Vannin' Home Forums General Discussion General Discussion What started your interest in vans?

Stop me if you`ve heard this. lol.
I had an Anerican car workshop / sales in the Uk, just north of London. A friend called me and told me he knew of a 1976 Chevy Shorty - only 4 years old then - but it had some accident damage - actually hit by a train I found out later., he assured me it would be well worth repairing.. I wasn`t up on vans then but decided to take a shot at it. Hooked up the trailer to my 1976 Olds Cutlass Supreme made the trip to Hastings and brought it home..
Remember this is all pre internet...Did a bit of research and found a Chevy dealer in Cleveland Usa had the parts I needed, bumper, grille, chassis member, mudguard etc. I faxed him my list and next day I called him and confirmed the order, I asked if he could recomend a reliable shipping company. He said there`s one right across the street we use them all the time.
I got a name and number and called them, spoke to the manager and asked if he would be interested in picking up the order from the dealer and shipping it to me in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.
WHAT!! he shouted down the phone.. that`s where my wife comes from...
Heres a pic of the finished project - I called it Shazam..
And thats how I got into vans..

Dude that is a helluva van..and a great start.

Been around vans forever,dad and uncle. My big brothers friend had a 75 shorty Dodge cargo silver with mural of an hombre and donkey taking a siesta.I have owned astros for a while starting in 1990. I bought a full on rusty custom in North Carolina it was tan with a brown hash stripe,gull wing door, Nor Cal wing mudder flares ,6 lug slots.looked like a pirate ship inside and smelled like scurvy..lol.it had round port windows on the back doors with louvers built in . I should have kept it but I sold it to purchase two more vans..I am in deep now with councils and clubs,trying to reignite the true spirit of Vannin.

Bought a Vans and trucks Mag in may 76 and never left. On my 29th van

That's what I am talking about..

My mom and dad had a silver Chevy window van that mom took when she left dad and drove us cross country in. When my step dad came in the picture, he had a rusted ass Chevy cargo (and had the Hurst shift doctor van before that one). We still would drive the silver van back and forth for a couple years. I remember picking the rubber off the window trim.. In 85 they bought my uncles 79 G30 and sold the silver van. That became our cross country hauler. I would always draw hot rod van pictures with spoilers and fat tires, dreaming of having a van. Haha. When i was coming toward driving age, i started asking for the 79...wasnt happening, but i kept trying. 20 years later they finally let me have it and its mine now. Haha.

Seeing them on the roads in the 70's and Van mags

I needed a tow vehicle for my autoX cars and love the JDM dajiban thing, so I picked up a used Dodge church van with a sliding side door and single rear door.

Grew up with a couple different Astro's that were my moms. We road tripped those all over the place. Also did trips with my dads crew cab trucks and an RV. My wife and I wanted to do a big road trip in 2018, and have an extra vehicle we could just get in and drive for weekend getaways. I though about getting one of those tiny Pod shaped RV trailers, but ultimately decided we didn't want to deal with using my truck for towing. I didn't want the hassle of unloading and reloading my work gear, and Aly didn't want to tow anyway, so van it was!
So we got our B250 and love it. It's been some work here and there, head gasket blew on that big trip last year, but it still made it most of the way before we had to rent a Uhaul to get it back home. Fuel pump went out last week but no big deal, just picked it up from the shop for that. Looking forward to putting a ton more miles on that 318!