What is this caravan?

[Deleted]

Hello My name is Joseph I'm a newbie here and don't really know what I'm doing
I have just obtained this caravan from a family friend and I have no idea what make or year it is.
It looks to me like maybe a 1970's newland, but I'm not sure.
Maybe someone could help?

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[millard1399]

G'day Joseph, and welcome to the forum! ;D

Don't worry about not knowing what you're doing. You're doing just fine!

I can't readily identify your van at the moment. It doesn't look like any of the Newlands vans I've got on file. Kinda looks a bit like some of the Windsor vans from the late '70s. If you can be patient, another forum member, hughdeani, may be able to pinpoint the brand for you.

The brown centre stripe, and the green stripe behind the wheel, will both be one of the keys in identifying the brand. Manufacturers had their own unique designs for the painted stripes, so the position of the stripes will narrow the brand down.

In the meantime, have a look for a chassis number on the front drawbar somewhere. Sometimes they are welded, often next to the jockey wheel clamp, and sometimes they are stamped, often on the plate that the coupling is bolted to. Let us know if you find anything. If there's an old rego label on the van, it might have the chassis number and brand printed on it.

The wind-out windows makes the van from 1973 or later. Does the van have the four-seasons hatch, or does it have the old box lid hatch? Might also have a fibreglass hatch cover.

Got any other photos?

cheers,
Al.

chee

[Deleted]

Hi,

Thankyou for responding

The Van has both those numbers you are talking about.
The stamped one reads: MRG 19654285
And the welded one reads: S.428

Also I'm pree sure the hatch on the roof is a four seasons type? It is raised off the roof with 4 small flyscreen vents, with a dial for each that reads FULL, RAIN & LOCK.

As for stickers the only ones on the van are centered at the top of both front and rear curved roof ends and they read ''EXECUTIVE STYLINE DELUXE'' I'm sure these have been added later on though.

I have plenty of photos but I can work out how to put multiple photos up without exceeding the max size restrictions

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[millard1399]

G'day again Joseph,

Hmmm...maybe your van is a Newlands brand after all?? I have a Newlands van on file that has the chassis number of S317, but it has a thin blue stripe along the centre only, and no stripe behind the wheel. Maybe your van was the next model after the one I've got, and they changed the stripe design. Hang in there and we'll see if hughdeani comes along and reads this thread.

And yes, your description of the hatch means it's the four seasons hatch, so that puts your van at 1974 or later.

As I understand it, the 'Executive Styline Deluxe' stickers were put on all vans that passed through the Doug Thorley salesyard at Croydon (I think) in Melbourne. Didn't matter what brand of van they were originally, Doug whacked his own stickers on them all. You might find some evidence on the van showing the Doug Thorley name.

To post multiple photos in the one thread, you have to open up an account (free) with a photo hosting website (we use Photobucket, but there are others). If you go to the General Board index here, the thread sitting just above your thread is the one for 'Posting Photos', which explains how it all works.

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Hi Joseph and Al,
Its not a newlands,its one of the 40 or so small manufacturers that were around in the seventies that supplied Doug Thorley.
It could be a KCB or a nother name that escapes my memory at present,will put the old thinking cap on and let you know!
Cheers
hughdeani

[Deleted]

Ps,
Doug Thorley was in Fawkner on Sydney Rd,

[Deleted]

It could be an Impala,available from next door to Doug Thorley at one stage!
hughdeani

[Deleted]

Al thanks for the photo advice, hoprfully I can work it out

Hello Hughdeani. I suspected the ''EXECUTIVE STYLINE DELUXE'' stickers were some how linked to Doug Thorley.

here are some more photos of my caravan (with anyluck they will work lol)











I hope they work

[Deleted]

I thought I would google the suggestions above but not surprisingly there was next to no information available regarding the 1970's Windsor, KCB or Impala caravans

Perhaps someone knows of a website where one could find out some information on these brands of caravan?

I found out from the previous owner the caravan is still licensed, would that mean the model and make should be written on the paper work?

I intend on fixing her up all nice one step at a time. not that she is in that bad condition, exterior bit rough some and some water damage inside

[Deleted]

Perhaps a capricorn of some kind?

[millard1399]

G'day Joseph,

Perhaps someone knows of a website where one could find out some information on these brands of caravan?

The main source of info about these old vans is this forum, as far as I'm aware. If we don't have it, then the chances of finding it elsewhere are very limited. The more people that come on the forum with 'unusual' vans, the more we learn and the more info we collect to pass onto others.

The only other brand I can readily recall having a similar painted stripes design to yours, is the TravelHome brand...



But you can see it has a much more rounded roof line than yours, and also all the TravelHome vans in my collection have wrap-around windows at the front.

I don't think it's a Capricorn. Again I think the Capricorns have a more rounded roof on them than yours.

I think you are looking for something that seems to have an identical roof line to yours, as well as the cabin shape of the front and rear ends. Perhaps something along the lines of a Regal...




...or something like a Scenic...




Or a later '70s Windsor, Newlands, Pacemaker, MFP, etc etc. The list can be quite extensive, which means it can be quite frustrating at times trying to pin down the actual brand of some of these vans.

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Hello Al,
You are right about this forum being the most knowledgeable. It doesn't seem to matter what one types into the search engine, I always end up back here

As for my caravan, after seeing the information you presented it seems to me like a mash up of both the TravleHome and a Regal.
The outer shape is that of a Regal yet the wheel arches and colour stripes are that of a TravelHome?

Also my caravan has holes around the wheel arches which looks like maybe it had plastic moldings at some stage?

It is all very frustrating...I'm kind of hoping the licensing paperwork might shed some light on it.

[Deleted]

hi joey,you must remember that a lot of the caravans made in Melb in the seventies were made round the corner from aech other ,they all had the same plywood suppliers etc and a lot were copied from each other!(As still happens today!)
A lot tried to cash in on the boom and turned out as many vans as they could before the banks came in,so thats why there are so many vans around that look alike but are actually not!
Cheers
hughdeani

[Deleted]

Hi Hughdeani,

Thankyou for that piece of infomation makes sence now why it looks like so many others.

[carlad]

Hi Joseph,your thread sounds abit like mine.!! I like you, have just got my first caravan.I have little knowledge about them and am trying to find out how old etc. Altho' yours looks a wee bit prettier than my BEAST.Goodluck to us both on finding some info

[Deleted]

Hello Carlad,

Welcome! I hope you find all the information you require
The photos make my caravan look much worse than it actually is for some reason lol.

[Deleted]

I have found this add on a caravan site and it look remarkably similar to mine??


caravancampingsales.com.au/buy/details.aspx?R=11640980&__sid=13598C9678C3&__Qpb=1&Cr=6&__Ns=p_StockRankSort_Int32%7c1%7c%7cp_Make_String%7c0%7c%7cp_Model_String%7c0%7c%7cp_Year_Int32%7c1%7c%7cp_StockPrice_Decimal%7c1&SearchAction=N&__N=1549%201552%201600%201601%201602%201670%204294964653&seot=1&YearTo=1670&__Nne=15&trecs=33&silo=1701



It says it is a limited edition one so if mine is one like it, that could be why it is proving difficult to identify?

cheers,

[millard1399]

G'day Joseph,

You'll find quite a number of different brands will look similar to yours. The shape of your cabin was a fairly commonly used shape. Like hughdeani says, there were heaps of people out there trying to make a buck out of the industry when it was booming in the first half of the 1970s. Then suddenly over a couple of years from 1975, it all collapsed and there were tears everywhere.

The boom is why it's so difficult to determine a particular brand for many of these vans. It's easy with the major players such as Viscount, Millard, and Franklin, but then becomes harder when you try and sort out all the smaller players who sprung up almost overnight to grab a share of the dollars.

The other dilemma for buyers of old vans in today's market, is that most sellers wouldn't have a clue what year an old van belonged to, and in some cases wouldn't have a clue what brand of van they're selling. The van you've given the link to is advertised as a 1971 Millard Limited Edition. It must be an extremely "limited edition" because firstly it's not a Millard, and secondly it's not a 1971 model. It's hard to make out the sticker properly, but the size and shape of the sticker might mean the van is from Judd & Innes in Vic, or Customline in Vic. But then again it might be from anywhere.

I've seen sellers list vans on ebay and put Millard in the title, and then post the photos showing a Viscount sticker on the van! Well, duhhh!!

And I've seen a Valiant van that's had the Millard sunrise sticker put on it. I mean, get real...

Ya can't trust anything that sellers say. I guess you can only trust the sort of information you find on forums like ours, where a bit of time has been spent trying to collect the truth.

Keep searching for photos that show the exact same side-stripe pattern and colour combination that your van has. One day you'll come across the identical twin, and it'll have the sticker on it to tell you the brand.

I've got hundreds of van photos in my collection on my computer. I had one van that looked like a Viscount but wasn't an exact match. I could never discover the real identity of the van. About two years after I collected the photos, somebody came on the forum with a van that was the exact shape, complete with all the details of brand, etc. Finally I was able to put a name to my original file collection. It can sometimes take that long, so be patient.

cheers,
Al.

[Deleted]

Thanks Al,
They say patience is a virtue don't they lol.

I can faintly see an outline of an old sticker at the back of my van underneath where someone put the styline deluxe sticker. But can't make out any words just a letter but even then it could be many things an R or a P or a J....not to sure



Maybe someone will recognize this outline?

Cheers,
Joey

[Deleted]

Hi Al and Joey,
That photo of a 1971 Millard is actually an MFC caravan,made in Melbourne in the mid 70s!
MFC stood for "mighty fine caravans" and were sold in Airport West in Melbourne.
Cheers
hughdeani

[alan63]

Hi,

I am sure your van is a Pacesetter from mid to late 1970's.

cheers AL

[Deleted]

great looking van Joey.
Isn't it a spin out, so many manufacturers made so many vans that looked so similar.
I'm looking at a van on ebay at the moment, a Quest, don't know much about them, but its a groovy shape, fully rounded on all edges, i think it might do up nice, we will see ;D

[Deleted]

hey,
I have not been on here in a while but yes I think you are right about it being a pacesetter. and I think it will be nice oneday when I decide to do something with it. atm it is just sitting in me yard waiting. I have to fix my car first. anyway since yesterday perth has received alot of rain and as I found out today my hatch on the van is a leaker the poor van is like a giant aquarium on wheels atm....bugger I think I'll just rip the damn thing out and cover it up.

[Deleted]

Hey so for the last two days I have been ripping out and burning the interior wood panneling from the walls and roof of my van as they are all water stained and flaking up. I have realised the magnatude of this restro and to be honest it is a little daunting :/ one thing I did not want to do was damage the cupboards and seating in my van as it was all in amazing condition. However I can not work out how to pull them out without hurting them so I think they will end up being smashed up and burnt with new ones made in there place. so just a recap thats new floors, walls, roof and cupboards new everything.
One thing I was a little worried about was the roof insullation being from the 70's I thought that maybe it had absbestos in it hope not I hate that s*#t. I would put some pics up but for whatever reason I cannot sign in to photobucket, even when I reset my password. I'll try again later.
cheers,
Joey

[Deleted]

Wondering if anybody would have a picture of the decal of a M.F.C. caravan ?? Have looked everywhere but unable to find one.