Viscount caravans - Fullarton SA, Cabramatta NSW & Dandenong

[Deleted]

Hi Kathryn,
I have a Viscount Waldorf brochure in front of me,unfortunatley it is not dated but the van is being towed by a Rambler Matador.Van is 21ft with front lounge,mid dinette and kitchen and rear bedroom with single beds.Doesnt seem to allow option of double bed.Has front and rear wrap around windows and a huge central roof hatch,air brakes,and a painted interior with laminex cupboard doors.Of course its a tandem with full chrome wheel covers.
Hope this is of some help to you
cheers
hughdeani

[myvan]

Thanks Hughdeani

At least now I can confirm there is such a model.

The guy told me it is a smallish van and I havent seen it yet.

Will post more information if I can see it tommorrow

Regards
Kathryn

[myvan]

Hello
We went to the caravan dealer but he was closed so took these photos.

Not sure but think the Viscount Waldorf could be the one with the pink curtains





Took this one as well whilst there



Will have to find out tomm which one is the Waldorf

KJL

[myvan]

I found out the Waldorf was sold on Sat so never got to see it
KJL

[Franklin1]

Kathryn, I wonder if the plain aluminium Viscount in your bottom photo is the Waldorf? A check of the newspaper archives just now, shows some results for the Rambler Matador (hughdeani's post) around 1965/1966. The car buffs on this forum should be able to confirm if that's the right time period. You would think Viscount would feature a fairly late model car in the brochure at the time of printing.

A search of the archives for "Viscount Waldorf" brings back just the one result...a classified advertisement from Feb 1968 for what appears to be a couple of second-hand Waldorfs:



So, adding 1 + 1 and coming up with 3, maybe the Viscount Waldorf was a model released around 1964/65/66??

ps. Don't ya just HATE IT when you're a day late!?

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Hi all,
Viscount Waldorf is the silver van with the yellow stripe on the stoneguard.Shame you missed out on it!
Cheers
Hughdeani

[shotgun283]

Hi guys, great to see this forum. Im a 43yr old farmer from Yorke Peninsula, South Aus. I hope ive attached some pics of our van, which is a Vicount Duralvan. This van was bought for my mother by my grandfather second hand in the early 70s. I believe it to be built in 1968 but could be wrong, its chassis no is A7631. This van took us everywhere as kids behind dads trusty 74 HQ kingswood, and is still in regular use now. It is in very good condition and is always shedded when not in use. Im going to get new decals made for it if i can. Any info on this van would be greatly appreciated. I consider these Vicounts as the best built of the older vans, and still see plenty of the old girls around
Thanks Lyndon

[shotgun283]

A few more pics

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Shotgun283,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for posting the pics on the Viscount history thread - every contribution adds to what we know about the different brands of vintage caravans.

If you have a look at Reply #10 on this thread you'll see that Aussieambo has posted a pretty comprehensive review of a caravan which looks very similar to yours in a number of respects. Certainly the profile of the aluminium cladding and the decorative pattern on the sides look to be identical. The van in the review has a divan at the back instead of your single beds, though, and I cannot see any mention of "Duralvan". Not sure whether that is a model name or refers to the cladding used.

The review was dated 1971, so that may or may not provide an indicator of the date of your van, although just because the review occurred in say 1970 or 71 doesn't mean that the van wasn't available in 1968.

Don Ricardo

[wattagan]

Interesting name Duralvan
Could it be that it uses Duralumin / Duralium instead of plain Aluminium.
Although more expensive it is used mainly in aircraft for it's greater strength for weight.
If it is then it's way special eh !

[Jikah]

It is my understanding that the Duralumin Viscount vans were the start of the metal frame vans by Viscount and used duralium metal for the frames. Still the same aluminium covering however.
Cheers, Ian.

[Franklin1]

wattagan, the term "Duralvan" does indeed come from the reference to Duralium, so you win the cigar!! ;D

In November 1964, Viscount were advertising "the all-aluminium (Duralium) Aircraft-type Framing and heavy duty Aluminium exterior unconditionally guaranteed 12 months."

But the term "Dural Van" does not appear until about a year later, in September 1965. It would appear that by the end of the 1960s, Dural Van had become the one word Duralvan.

My best guess is that shotgun283's van is from mid-1969 to mid-1970. In May 1969, Viscount were advertising "Maintenance-free materials. Aluminium outside. Acrylic finish if required at no extra cost...". (The acrylic finish is the white painted cladding.)

By mid-1970, The Viscount sticker above the windows had changed to a new design.

It's certainly quite possible that shotgun283's van is from late 1968 or early 1969, because we haven't collected enough information from that time period to get a clear picture. However, 1968 was the year Viscount released the "exciting new model" that had the fibreglass ends, and all advertising throughout 1968 points to that model.

cheers,
Al.

[shotgun283]

Thanks for the replies, love the history in these old vans, your help greatly appreciated. Firefighter interesting username, im the captain of Weetulta Nalyappa CFS on the Yorke Peninsula SA, did a stint at the Vic fires last year. Cheers guys

[philouise]

G'day Franklin 1
Further to your reply no 1 (55 Franklin) i found a "for sale" of that item in a 2005 'just vans' type of magazine.
The chassis no was 433. and it was 12'8''x7'
(asking $10,000).
Pictures are similar but black and white.
Cheers.
Phil.

[Don Ricardo]

Posted by Surf Tragic on 31 July 2010:


Source: Australian Motor Monthly, February 1970)

[Don Ricardo]

1968 Viscount owned by Skyline59 and seen at the 2010 Vintage Caravan Nationals in Mildura:

[cruisindoug]

This is a photo of my families' Viscount Ambassador - it was purchased in 1974 and I am sure it wasn't anywhere new at the time (we were pretty broke). I believe it would be late 60's. (Note the old valiant Safari wagon in the background .... purchased in 1970 when it was 18 months old)


We (Mum, Dad, 4 boys, a dog and two cats) lived in this van and annex for about 3 years in friends of the families cow paddock - told you we were broke!

All I know as a young kid I loved it - the adventures of the farm and adjoining national park were great!

Cheers, Doug.
P.S. Last seen in Port Maquarie late 70s when my brother who ended up with it sold it - if anyone happens accross it ... after seeing some of the stories here you never know!

[Franklin1]

G'day Lisa, it's quite possible the chassis numbering system is as you say, however I'm inclined to think it's not quite as simple as that. The Viscount system is proving to be the most difficult to crack, so I continue to collect as much information as I can to try and understand how it worked.

Some of the numbers I've collected so far, for Viscounts/Valiants/Ambassadors, are:

A8054 - yours
B488
B1375 - complete with paperwork to say purchased new Dec 1964
B1783
B2307
B3047
C1111
C1112
C2025
D919
E361
E7939

But when I try and match the number and the appearance of these vans to a particular year, it all goes haywire. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason at the moment about how Viscount decided to number their vans.

cheers,
Al.

[Don Ricardo]

Viscount fibreglass (ended) caravans

On 28 January 2011, following a discussion about a Viscount caravan on Ebay with a fibreglass front and rear, Franklin1 posted the following information:



Franklin1 advised that: "the fibreglass ended Viscount (was) launched in 1968, and on the market until about 1971 or 72."

The fibreglass ended Viscounts were also produced in larger sizes as well, as evidenced by this 22 foot, tandem, two door model advertised on Ebay in February 2011:

[cobber]

This item is out of the April 1964 "Wheels" magazine.
May help those trying to determine the age of their Viscount







Cobber.

[Don Ricardo]

1967 18 ft, tandem Viscount caravan advertised in the For Sale section on 14 June 2008 via Mark T:

Hi,

We have an old classic Viscount we thought might be of interest to you, Its
had one owner from new who got it in 1967 it hasnt been modified and still
looks like a good van.

Viscount 18ft 1967, a very classic van, can sleep 6, ready to use, tows
well, plenty of room and space, great bedroom layout, lounge and dinette,

[Don Ricardo]

Viscount caravan posted in the For Sale section on 25 February 2008 by the Tickos:

Viscount Ambassabor Alumvan 13ft 650 kg

[chubi]

Can anybody tell me what year this last pink 13ft Viscount is from? I just purchased a 14-15ft version in the exact same colour with the same Alumvan decals, but with some interior stripped out and I'd love to know the year.

[Franklin1]

G'day chubi,

The lightning flash design was used from 1969 to 1971. What changes during this time is that Viscount introduced the white painted cladding during 1969, so you'll see some vans with plain cladding and some with white painted cladding, but all will have the lightning flash stripes.

If your van is an Ambassador, the chassis number should be an "E"-series number. If it's a Viscount, then I'm still trying to verify the chassis numbering system. Either way, can you tell me what the number is on your van please?

cheers,
Al.

[chubi]

Ok thanks man appreciate it, I thought the flash was the same but its not, more just the same colour. The chassis number is E6226, what year do you think it was built? The door is there, just inside it as it had a broken hinge. Im not complaining for $200 lol