Our Touring Past

Sunliner Interior Layouts.

13' 2 Single Beds at Rear.

The photos below are from a 1965 - 67 Sunliner which shows the lime wash veneer on the cupboard doors. The front layout is fairly standard with the left and right side seats and table that folds down to a small double bed, but this Sunliner has the two single beds at the rear.

Right side showing sink cupboard cut back for bed No 1 and the stove recess directly above the fridge..
Looking towards the back showing the bed side cupboard.
Left side showing wardrobe cut out for bed No 2.


Super 16' 2 Single Beds at Rear.

The photo below is the remains of a Sunliner Super 16 showing the two full singles at the rear, kitchen on the left and a very spacious double wardrobe on the right.

Sunliner Models.

Right Click on the following text to view a larger version.

I am not sure when the Super 16 was released but the couple that I have seen would fit into the 1963 to 1967 bracket.



The two differences that the Victory Special has is that the exterior colour is permanently pigmented, and would not require further painting. Also this model had a steel C section chassis instead of the usual round pipe chassis.



Thriftmaster



It is hard to say which is the budget version between the Victory Special and the Thriftmaster, although the Victory Special was 100 pound cheaper it would not require further painting of the exterior, which would be a big bonus. With the name Thriftmaster one would assume it was a cheaper version, but it may have been more expensive as it used the more labour intensive round pipe chassis.

This 1958 - 59 Sunliner was listed on ebay last week, the ad stated that it had an original interior.
This Sunliner had a starting price of $100 and a Buy it Now of $900, it sold within 3 hours of it being listed.

This looks to be a standard 58 -59 Sunliner with the usual features of wrap around front and back windows, fibreglass framed side windows and wheel spats. But the very interesting thing about this Sunliner is the fact that it has a Square tube draw bar, instead of the usual round pipe draw bar that the very early Sunliners had.

Sunliner Super 16.

A few photos of a very rare and sought after Sunliner 16' model .

Since Linda and I purchased the Silver Knight caravan, I have been doing a bit of research on the history of the British caravan industry.
While reading the other night, to my surprise I came across a photo of one of the first english caravans to be made using the production of a GRP ( fibreglass ) body. The van was released in 1956 by Berkeley Caravans and the model was called the 11/14 which was later changed to the Delight.

Although I only have a couple of photos, it is amazing how the van, although slightly squarer in shape is so similar in many ways to our Sunliner in construction and looks.
The body shell is made in two halves which are then joined from the front, over the roof to the back.
The two Perspex front wrap around windows, and they look to be the same at the back.
The layout of the two side windows.
The wheel arch spats, although English caravans usually use larger wheels than the 13” used on the Sunliner.
Could this mean that Mr Tickner made a visit to England in 1956 and came back with the idea, and then released the Sunliner two years after the Berkely Delight was released?
Perhaps we will never know, but I suppose we can speculate.

Ther is a very unusual Sunliner on ebay at the moment. The body looks to be standard but it is running on 15" Volkswagon rims and could also be using the VW independent suspension.
I have also never seen a single pipe draw bar like this on a Sunliner either.

Richard wrote: While reading the other night, to my surprise I came across a photo of one of the first english caravans to be made using the production of a GRP ( fibreglass ) body. The van was released in 1956 by Berkeley Caravans and the model was called the 11/14 which was later changed to the Delight.

Although I only have a couple of photos, it is amazing how the van, although slightly squarer in shape is so similar in many ways to our Sunliner in construction and looks.

Hi Richard,

I've just caught up with your post regarding the possible - but you'd have to say on the evidence, very likely - link between the Berkeley Delight and the Sunliner. I'm stunned, amazed and speechless, all at the same time! Congratulations on joining the dots. A great piece of detective work!

It's interesting to see that the Delight won the National Caravan Council Cup in the British Caravan Road Rally for 1956, towed by a Sunbeam Mk 3.

Maybe the success of the Sunliner resulted in the attempt by Caribbean in Melbourne to reproduce the fibreglass Willerby Vogue for the Australian market at about the same time? The latter failed, but then only a few Vogues were built in the UK as well.

The apparent link between the Delight and the Sunliner is made all the more interesting because after the Sunliner ceased production in Australia, it began to be produced as the Concord in New Zealand, where modern versions are still produced. It is claimed in New Zealand that the Concord was designed on a clean sheet of paper by an NZ designer, but it is pretty clear from the photos that the NZ vans came out of Sunliner molds.

Well - Berkely Delight and Sunliner, eh? You never know what you are going to come across in this game do you?

Maybe the Sunliner in your post above with the single pipe drawbar is a Delight brought to Australia by Tickner to provide the template for the Sunliner? Now I am just being mischevious!

Don Ricardo

Hi Don.
Its amazing what you can find when your not even looking.

Just to confirm the possibility even more I have read that Bert Tickner went on a trip to the United Kingdom in either 1951 or 1952. It was one of those things that you read but do not really take notice of till you find more information that brings it all together.

Richard.

The Mystery of the Sunliner that has been on ebay recently deepens as there are more photos of the interior with the floor pulled up.
The photos show that the van has a fully moulded fibreglass chassis. Which looks to be similar to the moulded chassis of an Olympic caravan.
The large rib running from front to back would carry the draw bar, and the middle rib would be clearance for the axle to move up and down.
Although this is a very interesting bit of information, it still doesnt explain why the van has these modifications.

While sifting through a junk shop on the Blackheath rally weekend with Reddo, I came across a 1956 Motor Manual which contained this very interesting article on the "Plastic" caravans being built in the UK.
Once again it is a feature on the Berkely fibreglass caravan and it shows in some detail how the vans were built.
The article also has a very interesing last sentence, and is a little bit more evidence on where the original "Sunliner" idea originated from.