Tired Looking, Haggard, But Totally Savable Denimachine Van Surfaces For Sale In Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada


Tired Looking, Haggard, But Totally Savable Denimachine Van Surfaces For Sale In Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

As much as many people want to forget it, vans were a huge part of the scene in the 1970s and they’re coming back with a vengeance now as people who were kids in that era want to recapture some of their youth with a classic van. One of the biggest indicators of the popularity of the vanning craze was their infiltration of mainstream automotive media sources like Hot Rod Magazine and virtually every other magazine as well. In a business move that ended up paying dividends for everyone involved, Hot Rod teamed up with Coca-Cola, Levis, and a host of aftermarket companies to create the Denimachine (and a bunch of copies) which were the prizes given away as part of a massive sweepstakes in 1977.

As best we can tell, the vans were largely stock on the mechanical side with the addition of headers, some suspension pieces, and a shift kit from B&M. They got wheels, tires, a wing, a sweet 8-track, power windows, a Hurst shifter, and a fridge to hide you weed in. Reports seem to vary as to how many were actually made. The guy in the ad says one for each state and one for each Canadian Province but other stuff we have read suggests that including the giveaway vans and copies made after the fact, the number is somewhere around 300. Very cool for their era, they “aged” pretty fast and the sweeping popularity of the van crazy went away nearly as quickly as it showed up leaving the Denimachines to be less than desirable. There’s no telling how many are actually left from that original run or how many still hide in the corners of barns, sheds, and garages across the USA and Canada, but their renaissance time is now. If you have one of these things we see prices peaking in the next 5-10 years as the people who lusted after them in the 1970s all want one again. This guy wants $5,000 for his and it needs to be restored. We’re having a tough time arguing with that. What say you?

Thanks for the tip Corey!

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS OF THE VAN AND THE LINK TO THE KIJIJI AD –

denim1 denim2 denim3 denim4 denim5 denim6

 

CLICK HERE to see more photos and info on this Denimachine van

 


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9 thoughts on “Tired Looking, Haggard, But Totally Savable Denimachine Van Surfaces For Sale In Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada

  1. pj

    I absolutely love vans. Everyone needs some van culture in there lives. Shame this is pretty rough looking and priced about $4500 to high.

  2. 38P

    “Tired looking . . . Haggard” . . . It hasn’t aged any worse than most of the vanner chicks from that era. Just sayin’ . . . .

    (And thanks Bruab for dredging up some thankfully forgotten thing that I thought was a big “miss” back then )

    1. Munz

      Your a real ladies man aren’t you? LMAO Sorry to see that you are or were treated not so nice by the women in your life but you should work on that internally not on a public forum. I’ve been hanging with 100’s maybe 1000’s of “Vanner Chicks” for the past 30 years of my life and grown old with them and let me tell you they’re aged to perfection and never once have I heard anything this rude from ONE of them. Do you have any idea how ignorant this comment makes you look? Not just to van enthusiasts but EVERYONE.

      1. 38P

        BTW, Mad Man Munz, are you “hanging” with those “1000’s” of “vanner chicks” in a VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER? Just askin’ . . . . 🙂

  3. Dean

    I remember that van from growing up in Coaldale!! (100km’s from Medicine Hat). So cool to actually find out the story behind it. Kinda temped to buy it, but I know there are wiser ways to spend 5000

  4. Bo Boudreau

    I have two photos of a Denim Machine I took at a 1977 car show in Moncton, NB Canada. It was looking a whole lot better than this one!

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