pmgvan
New Member
quizzicle
Posts: 14 
|
Post by pmgvan on Feb 4, 2016 14:54:16 GMT 10
LOL Thanks Don and its my pleasure!
Im grateful for the rough age on the old girl which puts her at roughly 53 years young and I am impressed at the thickness of the alloy sheets on the van itself and the chassis construction is incredibly robust so she should make a good project, Re the serial number? I think you are correct and that the 20 denotes the length of the body in feet as there are some vague marks denoting feet next to the 20.
Either way she is a behemoth!
Shame the brake booster is almost completely missing and once the exterior and interior are done I will be working towards putting her back on the road and I have a Range Rover Classic which should look at home out front, I also have 2 1971 VG Valiants but as they are fairly light weight I dont think she'd do too well behind them.
And not unlike a few other members here I too Live in Mirboo North in Gippsland, Victoria.
Finally I did duplicate the pics and story in another Jennison thread and will continue to add information and pictures as they come to hand.
Cheers,
Tony
|
|
|
|
Post by Jennison on Feb 4, 2016 19:51:03 GMT 10
Always great to see another pathfinder turn up whether Jenno or pym in heritage.
Re your thoughts about " 1st in Australia " DONRICARDO I often wondered if it was along the lines/implying "your first choice" in Aust....if buying a van....who knows. Such a shame that Dick Pym died shortly before I rang the family in the hope to speak with him.
Jenno
|
|
pmgvan
New Member
quizzicle
Posts: 14
|
Post by pmgvan on Feb 4, 2016 23:38:50 GMT 10
And something different too!
Your input makes for very interesting reading too and inspired me to hit google hard looking for information, photos etc.
A great resource!
|
|
|
|
Post by Jennison on Feb 5, 2016 7:05:37 GMT 10
Yes unfortunately much of the"Pym" era pathfinders story will only be what we can piece together 50 yrs later. Richard Pym junior and his brother only have memories of the business after it switched solely to marine sales and weren't the least bit interested in their fathers early days in the caravan business when I contacted them. A shame really as 20 yrs after he bought the business following JAJs' death dick Pym became a bit of a "respected elder" in his own right in the NSW caravan and camping industry I believe.
Jenno
|
|
pmgvan
New Member
quizzicle
Posts: 14
|
Post by pmgvan on Feb 7, 2016 11:36:51 GMT 10
A bit more discovery shows the roof leaks badly and I will spread out and photograph what looks like an original fitted roof cover although the plastic fittings to hold the cover in place make me doubt the originality the cover is so well made im wondering if its an early 60's tech fitting.
The window config on the van sort of suggests it was a 4 berth van but again knowing nothing about caravans (Only camper I ever owned was a Jayco Swan) they may have manufactured it with the windows for another purpose.
The Pathfinder must have been a grand old girl when new and im enjoying the discovery phase of the resto for sure.
Tony
|
|
|
|
Post by bigdooley on Feb 23, 2016 12:13:19 GMT 10
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2016 15:32:26 GMT 10
Hi bigdooley,
Your van is a York Pullman.for some reason it has Pathfinder badges on it!
This happens a lot when people don't know what make a van is and put any badge or sticker on it.I could tell you of a dozen or so that are wrongly badged at present on eBay and gumtree.
Yours is about 1976 or 77.
The Pullman extras were those chunky pelmets and white gloss kitchen,and possibly a couple of other minor upgrades.
York was a less expensive version of Millard.
Hope that helps
Cheers
hughdeani
|
|
|
|
Post by Don Ricardo on Feb 23, 2016 15:48:14 GMT 10
G'day Bigdooley, I was just in the middle of replying to your post, and see that Hughdeani has already responded. Out of interest, you may like to click on this link for the Classic Caravans forum where you'll see a review for a 1977 Millard that looks very similar to yours, including the internal trim, etc, even though yours is a York. That is further confirmation of the date Hughdeani has given you. For more information about York caravans click here for the relevant thread, also on the Classic Caravans forum. Well done on the van, by the way. It looks as if it is in good condition, which is great. Don Ricardo |
|
|
|
Post by bigdooley on Feb 24, 2016 19:07:05 GMT 10
Ah, thanks so much hughdeani and Don Ricardo, that's a great help. Nice to know the van is from the '70s. I had my suspicions with the green trim and green shag-pile carpet in the main bedroom!
I'll have to keep my eye out for a York Pullman badge, or would it have been a sticker/transfer? Whoever it was went to the trouble of putting a pathfinder sticker mentioning the 50 year heritage on the front...
I'm thinking it has electric brakes so I'll have to check all that stuff out once I've solved the leaky roof and damaged walls.
I'm having a read of the review as we speak..
Bigdooley
|
|
|
|
Post by bigdooley on Feb 24, 2016 19:17:52 GMT 10
Oh, I should have said the chassis number is P197. P must be for Pullman and they didn't make very many!
|
|
|
|
Post by akeepsake on May 22, 2016 23:03:50 GMT 10
|
|
|
|
Post by Jennison on May 23, 2016 8:13:57 GMT 10
DONRICARDO has already identified this van as a millard or York rebadged pathfinder which is interesting as dick pyms/pathfinder association with Franklin in the late 60s' / apparently early 70s' was known but not so known with Millard. Given two badge engineered pathfinders on millard bodies have now turned up recently I reckon the proof is in the pudding!
That 4 pathfinders turned up of varying ages and forms in the last 6 or 7 weeks
Jenno
|
|
|
|
Post by Don Ricardo on May 24, 2016 13:07:27 GMT 10
Hi Jennison,
They're intriguing photos you've shown us of the Pathfinder at Cowra and raise interesting questions about how the Pathfinder company might have been operating towards the end of its existence.
The photos of the Cowra van match photos of a Pathfinder branded York caravan in Tasmania posted by Bigdooley back in February and posted higher up this thread. Bigdooley's van was a tandem and longer, but otherwise the same, even down to the colour of the panel on the side. When Bigdooley posted the photos of his van, Hughdeani identified it as a York Pullman which was an upmarket version of the York, and suggested that somebody had stuck some Pathfinder badges on it.
Now that we have seen the Cowra van, I think we have to wonder whether there is another explanation. One explanation - following Hughdeani's line of thought - is that someone stuck Pathfinder badges on two York caravans. However, given that one was found in Tasmania and the other in NSW, that seems a little implausible. Why would anyone do that to two vans from the same factory and era, and how would anyone come up with four identical Pathfinder badges? Yes, I know there's no accounting for human behaviour! But another possibly more plausible explanation is that towards the end of its life Dick Pym's Pathfinder company did a bit of badge engineering with York caravans, as they had done with Franklin vans. If Pathfinder followed the same pattern as they had with Franklin, they would have taken delivery of some up-spec York caravans, added a few minor "Pathfinder touches", and then sold them with Pathfinder badges. The second explanation would also explain why Bigdooley's van had a 'P' serial number with a relatively low number (P167), rather than the usual York 'Y' serial number.
Hughdeani identified Bigdooley's van as being 1976 or 77, so if the two York-based vans are in fact badge-engineered Pathfinders, then that would suggest that Pathfinder continued as a caravan sales company at least until the late 70's. Does anyone know if that is correct?
And Jennison - did you check out the serial number on the Cowra van?
Don Ricardo
|
|
|
|
Post by Mustang on May 24, 2016 16:42:58 GMT 10
Hi Jennison, They're intriguing photos you've shown us of the Pathfinder at Cowra and raise interesting questions about how the Pathfinder company might have been operating towards the end of its existence. The photos of the Cowra van match photos of a Pathfinder branded York caravan in Tasmania posted by Bigdooley back in February and posted higher up this thread. Bigdooley's van was a tandem and longer, but otherwise the same, even down to the colour of the panel on the side. When Bigdooley posted the photos of his van, Hughdeani identified it as a York Pullman which was an upmarket version of the York, and suggested that somebody had stuck some Pathfinder badges on it. Now that we have seen the Cowra van, I think we have to wonder whether there is another explanation. One explanation - following Hughdeani's line of thought - is that someone stuck Pathfinder badges on two York caravans. However, given that one was found in Tasmania and the other in NSW, that seems a little implausible. Why would anyone do that to two vans from the same factory and era, and how would anyone come up with four identical Pathfinder badges? Yes, I know there's no accounting for human behaviour! But another possibly more plausible explanation is that towards the end of its life Dick Pym's Pathfinder company did a bit of badge engineering with York caravans, as they had done with Franklin vans. If Pathfinder followed the same pattern as they had with Franklin, they would have taken delivery of some up-spec York caravans, added a few minor "Pathfinder touches", and then sold them with Pathfinder badges. The second explanation would also explain why Bigdooley's van had a 'P' serial number with a relatively low number (P167), rather than the usual York 'Y' serial number. Hughdeani identified Bigdooley's van as being 1976 or 77, so if the two York-based vans are in fact badge-engineered Pathfinders, then that would suggest that Pathfinder continued as a caravan sales company at least until the late 70's. Does anyone know if that is correct? And Jennison - did you check out the serial number on the Cowra van? Don Ricardo Wow, what a senerio!!!! |
|
|
|
Post by Don Ricardo on Mar 2, 2017 14:37:06 GMT 10
Hi all, Seeing Stephen&julie's recent posts about passing their 1963 13 ft 6 in Pathfinder President on to Rhiannonwillow reminded me that we hadn't posted any photos of that model on this DHL Pathfiner thread. So here goes... These are photos of the van as found and after being cleaned up by Stephen&julie - note the neat stone guard to protect those wrap around windows:     Nameplate on the panel over the front window. The figure of an Aboriginal on the left hand side of the nameplate is obscured, but can be seen in the photo looking straight at the back of the van (see above):  Photo of the van with the stone guard up:  Electrical inspection certificate confirming the date of the van:  A 1963 advertisement for this model can be found higher up this thread. For more photos of this van, including some internal photos before it was tidied up, see here and here. Don Ricardo |
|
|
|
Post by Don Ricardo on Mar 2, 2017 21:29:58 GMT 10
1964 Wheels review of the 15 ft Pathfinder President, posted on behalf of Jennison:
(Source: Wheels, January 1964, pages 38-40) Note that the Pathfinder President logo on the front and rear of the van in the review shows an Aboriginal figure standing to the left of the wording. This is the same logo as the one on Rhiannonwillow's (formerly Stephen&julie's) van shown in the post immediately preceding this - you can see the figure most clearly in the photo looking straight at the back of Rhiannonwillow's van.
Photos of a Pathfinder listed on Gumtree in August 2016:      This van appears to be the same design in most or all respects as Rhiannonwillow's in the post above. But note that the logo shown above the rear window on the Gumtree van is different, with equal billing given to 'Jennison' and 'Pathfinder' and no mention of 'President' (as opposed to 'Pathfinder President by Jennison' on Rhiannonwillow's van). In addition the logo is diamond shaped as opposed to shield shaped, and the Aboriginal figure is more detailed and placed in the centre. Since the logo on Rhiannonwillow's van was carried through onto vans produced in 1965 and 1968 as shown above, I think that the diamond shaped Jennsion Pathfinder logo indicates that the Gumtree van probably was built earlier than Rhiannonwillow's. Based on Franklin1's analysis at the beginning of this thread, my thought is that this van was built around 1962 when these vans were still branded as 'Jennison Pathfinders'. Don Ricardo
|
|
|
|
Post by stephen&Julie on May 14, 2017 13:24:13 GMT 10
|
|
|
|
Post by bigdooley on Oct 9, 2019 19:58:07 GMT 10
Hi Jennison, They're intriguing photos you've shown us of the Pathfinder at Cowra and raise interesting questions about how the Pathfinder company might have been operating towards the end of its existence. The photos of the Cowra van match photos of a Pathfinder branded York caravan in Tasmania posted by Bigdooley back in February and posted higher up this thread. Bigdooley's van was a tandem and longer, but otherwise the same, even down to the colour of the panel on the side. When Bigdooley posted the photos of his van, Hughdeani identified it as a York Pullman which was an upmarket version of the York, and suggested that somebody had stuck some Pathfinder badges on it. Now that we have seen the Cowra van, I think we have to wonder whether there is another explanation. One explanation - following Hughdeani's line of thought - is that someone stuck Pathfinder badges on two York caravans. However, given that one was found in Tasmania and the other in NSW, that seems a little implausible. Why would anyone do that to two vans from the same factory and era, and how would anyone come up with four identical Pathfinder badges? Yes, I know there's no accounting for human behaviour! But another possibly more plausible explanation is that towards the end of its life Dick Pym's Pathfinder company did a bit of badge engineering with York caravans, as they had done with Franklin vans. If Pathfinder followed the same pattern as they had with Franklin, they would have taken delivery of some up-spec York caravans, added a few minor "Pathfinder touches", and then sold them with Pathfinder badges. The second explanation would also explain why Bigdooley's van had a 'P' serial number with a relatively low number (P167), rather than the usual York 'Y' serial number. Hughdeani identified Bigdooley's van as being 1976 or 77, so if the two York-based vans are in fact badge-engineered Pathfinders, then that would suggest that Pathfinder continued as a caravan sales company at least until the late 70's. Does anyone know if that is correct? And Jennison - did you check out the serial number on the Cowra van? Don Ricardo Wow, what a senerio!!!! So did we ever find out the serial number if the Cowra van? I only just checked back on this post after all these years as we have actually just headed off with the family in ours. Having read the posts I'm sure mine must be a badge engineered Pathfinder based on a York - someone must have bought or used the rights to the name. The badges are too exactly placed on both ends of the van like the other one from Cowra and it also has a sticker mentioning the Pathfinder heritage of over 50 years. I'll post a picture of the sticker. |
|
|
|
Post by Don Ricardo on Mar 25, 2022 14:41:48 GMT 10
|
|
|
|
Post by griffin on Mar 25, 2022 15:49:09 GMT 10
This might have been where the rot set in, see where the clock was made!!
|
|
|
|
Post by Don Ricardo on Oct 29, 2022 19:52:47 GMT 10
G'day all, A while back Hughdeany messaged me as follows: "...I bought some old mags on the weekend that showed this Pathfinder Franklin, interesting that it is a Freeway front and a Safari/ Premier rear.
I have seen a few over the years,but this was quite a unique van. I see the vans were delivered to Pathfinder and then finished to their spec, looking at the interior pics it is stock standard Franklin, so maybe what they meant is they finish off the upholstery, curtains, pelmets etc.
I have seen this particular van in adds in years gone by,so I had to buy the mag and read about it!
Just thought you might be interested."
The article in question comers from the Australian Motor Manual, September 1963, pages 62-3:
 
Interesting to see that the article was not totally complimentary about some aspects of the caravan.
Thanks to Hughdeany for providing this item to add to our knowledge of the last few years of Pathfinder's existence.
Don Ricardo
|
|
