It’s an ongoing argument that can be made: why would you pick a vehicle that isn’t popular and keep throwing money at it when you could easily replace it with something else instead? The answer is an automotive “X factor”. You cannot put a price on emotional attachment. So long as someone loves that vehicle for whatever reason, like a memory attachment, a connection to good memories or simply because they are touched in the head, you’ll find someone sinking coin after coin into keeping an old thrasher up and going. We aren’t talking about keeping with tech either…we’ve seen mid-1960s Chevy IIs being driven just the same as they were brand new, drum brakes, painfully underpowered engine and all.

The Skid Factory has taken on a build like this for a friend. The vehicle in question is a Bedford CF van, a Vauxhall-designed and built machine that wound up being powered by a Holden “Red” 202ci six cylinder at some point in it’s lifetime. The van is used as a work vehicle for a lawncare service, and it’s time to do something about the powertrain once and for all. A 4.0L Ford Barra take-out mill is the perfect mill to go into the van, but there is no way that this will be an easy swap. Check out the first episode below and try to find some time in-between the episodes that are currently up now!