Valiant V.104. 1974 (?)

[Deleted]

Hi guys,

I'm Jen and I'm new to the whole 'caravan' experience. We picked ourselves up an old caravan cheap which needs some tidying up. Unfortunately there are no identifying stickers of plates on it to work out what it is!!! I'm hoping someone can look at the pics and help me out. I thought it was a Viscount due to it's aluminium frame, but the exterior cladding used is different to most Viscounts.

Here is what I know about it...

* It is either 15 or 16 foot (not sure how to accurately determine this length)
* It has an aluminium frame
* The cupboards are dark wood grain laminate
* The original wall cladding is light (almost white/grey) coloured wood grain laminate
* The fridge is an electrolux, the oven in it is not standard.
* It has a four seasons hatch
* The chassis number is V.104
* I can faintly see the word "Kelvin" on the top, back bull nose, where a previous sticker has been
* It has 'wind down' legs under the rear of the van only and pyramid looking jack stands for the front of the van

Here are some pics also….
















Thanks in advance.

[ForumMod]

G'day caravanovice, and welcome to the forum!

I would say it's definitely a Viscount, and from around 1974 or thereabouts, based on the wind-out windows, the 4-seasons hatch, and the wide painted band on the side. Having said that, I've not seen that type of cladding on Viscounts before, and the chassis number is not typical of Viscount numbers from that time period. However, we see vans from time to time that don't fit the regular mould, for reasons unknown. The interior of your van is very much like the Viscount style, including the cupboard handles and knobs.

Is that a sticker on the painted band, just above and beside the door lock?

I'm thinking the van is typical of the Ambassador models, with the double hopper windows front and back, and no wrap-around windows either side of them. However, that rule doesn't always hold true, and we've seen Royal models built like that as well. But in general, the majority of the Ambassador models looked like yours.

I can't even guess what the 'Kelvin' sticker might relate to. Unless it was something to do with the dealer who sold the van in the first place?

All I can say is that you've got a "unique" van, so you should hang on to it and make it a showpiece!

The best guess for length is to measure the side of the van where it bulges out just below the front windows, and then go level along the side to the rear (the tape would run across the top of the lower bunk window frame on the side there).

I'll change to heading to reflect what I think the van is. We can always change it again if we get new information to identify the van.

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Thanks Al, much appreciated.
While performing a million google searches I came across an older viscount that had the same exterior cladding from the 60's, but the rest of the van was completely different.

On closer inspection of my van, I think the fact that the orange stripe has nearly faded off and the exterior panelling is different may be because it has been replaced and re-painted (with less quality paint) as there is paint on some of the window frames where someone has (gone over the edges).

No it's not a sticker, it is an additional latch for locking the door.

I think the indicators have been moved as well, as there are vents down lower where the indicators go on many other vans, and the vents are not quite 'square' as though someone has DIY'ed them in.

It measures as a 16 foot when I measured it as you said.

Do you think contacting the Viscount factory would shed any light on the Chassis number?

Cheers

[Deleted]

Hi Jen,
your van is a Valiant,have seen a few around that look like copies of Viscounts and using Viscount components!
Largest I have seen was 28ft with a hip roof,down to a 15ft.
tThe legal length of measurement of a caravan is 12inches above the floor line.
Maybe someone else can shed some light on these Viscount copies??
cheers
hughdeani

[Deleted]

Thanks Hughdeani,

Wow, there doesn't seem to be much information about valiant caravans out there eh? Especially not after 1970. So going off the chassis number I guess it pretty much has to be a valiant, still unsure what year though.
Hopefully someone can shed some more light for me if possible?!?!

[ForumMod]

In February 2012, we went up to Sydney and inspected a 1974 Valiant for possible purchase (we didn't end up getting it). The van had the Viscount sticker the same as the other Viscount models, except the word Valiant was on the bottom instead of the word Royal, Ambassador, or Supreme. The chassis number of this Valiant was V48984, and it had the log cabin profile cladding on it. If I get some time tomorrow, I'll post some of the photos I took during the inspection.

There is another thread on this forum about a 1974 Valiant with the chassis number of V47779, but unfortunately we never did get to see any photos of it: 1974 Viscount Valiant V47779

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Thanks Al,

Yeh I found that post by Alison on the Valiant Van, shame there are no pics though

That would be great if you could post some pics of the one you looked at. It's all so new and exciting ;-)

We have got some reno's to do on the van as the interior panelling is a bit water damaged and we are modifying the cupboards a little to fit a bigger bed in. Are there many threads on here dedicated to renovations, tips and tricks, and how to's?

Thanks again
Jen

[ForumMod]

Jen, here are a few of the pics I took of the 1974 Valiant...









I never took any inside shots, so I can't show you what it looked like in there. The van has the typical shape on the rear end that I've always associated with the Valiant model. I've seen Viscount models with the rounded bum, but they don't have the double hopper windows like the Valiants, if my memory is correct.

The odd thing about searching for Valiant information in the newspaper archives is that advertising for them petered out near the end of the 1960s. And there was no mention of them when I collected information from the 1970s, and yet here we are with a couple of Valiants from 1974. I haven't seen any other Valiants from the 1970s in all my searching over the last six years, so I presume the model was resurrected in 1974 for some reason, but not continued with beyond that.


As far as finding info about internal layouts goes, you'd have to search through the Hall Of Fame section and find the threads that might show you what you want. We don't have specific threads for that info - it's all tied up in people's stories about their respective vans.

If you're not familiar with the 'search' function for this forum, here's a quick lesson on how to find the threads that may help you. Just substitute the word Viscount where I've put the word Sunliner...

1. Click on the word Search near the top left corner of the home screen, and wait for the screen to reload...




2. Fill in the blanks and click selections as shown here...



Step #2 requires you to click in the blank field and choose Hall Of Fame from the popup box. The two screen images I've posted here are from the Vintage forum search function, but the procedure is the same for this forum, only the names of the forum sections will change...




See how you go with doing that. You should get a few pages of threads back from the search, and you can choose which ones you want to read. The more pages a thread has, the more likely it will contain a fair bit of info about the project. Aim to read the threads that have multiple pages first, and you should get some useful information.

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Thanks Al,

Can you change the name of this thread again to suggest it is maybe a Valiant, to see if anyone else has a look out of interest?

Thanks
Jen

[ForumMod]

Yep, done.

[Deleted]

Hi Al and Jen,
I think Jens Valiant was not made by Viscount,but a copy as the ones I have seen have their main sticker as Valiant,with no reference to Viscount.
The viscount valiant in your photos Al is the "cheap and cheerful " version made by Viscount to get families into caravanning for a reasonable price when things were quiet.
I know where there is a Valiant on site,next time I'm going past I will stop and see if I can find any info.
Cheers
Hughdeani