11:39:40 GMT 10 wildbrumby said:

Just re-posting - need one of these.


Hi

Main Burner part needed out of a Polar fridge. 

The photos show the whole burner, but as you can see, it's the ceramic piece that sits on top that is broken, but I'll buy the whole part if anyone has one.







Cheers

wildbrumby

[Don Ricardo]

1966 20 ft x 8 ft Valiant advertised on Gumtree in October 2018:









From memory Hughdeany told me that the 8ft wide Valiants were produced by Viscount mainly for static use in caravan parks. (Perhaps he can confirm that?)

Note the wrap around front windows which are a non-standard feature of Valiant caravans, and the single axle on a 20 ft van which probably indicates that the van was expected to have limited mobility.

Don Ricardo

[hughdeany]

Hi Don,
the big single axle (up to 24x8) were used as on site vans,they were probably all 8 ft wide anyway.
Most manufacturers had vans up to 8 ft wide as an option.
Cheers
hughdeany

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

It seems that some interesting things were happening in the Sydney Viscount factory in 1964. Firstly, Viscount had introduced a new model of its top range Viscount which introduced a new style of aluminium cladding with a multi-ridge profile and double awning front and rear wrap around windows, as shown here. Secondly the 'A' series serial numbers started being used for the Viscount caravan, range instead of the Valiant range which then started using the 'B' and later 'C' serial numbers. And then thirdly, there was this...

Some of the new style Viscounts with the new cladding and double awning wrap around windows came out of the factory branded as Valiant Alumvans with 'A' series serial numbers. The first example that we are aware of at this point is the following Valiant with the serial number A576, photos of which were posted by Steve R on the Aussie Vintage Caravans Facebook page here on 22 April 2018:









Interestingly, A576 has both the vestiges of Valiant signage and Viscount signage:





A later gas inspection certificate from 1973 indicates that the model of the van was a 'Valiant A':



Another example of this type of Valiant is A608 belonging to Alicia B, photos of which she posted on the Viscount Caravan Owners - Australia Facebook page here on 4 July 2020, and on the Vintage Caravan Renovations and Sales, Australia Facebook page here on 3 January 2021:







Note the metal Viscount badge in the above photo, just left of the door.  Nevertheless the signage on the front and rear of the van clearly states that it is a Valiant Alumvan:



Another example, and the van in the best preserved and  original condition is A581, photos of which from 9 April 2015 are posted below, with thanks to the Do You Own a Viscount Facebook page:



















The serial numbers of the Valiant caravans have a range of 32 (ie A576 to A608), which means that the vans concerned may have all been in the factory at the same time, or certainly that they were built within a week or two of each other. Even so, at the same time Viscount was building standard Valiants in the midst of the these upmarket vans. During a discussion off forum about this series of caravans Twocutekelpies has shown me a photo of Valiant A584, which is the regular 1964 Valiant that we are familiar with.

Something else to note is that - on the basis of Twocutekelpies' Viscount register - around the time these caravans were built (ie around these serial numbers) appears to have been the point when the 'A' series serial numbers were transferred from the Valiant range to the Viscount range.

So what are we to make of this group of 'upmarket' Valiants? One possibility is that the Valiants were produced at a time of product change in the Viscount factory, and wires got crossed on the production line during the process resulting, in a bunch of caravans intended to be branded as Viscounts mistakenly being branded as Valiants.  Possible, but seems unlikely. If it was one van that got 'misbranded' then maybe, but not a whole group. Surely if a group of vans was incorrectly branded, then it would have been picked up on the production line, or at final inspection or at the dealerships to which they were delivered?

Perhaps Viscount considered for a period that they should upgrade the Valiant model range, with the intention of making it less of an 'economy' range? Possible, but seems counter intuitive. By 1964 Viscount had established a pretty clear marketing strategy with three separate brands and level of fittings, etc. The Viscount was the premium model, the Ambassador the middle model, and the Valiant the economy model. Having established the three brands and marketing strategy, it seems unlikely that they would have wanted to muddy the waters by providing a 'premium Valiant' that looked the same or similar to the Viscount. All the same, the Valiants shown in this post are all branded as 'Valiant Alumvans' whereas the standard 1964 Valiants were branded just 'Valiant' and seem likely to have wooden frames. So perhaps Viscount did see some advantage in selling some Valiants with aluminium frames and upmarket features? But if so idea seems not to have lasted more than a few weeks, based on the other Valiants we have seen from 1964.

Maybe the upmarket Valiants were a special order of some sort. Again possible, and perhaps that is the explanation for this group of Valiants. I'm not sure we'll ever know, but it is one of those intriguing puzzles for us to wonder about.

One final comment, in the post two before this one on this thread show photos of a 20 ft x 8 ft wide Valiant with similar styling including wrap around, double awning front and rear windows that Hughdeany advised us was most likely built to be an onsite van. At the time this 8 ft wide van was listed for sale it was advertised as a 1966 model. However, the overall styling is so similar to the 'upmarket 1964 Valiants' shown in this post that it raises the possibility that the wide caravan may also be a 1964 model rather than 1966.

Don Ricardo

[caravanityfair]

Hi All,
Proud new owner of a Valiant Alumvan here. After trawling these amazing threads and various chatter on FB, we think the date on our Rego papers are wrong. We were told we were buying a 1968 Ambassador, but I think it’s actually a 1965/66 Valiant. The Chassis number is B2141, it has the square wheel arch and fixed back window. We seem to have retained quite a bit of the original interior, but not the seats/ upholstery unfortunately. I will attempt to post photos, we pick her up today so a few more to come. Thank you all for such a wonderful source of historical information, I’m hooked already!

[caravanityfair]

Feb 23, 2021 7:26:19 GMT 10 caravanityfair said:

Hi All,
Proud new owner of a Valiant Alumvan here. After trawling these amazing threads and various chatter on FB, we think the date on our Rego papers are wrong. We were told we were buying a 1968 Ambassador, but I think it’s actually a 1965/66 Valiant. The Chassis number is B2141, it has the square wheel arch and fixed back window. We seem to have retained quite a bit of the original interior, but not the seats/ upholstery unfortunately. I will attempt to post photos, we pick her up today so a few more to come. Thank you all for such a wonderful source of historical information, I’m hooked already!

Here is the van (pics from For Sale Ad), more to come... postimg.cc/gallery/0rVs5JG

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Caravanityfair,

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new van. It looks great.

Based on the serial number of B2141 and the Viscount register compiled by Twocutekelpies, you are correct in dating your van - it's either late 1965 or early 1966.

I see that the van has some incorrect Viscount stickers on it.  'Viscount Duralvan' was for a different model range.  You should be able to find some appropriate Valiant stickers on line.

I'm glad you found a way to link to your photos. If you go an extra step, you can display the photos directly in your forum posts:

1. Select an individual photo in Postimage.

2. Click on the 'Share' button in the Postimage window.

3. Copy the 'Hotlinks for forums' URL by pressing the little button at the right hand end of the line of code.

4. Paste the URL into your forum post, and the photo will then appear like this:

image hosting temporary

Hope that's helpful?

We'll look forward to hearing more about your van.

Don Ricardo

[jjribby]

Hi new to the forum! Just wondering if anyone had information about tare weight of a 1967 15ft Valiant, single axle?
I need to replace the axle and was hoping I could just do it with a lazy axle to save on getting a braked one.

[Mustang]

Feb 23, 2021 18:16:16 GMT 10 jjribby said:

Hi new to the forum! Just wondering if anyone had information about tare weight of a 1967 15ft Valiant, single axle?
I need to replace the axle and was hoping I could just do it with a lazy axle to save on getting a braked one.

Most states require brakes over 750kg, I think your van would be over that loaded.

New electric brakes are cheap these days, don't risk an accident for the sake of a few dollars.

[kenny]

Hey Don, I found one in its natural state......

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

The photos of this early Valiant caravan were posted on the Viscount Caravan Owners - Australia Facebook page:







The serial number of the van is A108, indicating that it was most likely built in 1962:



What makes this van of particular interest is that it has the narrow painted waist band matching the photos of the Valiant “Type A” shown in the leaflet posted by Franklin1 here. This is the only example of this particular model we have seen on the forum. All the other early Valiants we have seen have the broader painted band higher up, between the side windows.

The van in the photos has two different Valiant stickers, but I think both have been added later because they seem to be from a later period.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

Hi all,

As some of you may be aware, in the 1970's there were some 'Valiant Royal' caravans that were built not by Viscount but by a company called Valiant Royal Caravans. Confusingly, there were some aspects of the 'other' Viscount Royals that looked not dissimilar to the Viscount caravans being built at the time, and in addition the Valiant Royals used some Viscount components.

The story of the Valiant Royals is quite an interesting one with quite a few twists and turns as well as unanswered questions, and following a suggestion from Twocutekelpies, I have now written it up in a couple of posts on our sister Classic Caravans Forum here.

The story of the 'other' Valiant Royals is later than the Vintage Caravan era, but I thought some people with an interest in Viscount Valiants and other Vintage vanners might be interested in reading it. In addition, from time to time someone who owns one of the 'other' Valiant Royals comes along hoping to identify their caravan, and hopefully the Valiant Royal thread on the Classic Caravans Forum will assist them.

Don Ricardo

[maddyaustin]

Hi everyone, we just bought a Viscount Valiant which is going to be a huge project the renovate - very excited. On the listing, it said that the VIN number couldn't be located. We've seen info online that trailers this old (approx 1965) had a serial number stamped on the drawbar; not a vin number. It has number plates and receipt for registration from 1996. We are wanting to know if this information is enough to register it once we're done, or if we'll have issues? If there is something else we may need, what is it? The number on the drawbar is B141. It has timber framing which has mostly rotted now so we're starting from scratch! Anyone else renovated something similar? Would love to chat. thanks - Maddy and Mel 

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Maddyaustin,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for telling us about your Valiant. Hopefully you will get a lot of fun and satisfaction from restoring it.

You are correct about the VIN numbers. VIN's for caravans were only introduced in around 1988, and only became mandatory in 1989, so that's why your van doesn't have one. You will be able to use the serial number on the drawbar for registration purposes.

The serial number B141 means that your Valiant is a pretty early one from 1963. As you will have read from this thread the Valiant model was only introduced in 1962.

We'd love to see some photos of your van. There are instructions on how to post photos on the forum if you click here.  We'll look forward to hearing about your progress with the project too.

Don Ricardo

[Don Ricardo]

1966 Valiant 15 ft caravan review listed for sale on Gumtree in December 2018:

(Source:  Australian Motor Manual, August 1966, page 47)

[picklesthecaravan]

Hi all, firstly thank you so much for your collective input. This site has provided a wealth of information for me and I have been trying to create a login/profile for a while with no success until now - and I’m so excited to try and find out a bit more about the little 12 foot van we salvaged and I have been bit by bit rebuilding. Unfortunately there was no serial number as the draw bar had been replaced at some point, and there was nothing on any of the furniture - which has all had to be disposed of due to extensive rot) - there is a number 0219 hand stamped on the drawbar though. Based on the van’s overall characteristics (windows, wooden frame, shape, wheel arches, aluminium siding, comparison to other vans, and original side flash) info I have gathered so far, we think it might be a mid-late 1963 viscount valiant (possibly a custom van - because the siding isn’t the same pattern as other Valiants) but we’re not sure from where. We found a couple with nearly identical (but much larger) who said theirs was a custom build from Adelaide. Anyway, I’ll try and attach/upload some photos. Cheers, Kara



www.flickr.com/gp/199177025@N05/3oarL5z4VU

Attachments:

[picklesthecaravan]

Sept 24, 2023 8:06:43 GMT 10 picklesthecaravan said:

Hi all, firstly thank you so much for your collective input. This site has provided a wealth of information for me and I have been trying to create a login/profile for a while with no success until now - and I’m so excited to try and find out a bit more about the little 12 foot van we salvaged and I have been bit by bit rebuilding. Unfortunately there was no serial number as the draw bar had been replaced at some point, and there was nothing on any of the furniture - which has all had to be disposed of due to extensive rot) - there is a number 0219 hand stamped on the drawbar though. Based on the van’s overall characteristics (windows, wooden frame, shape, wheel arches, aluminium siding, comparison to other vans, and original side flash) info I have gathered so far, we think it might be a mid-late 1963 viscount valiant (possibly a custom van - because the siding isn’t the same pattern as other Valiants) but we’re not sure from where. We found a couple with nearly identical (but much larger) who said theirs was a custom build from Adelaide. Anyway, I’ll try and attach/upload some photos. Cheers, Kara



www.flickr.com/gp/199177025@N05/3oarL5z4VU

These pics show the siding more clearly - and an image of the similar (larger) van we saw - although the end siding is different to ours. 

Attachments: