Well this is sure the BangShiftiest family hot rod we have seen in a while! Built at the shop of Pinks and Pass Time star Ken Herring (Texas Chassisworks) it has a snotty V8 stuck in it’s snubby nose and racing seats for the whole family. As loopy as it seems, this worked up Astro van is as clean and nicely done as anything we have laid eyes on for some time. Dare to be different, hell yes!
The van is currently for sale on eBay at no reserve with a Buy it Now price of $7900. That seems like great money if you are in the market for a unique turn key vehicle that can haul groceries, a sheet of plywood, your kids, the dog, and ass all at the same time. The motor is a 355ci SBC with a decent cam, a big single plane intake, Holley 4BBL carb, and iron heads. The seller claims that a far wilder 406ci engine used to power the van so it uses a fully built ‘Glide from Sloan’s Racing Transmissions with a 3,000 RPM stall converter. The van has power steering and brakes.
We dig the cage and the way that the rear passengers are also protected by steel tubing. The seller claims that the cage will pass chassis certification rules. Since we have never, ever, seen another one like it, we’re not 100% sure on that, but Herring seems to build quality stuff and the detail shots of this one show clean welds and a professional fitting cage.
There are way more details and photos in the ad, click the link below to check it out. This is a van with a plan!
Thanks to Ray for the tip!
eBay Find: A Street Legal and Strip Ready ‘Caged Astro Van!
Well….it won’t pass chassis cert….for the rear passengers…LOL…and it might not cert overall because the rear “down bars” that are now the over head rear passenger bars are too far from the corner radius AND are less than the 30 degree minimum angle. I’m sure some inspectors would pass it. But Tim Rice and Ken Gentry out here in California wouldn’t.
Cool ride….
I’m jealous of the fact that folks in other states can build cool stuff like this and not have to worry about getting DMV’s approval for licensing. We’d never get it to pass visual/ smog crap unless we put that LS3 package in. Very cool grocery getter!
As the owner of a lowered Astro, I want this!!! I’ve been thinking of a Pr Street Astro for a while. Too bad I dont have the money for this one.
I am building a pour touring style Astro in the shop right now, Full chassis, custom front and rear suspensions and a BBC moved 18″ back and 7″ down.
You canfollow the build here:
http://www.pro-touring.com/showthread.php?20086-The-BAD-AST-Project-Faze-II/page9&highlight=bad+ast