Van culture is well before my time. And I consider that a good thing. Look, I love a good restored or exceptionally well-kept 1970s era machines, but in the grand scheme of things there is a good reason why the term “creeper van” exists. Most of these boxes on wheels were used, abused, and left to the elements when the reputation of a full-sized van with a porthole window went straight into the toilet. So who would go all-in on restoring one of these Seventies’ relics? Ok, besides Chris Carter, the guy who is so enamored with the “Wild Cherry” Chevy Van from the movie “Van Nuys Blvd.” that he went all-out on a ground-up restoration.
How about ventriloquist and comedian Jeff Dunham? Dunham has a car kink, we know this…this is a guy who has a modest collection that includes a few AMC products and a Superbird, and apparently he also owns a Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon exactly like the car that Ford used in the advertisements. He bought the Pinto, enjoyed the Pinto, and decided that he had to have the Cruising Van, painted up to match the advertisement. And that wasn’t an easy feat…because only one van, the show/advertisement vehicle that Ford commissioned, got the treatment that matched the Pinto’s graphics. They also didn’t come with bubble porthole windows, either. But none of that would stop Dunham from getting the van he wanted. Neither would be the pair of underwear he found in the engine bay. Yeah, you read that right…a comedian’s shaggin’ van had a pair of tighty-whities stuffed into the engine bay. Yikes…
I saw the video yesterday and just loving that van! Having the Pinto and the van painted the same color scheme is cool!
A guy I went to high school with had one of those.I grew up in custom vans, all of our friends had one. we Had a ’72 GMC, yellow exterior, tan shag carpet, tuck ‘n roll with paneling, side pipes and chrome reverse steelies with big n little bias-plies. ours was cooler than the others because it had a 3-on-the-tree manual trans.
Not everything about vans involved old creeps. Throw in a bunch of 16-22 y.o. guys and girls into somebody’s van they were making payments on and head for the drive-in, the local haunted house or party spot in the hills, or (yes) Van Nuys Blvd., and I can guarantee you there was more epic fun that what kids have now messaging each other or being on whatever stupid ap from the back of their parent’s cars or more likely buried in their bedrooms.
I do remember the ads with the van, twenty-something kids, surfer-related.
“Van culture” is slowly returning in Europe but this time the accent is on performance and handling. Top of the tree is Ford with their new Transit that has been breathed on by M-Power. Forty thousand pounds buys you a van that could hold its own with cars costing much more, but doesn’t have a crap interior covered in reeking shagpile carpet!