Well this is rough! I was poking around looking for something interesting to see on the International Auto Auctions website and saw the typical stuff. Mashed up pony cars, rotted cruisers, Corvettes that had either vaporized or been made into charcoal briquettes, etc. All of that stuff was present and accounted for and frankly you’ve seen it all anyway, right. Just as I was about to ditch out for my next brilliant idea I spotted what looked to be a van that was in perfect shape. Most of the van is in perfect shape, brilliant shape actually. The flame job on it is fantastic and seems to be of a really high quality. It has fender flares, it has big tires in the back and little ones in the front, Cragar wheels, and and interior that looks like it was stolen straight from a brothel. Not that I could identify what that would be specifically but it is a figure of speech…me, sweating? No I’m not…ok let’s change the subject.
The van is a 1976 C10 and as was previously mentioned, 75% of the thing is bad ass. The other 25%? Pretty much royally boned. Yeah, someone rear-ended this thing and the rear corner of the driver’s side is really screwed up. Thankfully the van had a trailer hitch on it which likely prevented it from being a complete destruction but if we had to guess there could be some frame trouble back there to go along with everything else. The big giant one-piece custom rear door is messed up, the bumper, and of course all of the sheetmetal, to boot.
There are few details on stuff like the powertrain but we’re guessing that there’s a small block in the stubby nose and a Turbo 350 transmission behind it. It looks like miles of red leather was used to make the interior and that’s got to be worth something, right? Someone really put a lot of time and money into this van and now it is junk. We’re sorry to see that.
Whaddya think? Worth fixing it?
Scroll down to see photos of the van and then hit the link below to see it all –
The flames seem to “wrap” around the door pillars…hummmm.
Man, that sucks! I saw that van at the Piston Powered Autorama in Cleveland last March. It was cherry! That was my favorite van out of all the ones on display. Bummer to see it smashed.
Here we go again – the Cragar S/S virus has spread to vans! I’d lose the dated flares and swap on some modern 17 inch wheels with not so much outset and then, just to piss off the Chey lovers, I’d install a coyote motor and transmission!
That’s after I tracked down whoever did the incredible paint job to re-instate the flames after the body was restored to its past glory – it sure beats the pants off a rust-stained Transit with and evil-smelling mattress in the back….
Oh, boo hoo Geordie! I don’t like Chevy! I don’t like Cragar S/S’s!
Who pissed in your cereal this morning, or is that every morning.
That is by far the best flame job, EVAH!
This is a good friend of mine’s van, he was hoping to buy it back at auction but now that it’s online there will probably be a lot of interest to drive the price up. He built this van in ’98, it’s been to countless shows and won hundreds of awards. He was rear-ended at 7:00 am by a drugged driver, another car was involved in the crash and 2 women were killed. Tragic on many levels.
Saw the aftermath of this on my way to the flea market that morning sad end of 2 lives and a mans pride and joy. Always enjoyed seeing this van run around town.