To celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary, Paul and Gloria decided to lash out on a classic caravan. Viki, as they affectionately named her, was looking a little worse for wear when they found her… but it didn’t take long to bring her back to life.
Here’s their story:
We were looking around for a Viscount because they were a distinctive and popular caravan “in their day”. Gloria lived at Liverpool and the factory was “just down the road” at Lansvale. A lot of people were employed there including her brother who worked for a nearby supplier.
We bought a 1972 Viscount Ambassador and we lived in it for 3 years after we married in 1973. It was a modern caravan with acrylic finish and the cupboards were finished in a light timber laminate. It cost about a years wages. It was an easy van to tow and lightweight with aluminium frame. And it never leaked!
Over the years we have owned a number of caravans as our budget and our needs changed with a growing family. None were as trouble free as our first Viscount.
For our fortieth anniversary we thought it would be nice to get a Viscount similar age to our classic 1966 Ford Galaxie. We kept a watch out on the various internet sales sites. Most of the vans that caught our eye were located somewhere interstate and we were a bit daunted by the removal and registration process. We were very fortunate that “Viki” was for sale locally at Tanunda, so I checked it out and for our 40th anniversary I took Gloria for a surprise inspection and she said “yes”, we would take the plunge.
Viki before her makeover
Our main concern with the purchase was avoidance of water leak damage. One of our previous caravans had leaked and it had turned into an extensive and expensive repair way beyond the value of the caravan itself. With Viki the only visible water damage was around the windows and this was typical for this model. A bonus was that the van had been used regularly by a family for local holidays and mechanically it was ready to tow.
I drew up a “to do” list and shared it with some mates and over the next 6 months it became a “men’s shed” project. The corner perspex windows where badly faded and removed. This enabled the corner sections to be waterproofed. We had very good suppliers in Adelaide who were able to cut and shape these corner windows in modern acrylic (the nearest equivalent of the original Perspex).
The framing was all aluminium and at times it felt we were working on an old aircraft restoration! The hatch section showed signs of leaking and water damage so was removed, relined and recaulked before being replaced. Several windows had cracked glass which were replaced as were various window latches.
Some damage to the cupboards was repaired as much as possible retaining the original laminate finishes. The cushions were all replaced and represented the biggest expense item but also the most essential for overall presentation and comfortable seating as well as good nights rest.
The interior before renovation
The exterior did not need much work – I changed the original faded blue of the “dynamic twin flash” to match the car and in the process also attended to the accompanying pin stripping. I located good condition hubcaps and moon rims to dress up the wheels which had already been fitted recently with new 8 ply light truck tyres.
Cleaning up the chassis and repainting same and replacing the jacks was the sort of job we were glad to have out the way – not much fun at all! The external cladding was polished with car polish. Interestingly, this was one of the first Viscounts fitted with white acrylic finish aluminium sheets and then only to the sides. Apparently at the time they did not have an equivalent material for the ends and roof which are plain flat sheet painted white. All the external light fittings were replaced with as near original replacements
The interior after renovation. Back to basics.
There was an annual event at Normanville SA called the Vintage and Classic Caravan Stampede, so November 2013 was our target for completion which we made with at least 2 days to spare! It was a good feeling to be able to add to the amazing tapestry of the many vintage/classic vans, which are being restored and used for their intended purpose – travelling on the roads!
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5 Comments
Ose Kruger
Hi Gloria and Paul, I did enjoy your renovation post and thought it might be nice to add our story.
About 23 yea s ago HC (Hans-Christian) and I ( ose) bought our first ever caravan , a lovely Viscount Ambassador , we were very happy . After 5 years circumstances changed and we sold it to a daughter and son in law of good friends. They with their 2 sons
Placed it on a property near the Murray river and used it and loved it as a shack .
Forward now a few years …. boys have grown up …. they have different intrests and the CV has outlived the usefulness by the river.
We heard about it and felt sad ,that “Myrtle” was standing unoccupied and lonely for years waiting to go for holidays and have fun !
So we asked if we could by her back , the answer came back positive and we went into a major rescue operation and pulled her home. Our grown up children and grandchildren put on a “welcome home Myrtle ” party . Then the fun of cleaning and restoring etc.started ! Whow ~~~ it was quite involved but we really wanted to take her out and meet with likeminded people ,
So hopefully we will join in Meningie at the end of October at the Lake Albert CVP .
We did book but could only get an unpowered site , so we’re coming and hopefully be welcomed as newcomers.
For added info – our chassis number is : D 302 , and we believe it’s a Duralvan.
I have quite afew pics , if you are interested.
Greetings to you and perhaps we’ll see you in Meningie ?
Kind regards HC and Ose
Paul Stephen Howe
Gday Ose – sorry about the late reply – Gloria just saw this post! did you make it to Meningie? If not how about the Nationals at Victor Harbor in late April 2021.
Carol
Hi Gloria and Paul, wondering if you can solve a mystery for us we are renovating a duralvan viscount. The previous owner didn’t know if it was a 68 or 69 model. It has as deluxe sign on the side and was white with brown lightning stikes on sides. Would love to know it’s age. Any help finding this out would be greatly appreciated. Cheers
Paul Stephen Howe
Hi Carol – apologies for the late reply – Gloria just saw your post! Can you send a pic? Shelley Reagan at the Viscount forum is the numbers guru!
Hope you are enjoying your van. Cheers. Paul
Sonja
Hi Paul and GLoria, my daughter is currently restoring a 1967 Duralvan, we need to get new corner windows, what is the name of the company in Adelaide you used please? We are in Melbourne and trying to find someone who can provide replacements. Thanks