RV REVIEW
Few caravan brands have the name recognition of
Viscount. At the height of its popularity, the late
1970s, it was by a wide margin the biggest selling
caravan brand in Australia. Many families would
have fond memories of foreshore holidays in a
Viscount and, indeed, many of these vans remain
on the road.
It was with some delight, then, that we learned the
name was being given a new lease on life by the
Concept group of companies. Viscount, a brand
that’s so important to Australia’s caravanning
heritage, is back.
Viscount has made its return with five different
layouts and sizes initially available – we hooked-
up the tandem-axle V3 for a shakedown run in
country Victoria.
TOURING WITH THE V3
Principally, the new Viscounts are all about
value for money. But anyone expecting touches
of nostalgia, or a throwback to the Viscounts
of yore, in the new vans will be disappointed.
Modern styling and construction are the orders
of the day.
The V3 rides on a 6in Preston SupaGal chassis,
with a 6in A-frame, Al-Ko beam-axle roller-rocker
suspension, and 15in alloy wheels and all terrain
tyres. The underpinnings certainly appear solid
but, being a bitumen-based touring caravan,
there is some exposed plumbing at the rear.
While the V3 was stable under tow at highway
speeds, despite especially strong crosswinds,
it did ‘porpoise’ ever so slightly on the towball.
Now, this van was unladen at the time, and it does
have a fairly light ball weight of 117kg (at Tare) so
with some water in the tanks – which are both
mounted forward of the axles – and some gear in
the boot, etc., I’d expect no issues at all.
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