PARKER VP

The four colours and the two cap finishes of the Parker "VP", ca 1963.

Unfortunately the filling system had proven complicated from a manufacturing point of view and the manufacturing cost was high. While the filling system had no moving parts it still required the user to sometimes wipe down the teflon tube filler, and furthermore, since most users didn't want to bother with keeping their writing instrument clean, they seldom had it washed or flushed clean of ink. Hence it eventually clogged.
Also The Parker "45" could be filled from a bottle if one used a converter but, then again, the nib needed a good wipe after the filling.
With the Parker "VP" Parker tried another approach. A new style of converter was manufactured. As opposed to the standard converters this one ended in a long, thin tube that the user would insert into the bottle, compress the sac inside the filler and then replacing the filler into the pen. It was made from a clear plastic and contained a thin breather tube inside. It looked a lot like the Parker "51" aerometric filler, but was not a true aerometric. It sounded like a nice, simple solution but the thin, plastic tube that was to forcibly be inserted into the back of the ink collector was very prone to breakage and the Parker after services was instantly overwhelmed with broken Parker "VP"s.

In 1962 it was produced in the four solid colours of


     Black
     Grey
     Blue
     Red

It was priced at $10, which made it a medium priced pen below the Parker 51, the standard model cost $ and the Parker "61" which cost $, but over the Parker "45", priced at $5.

The different nibs had a number imprinted on them under the Parker name, denoting the style.

     61: Needle Point
     62: Accountant
     63: Extra Fine
     64: Stenograph
     65: Fine
     66: Medium
     67: Broad
     70: Stub Thin Music
     71: Medium Stub
     73: Broad Stub
     75: Medium Oblique italic
     79: Reverse Medium Oblique Italic
     82: Fine Arabic
     83: Medium Arabic
     88: Extra Broad Executive

Most of these nib numbers, but not all, translated into the later Parker "75" styles.

Note the ribbed and graded gripping section.

Pencils were also offered, but no ball pens. A so called Holy Water Sprinkler, used by priests, was also offered. Instead of a nib this "pen" had a gold filled cup used for the holy water.

There were two cap finishes offered, Gold Filled and Lustraloy.

This setup remain until the Parker "VP" was discontinued in 1964. By then it was clear that the design features, although some borrowed from the Parker "VP", of the newly launched Parker "75" was simply better.

The filler was also used for a short while on the Parker "65", creating the same problem.
The Parker "VP" is very popular among collectors, mainly because of it's being a great writer, having a great selection of nibs for a vintage pen and, of course that one only need eight pens to complete a collection, disregarding the nibs. The one disadvantage is that there are virtually no spares available if the filler is broken, there simply are no spares. There are however reproduction replacements available made by Ron Zorn at Mainstreet Pens.

The Parker "VP" is easily recognisable through the large engraving VP in capital letters, on the cap, below the clip, and also it didn't have a tassie ring.

Note the very unique filling system.