Sunliner by Walden (Collaroy, NSW)

[Don Ricardo]

SUNLINER BY WALDEN

Information posted by Humpty2 on 9 June 2008:

Has anyone heard of Sunliners by Waldens?
I came across this Sunliner yesterday, and was unlike any I have seen before. It was 14' long and had a fully moulded fibreglass interior, with a full size bath under the bed, and also a sink handbasin set up too. Originally the handbasin was between the 2 single beds, but has been converted to a doublebed.
Of course, the van is NOT FOR SALE, and the owners are aware of this site...I have googled without success.

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Further comment by Humpty2:

Note the moulded on pelmets, Sunliner owners.

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After a suggestion this van was similar to his Sunliner, Tucky posted on 10 June 2008:

hi v.vers the body on this van is different to my 15ft 6in sunliner. my van does not have the big swage along each side and my vans back wall is on approx. 10 deg slope forward and no fibreglass interior . this van is a new one to me

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On the same day, Dorian commented:

Thanksfor sharing those pics Humpty... Always exciting to see any new sunnys. Looks like it's in remarkable condition. Is it original or a reno? Love the Sunliner window screen. Original?
dorian

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Humpty2 replied on 11 June 2008:

Dorian, The van has been restored and the window screen was an individual art work, non orginal.

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Boblor posted on 12 June 2008:

Hi V Vers The windows on the Walden are a mixture , the two large units on the right side were not available until '71-'72 period, so these may have been changed at some stage. It has class because its fabuglass.
Cheers
boblor

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On 19 October 2009 Duds reported:

Hi, I bought this van off Terry and Maureen from Rylstone. They were residing at the Pilliga bore at the time and I asked them to let me know if they ever wanted to part with her. Amazingly a few weeks later and I towed her home. A few VVers know the van apparently. It's pretty modern and Terry thought 1974, but it seems Sunliners stopped in 1966.
It has some obvious additions such as the awnings front and rear (mural will stay...adds a bit of character) and the annex attatchment has been brought further down the van line. It has a boxed galvanised chasis and unfortunately no numbers welded/stamped on it that I could find. Wheels on it now are 14" Holden HT?? apparently but I doubt they are original.
The cupboards are all molded with the body which is interesting and it has a bathtub, full size on the rear left hand side under the bed! Sticker says Sunliner by Waldens.

Duds also provided some additional photos of the interior...







...including the bath:



For more info and photos of Duds' van click here.

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Then on 18 April 2011, Duds posted:

Interesting stuff......just had a bloke tell me that this van was built by a David Waldren at Collaroy, Sydney. Tells me he was also a boat builder and built these vans in the early 60s.
That would mean that when the factory closed at Forster he continued on? or built them under license like the Gracemeres? I am now on the hunt to track him down.

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Note: Boblor's comment about some of the windows not being available until 1971/2 adds some weight to the claim of the owners before Duds that the Walden Sunliner was built around 1974, and also to Duds suggestion that Walden (Waldren?) had some arrangement to produce the vans after the original Sunliner company closed (perhaps like the arrangement with Concord in New Zealand?).

For further information about Sunliner and Concord caravans click here

Don Ricardo

[duds]

Still trying to track down some history. Seems it was a Dennis Walden and not David. Would be in his 80s today if he is still with us. Hopefully something will turn up.
Cheers

[duds]

after numerous phone calls all I have been able to do is confirm that he did build boats and vans at Collaroy and that he moved apparently to Port Maquarie in the 70s.
I did meet a man at the Wintersun Festival at Port Maquarie who told me he did the interiors of the sunliners for many years and that the last Foreman of the factory is still alive and living at Forster.
He gave me his phone number which I promptly lost

[duds]

the plot thickens............met a bloke at San Remo near Phillip Island that went on about how it was finished just like the 32 footer yachts that and Italian boat finisher did at Brookvale NSW....so that fits in... the fiberglass moulded cupboards and the timber trims
surely this isnt a one off van......must be others out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sj]

Hi there, this sunliner with the bath was built by Denis Walden (Senior) for his wife Dorothy. Dennis and David are his sons. It is definitely a one of a kind. I have fond memories of eating bran with honey for breakfast with my grandparents in the van when they would travel from Sydney to Queensland. It is a shame that it has been modified in some ways particularly the mural that has been painted on it but that is of course just my opinion. I sincerely hope that is well cared for as it really is rather unique. Well that is all I really have to offer in terms of historical background and I hope it answers some of your enquiry. Definitely one of a kind as mentioned it was purpose built for my grandmother.

[Don Ricardo]

Hi SJ,

Thank you for coming on to the forum and telling us about your grandparents' Sunliner. As you can tell, it has been much admired because of its unique features, such as the bath, etc.

Is the information we have about your grandfather, Denis, correct - that he was a boat builder at Collaroy?

Do you know how he came to build the van as a one-off? Was it a special arrangement with Sunliner, or did he buy a shell and then fit it out?

Also do you know when it was built? Was the guess of the early 70's about right, or is it a bit older and the windows have been changed at some point (since that was what our 70's guess for the date was based on)?

I hope not too many questions, but it is extremely interesting to hear the background story of a van such as this one.

Don Ricardo

[Rodnet]

Any one have any more info on the Walden van please? Nettie and I have just acquired one 14'6"
Cheers

Rod

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Editorial note - April 2022: The Walden Sunliner referred to by Rodnet was subsequently purchased by Mustang. The story of its restoration and photos can be found here. Don Ricardo

[Rodnet]

Still looking for more info on WALDEN caravans. Our van is the same as above, with the exception of the bath. Another difference is that our van had a vinyl ceiling and not a fibreglass.
More history would be very appreciated
Cheers
Rod

[LinPet]

Hi Rod, there are only 12 D Walden's listed in the white pages for Australia - could be worth a few phone calls? Might strike it lucky....

[Rodnet]

Thanks Lyn, good plan. Also Waldens Fibreglass swimming pools at Collaroy, no connection either
Hopefully something will show. Lot of clever people on this site. So far I only know of one other and that is the one featured on this thread.
Rod

[Mustang]

Just to update this history, we now can add there is more than one Walden in existence.

"Duds" appears to be number one.
I purchased & restored the above from Rod & Netty.
There is another registered van at Old Bar. (I have discussed this van with the owner)
One has been cannibalised as a coffee van near Gympie. (They call it another brand, which its clearly not)
A member here has another under restoration.

So, a small production run we know of.
Cheers
Mustang

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Mustang,

That's interesting info about the Walden Sunliners. Hopefully you're keeping a file of your notes on all this?

It would be fascinating to find out more about the Walden vans and their history. Denis Walden's grandson told us higher up this thread that there was only one built, but that is clearly not correct (unless there was someone else involved in their production). There were suggestions that the Waldens were built around the mid-70's but we've never had confirmation of that.

Don Ricardo

[Mustang]

Hi Richard,
Yes I have gathered every scrap of info I can find.
There is another van that skipped my memory, I have an image (below) but nothing else, I suspect it may have belonged to a member on the VV.



This is the coffee van I last saw in Gympie.


Another twist I heard at the 60th Anniversary at Tuncurry was that Walden was workshop manager & as cars were growing larger, customers were asking for larger vans, hence Walden was reputed to have purchased a Sunliner mould, halved it across the wheel arch & added the 1' 6" , our van doesn't show this to be true, but who knows?
So now we have 6 x bottles on the wall.
Cheers

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Mustang,

Following our posts about the Walden Sunliners I decided to do a bit of digging around via the newspaper archives to see what I could find. The results are interesting and possibly answer some question...and lead to others!

There are a few adverts in the 50's and up to the mid 60's for a Graham Walden who seems to have been a car dealer. I'm not sure where he was based or whether he was related to the Sunliner Walden family, but he may possibly have been.

The first adverts I found relating to caravans being sold by Waldens in Collaroy was published in the Sydney Morning Herald [SMH] on Saturday, 9 November 1968 (page 63):

The adverts are for a one-year old fibreglass Franklin (given the 1968 date, that would have been a Franklin Futura) and a two-year old Sunliner.  It is unknown who built the Sunliner, but being two-years old in 1968 indicates a build date of 1966.  I think that may mean that it was one of the last Sunliners built before the Forster factory closed in that year, or it could have been a Gracemur Sunliner, or it could have been a Walden Sunliner...

The next advert that turned up in my search was one placed in the SMH on Saturday, 24 October 1970 (page 78):

This advert offers brand new 13 ft and 15 ft Sunliners, indicating that Waldens was now producing Sunliners for purchase.  Note that the advert refers to 'Waldens Caravans & Marine' suggesting that at that point Waldens viewed caravan production and/or sales as a major activity of their business.

On Saturday, 5 December 1970 the following advert was printed in the SMH (page 54):

This tells us that in addition to complete caravans, Waldens was offering both 13 ft and 15 ft Sunliner shells 'ready to fit out'.

However, the advert in the SMH on 1 May 1971 (page 52) only refers to 15 ft Sunliners, but note that they were fully equipped:

 

An advert printed in the SMH a fortnight later on Saturday, 15 May 1971 (page 58) reveals what was provided in a 'complete' (presumably 15 ft) Waldens Sunliner:

The advert also offers a second hand Pathfinder for sale.

The final advert for Waldens concerning caravans that I have been able to find was published in the SMH on Saturday, 14 August 1971 (page 80):

This seems to be for a single 15 ft caravan (whereas previous adverts had referred to 'caravans' in the plural).  Thereafter adverts for Waldens in Collaroy referred to 'Waldens Marine' and solely concerned the sale of boats and boat motors, so it seems that Waldens involvement in caravans may have ceased at that point.

There are a few points that I take out of these newspaper adverts:

• Waldens were offering new Sunliners in 1970 and 1971, suggesting that the Walden Sunliners were built during that 12 to 24 month period, rather than 1974 which has been previously mentioned.
• Over the 1970/71 period Waldens advertised the availability of new Sunliners (emphasis on the plural), suggesting that they were not just intending to produce a limited number for the use of the Waldens themselves and a small number of friends and relatives.  There may only have been a small number built, but that possibly is not because that was necessarily the intention.  It may just reflect demand or pricing.  It also suggests that the statement by Denis Walden's grandson in a post above that the only van built was for his grandparents' use is incorrect.
  
• The Walden Sunliners were offered as both shells and completed units, suggesting that some of the differences between the Waldens we have seen may have been due to some owners purchasing shells and then completing them themselves.
• Intriguingly Waldens offered both 13 ft and 15 ft Sunliners.  We have really only recognised the 15 ft (14 ft 6 in) version, but it may be that some of the newer Sunliners around were actually built by Waldens, but we just haven't known that.
  
• We refer to the Walden Sunliners like yours as being 14 ft 6 in in length, but Waldens adverts only refer to the longer vans as 15 ft.  That probably means that, like some other manufacturers of the period, they used a bit of a short-cut for the length of their vans by just referring to the length rounded up to the nearest foot.
  

I'm interested if there are other conclusions you can draw out of the above.

The source for all of the adverts above is www.newspapers.com

Don Ricardo

[Mustang]

Hi Richard,
Thank you for this fabulous info.
We now know it appears that there was a definite connection to the Collaroy firm.

Interesting part of the advert (5 th Dec 1970) that there was only $100 difference between a 13' & a 15'.
(Today it's about $5K per foot of van)

Advert (9 Nov 1968) Sunliner De Luxe " cost $2300 now $900 (?), seems expensive for the time & also a massive drop?

I will print these findings & add to our Walden history.
Cheers
Brent

[Don Ricardo]

Afternoon all,

This post is about the 13 ft Sunliner caravans built by Walden in Collaroy, NSW, in the early 70’s.

We are familiar with the 15 ft ‘Sunliner by Walden’ vans and photos of a number of them are posted higher up this thread. We also now know from newspaper advertisements (see higher up this thread) that Walden produced 13 ft ‘Sunliner by Walden’ vans.

The 15 ft Waldens have several features - one of which is their length (actually 14 ft 6 in) - which distinguish them from the ‘regular’ Sunliners built in Forster or Geelong, and makes it easy to quickly identify them. However we know very little about the 13 ft Waldens and how they may have differed, if at all, from the Forster vans.

Towards the end of 2022 Mustang and I had an online conversation with Kerriem who was in the process of selling her 13 ft Sunliner which she told us was a Walden van. In response to a question about the identity of her van, Kerriem told us that she had acquired the van a number of years ago, believing it to be a regular Forster Sunliner. However, when she was arranging to have the van repainted, the contractor and she discovered the faint remnants of ‘Sunliner by Walden’ signage on it. At the time, Kerrie wasn’t aware of the significance of the signage, and the van was repainted with the signage being removed or painted over.

Given that we now know that Walden produced 13 ft Sunliners (something we didn’t know in 2015 when Kerriem was searching for information), Mustang and I are of the view that the signage on the van is/was prima facie evidence that Kerriem’s van was a Walden. The question then arises as to what differences, if any, there may have been between the Walden and the Forster 13 ft caravans? And can any differences be used to reliably identify other Walden 13 ft Sunliners?

So that we can attempt to answer those questions, Kerriem has very kindly provided us with photos of her van as purchased in 2015, as well as photos of the van as it was recently listed for sale, and then sold.

One interesting feature of this van is the one piece door without a screen door, which is different to the Forster vans that had two piece doors incorporating a screen door.

I have also noted that the van seems to have an opening window to the left of the door. That is unusual because the shell of the van is based on a 1963+ (‘type 3’) Forster body, and the Forster vans of that period had a fixed window beside the door. In addition the window frames on Kerriem’s van appear to have a different construction to those of the 1963+ Forster vans.

A couple of other things: I wonder if the hatch on Kerriem’s van is larger than seen on the Forster vans? I also wonder if the structure of the front window area is a bit different to a Forster van? The strut between the two windows is set in deeper that the sections of the body below and above the windows, whereas on the Forster vans I’ve seen, the strut is at the same level as the body below and above, not inset.

I am by no stretch of the imagination an authority on Sunliners, so will be interested to hear what people with more knowledge think.

Here are the photos, beginning with the van when first purchased. What differences can people see between Kerriem’s van and regular Forster vans?







Is that the number ‘6’on the drawbar to the left of the jockey wheel?













And now here are some photos of the van at the end of last year:

























I’ve included a lot of Kerriem’s photos because they all show different details. I will be interested to hear what people can tell us about this van in relation to the Forster vans

Thanks to Kerriem for allowing me to post her photos..

Don Ricardo

[Mustang]

Hi Don & Kerriem,
It may only be discussion but extra evidence of differences between Waldens vans & regular Sunliners are starting to surface, making Kerriems van a very rare piece of Australiana.

As you mentioned the hatch appears to be the same size as my Walden (larger than the Sunliner, with a different opening mechanism) also the wardrobe cupboard corners are square.

The overhead cupboards are fiberglass the same style as our 14'.

The rear windows appear to be opening (?)

The suspension is leaf spring with a box section chassis.

The structure between the front centre windows has been left hollow, again the same as our 14'

The water filler has a metal insert, something that may have been added, but ours also has the same insert.

Great to see this van receive the attention it deserves.
Cheers
Mustang

[clinton]

A couple of years back I saw a Sunliner sitting in a paddock between Bathurst and Hill End, on my return trip I stopped and enquired about it. A few weeks later I purchased it for $400 dollars, this put me in a position that I was reluctantly happy to sell our Country Club bond wood that we had restored, which we had issue with dry safe storage for.
Quickly I realised that the Sunliner was a Walden’s, it was much more seventies in styling and had been a site van for the Seaforth caravan park. It had an issue with the door not fitting correctly and the wheel arch on the same side not lining up with the wheel. I measured and measured and could not find any misalignment and came to the conclusion it had been like that from new.
The windows and frames are all aluminium and the glass is printed 1969 which lines up closely with the 70-71 sales advert posted. The window in front of the door and the back windows are fixed. It also has the solid door without flyscreen and the larger roof hatch.
It is very original (with rot) and the only modifications I noticed was the addition of the internal flyscreen door and a failed floor repair at the door way. It does have the moulded roof cupboards at each end too. It also has leaf spring box chassis
Most importantly for this post is it has the Sunliner by Waldens decals.

CCA95FA6-FBB9-47CB-A196-86167766D3A0 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
959C8812-2FC9-480E-ADB5-65A8C44F6DF6 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
A46845ED-92F3-4756-A402-039E8D135504 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
44915AD5-9167-4121-87C1-A9030CB27F75 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
4DF1DB44-5FFF-4024-A5F1-91C0BBC6415C by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
D32F04EA-0C59-4C43-928F-149F39C0C419 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
9A0434D7-A81D-4AAF-A808-EE2455706D98 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
B8F9BD98-072B-4CB2-A84B-40FAC690171E by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
1DB0BAA1-D6CC-4E09-859D-5687DF8B31BF by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
D0533049-A852-47F0-A4F8-55FA64862C21 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
F609C722-B5CB-4F7F-977C-131A215E1AC5 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
39EFC3B5-E56E-4201-A757-414C99F250EE by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
7F01C228-F95D-4731-8443-7A3CBC355544 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
C63F95F1-73A2-4EFB-8394-D8FFE3B2D850 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
3AB76D47-A379-40FF-A747-B8B82DE58284 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
73FFCFB0-E1C3-4102-8CBB-FF357D90CA60 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
FBC7362B-2B3B-4DD4-8892-F95C9F5BA091 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
F9DA57B9-41B2-444C-96B5-DE56F33C1740 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
89954548-9D9B-4B94-826C-092B57119D6B by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
B7D1950A-E6D6-4487-8884-80CAE0B26260 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
61BFD478-DC06-483F-88ED-BE280CEF25B6 by Clinton Webb, on Flickr
A3F1BF55-3981-4761-876A-5A69799B9ECB by Clinton Webb, on Flickr

On a side note, thanks to all the administrators and everyone who has posted information in the down history lane, it is such an awesome and invaluable resource when dealing with vintage caravans.

[Mustang]

Hi Clinton,
In a word WOW!!! what a find. You have 1 of 2 only thirteen footers that we know of.
Your van appears to be in great shape to preserve or restore (thinking you should preserve those stickers).
We look forward to more of your story, Congratulations.
Mustang

PS: My wheel arches also show a different measurement, with no apparent misalignment.

[clinton]

Thank you Mustang
I repaired the floor and door misalignment issue when I first got it, and I have now resumed working on it again. My wife is a graphic designer, so I would like to recreate the decals, but if unsuccessful I definitely want to keep the rear one (the front one is almost none existent).
Thanks for the info about your arch misalignment as well, I’ve been trying to decide if I address it or not.
I checked the windows in the van and they are made by Qualicraft and two of the fixed window glasses have 1969 on them. I have bought a whole reel of old stock seal for the fixed windows out of the States, but I have not started on the awning windows yet.

[Mustang]

Jun 7, 2024 12:14:05 GMT 10 clinton said:

Thank you Mustang
I repaired the floor and door misalignment issue when I first got it, and I have now resumed working on it again. My wife is a graphic designer, so I would like to recreate the decals, but if unsuccessful I definitely want to keep the rear one (the front one is almost none existent).
Thanks for the info about your arch misalignment as well, I’ve been trying to decide if I address it or not.
I checked the windows in the van and they are made by Qualicraft and two of the fixed window glasses have 1969 on them. I have bought a whole reel of old stock seal for the fixed windows out of the States, but I have not started on the awning windows yet.

Hi Clinton ,
Any help needed just reach out. 
Cheers

[clinton]

Thank you Mustang