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After getting my Project Van Hell '66 Dodge A100 last weekend, I was a bit apprehensive about removing its rod-knockitty engine through the doors. I've done plenty of engine swaps, but never out of a mid-engined van. No problem! More »
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I haven't yet figured out how I'll paint my latest Project Van Hell acquisition, which means I need to do some serious brainstorming. You can help! More »
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With the 20R Sprite project awaiting its new rear suspension at Evil Genius Racing and a lot of unused parking space at my new home in Denver, I was feeling the Project Car Hell Jones something terrible! More »
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Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles found parked on the streets of the City That Rust Sorta Ignored: Denver, Colorado. Remember the Veggie Tales Fiat 500? Here's a Transporter that parks on the same block. More »
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I've got a Custom Van Pact with several friends; if any one of us obtains a custom van, all the others must get one as well. Early Econoline with a 6" chop and 460 for me, of course. More »
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What else needs to be said? The Angry Hamster Z600 team loaned us the Short Bus, and you'll need a tactical nuke to blast us out of it. No, we can't do wheelies, because there are no seat backs. More »
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When Japanese gearheads get obsessed with a certain type of vehicle, they tend to go all-out. For example, take your archetypal serial-killer/molester Detroit van- what more could be painted on this canvas? More »
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When we last saw the Snoopy's Quest For The Holy Nickelbag race van, it wasn't quite running. Did you think this fine racin' machine would launch all its rods into the next county the first time it fired up? Wrong! More »
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Twin-turbocharging your V8 doesn't have to be difficult… provided you choose the right vehicle. More »
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This magician dude might as well pop Fool For The City into the 8-track and start tokin' on his Carbonga™ Mobile Bong, because that custom paint job has no business on a van that will be hauling serious cargo. More »
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Actually, the fried small-block bearing happened during practice last night, but the engine of the Snoopy's Quest For The Holy Nickelbag Chevy Vanamino is still scattered all over the mud at the moment. More »
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We can't even fit half the great things about this van in the title! It's also got a household air conditioner (with generator) and authentic 1970s red-white-and-blue shag carpet in the back! More »
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Welcome to Down On The Street, where we admire old vehicles parked on the streets of the Island That Rust Forgot: Alameda, California. What, more than two years of DOTS and no custom vans yet? More »
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Back in the 70s, your vans with Hawaiian Sunset, Mars Base, and Aztec Sacrifice airbrush murals came a dime a dozen. Here's a custom van that must have turned some heads in its time! More »
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Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! After seeing the Johnson Messenger CB Telephone, we're saying 10-4 to custom van projects! More »
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This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. Next up are some high-quality photographs, courtesy of Wimbles. More »
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This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. DodgePolara500 has found two Dodges and a Jeep for us. More »
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The 30 grand 1995 Mitsubishi 3000GT was sent packing to Booth Number Two by the voice of the mob, but what will the voters make of this 1979 Dodge Shag Van? More »
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This is Down On The Street Bonus Edition, where we check out interesting street-parked cars located in places other than the Island That Rust Forgot. We're heading back to New York City, where Dolo54 shot this interesting pair of vehicles for us a couple months back. Yes, a vintage XKE and a jaw-dropping van that rivals even the Spinellimobile for the world-record Custom Van Awesome-O-Meter™ reading. Make the jump to see all the photos and read Dolo54's description. More »
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Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! The last time we ventured into El Infierno Del Coche, we experienced the joy of electrical fires and short vehicle range in the Arc-Weld Your Soul challenge. That one was a close race, but the electric 911 edged out the electric Spitfire in a 51.5-to-48.5 split. Today we're getting all forward-control on you, with a couple of interesting Econoline projects suggested by Schoolpsych. The question you need to ask yourself here is: do you want to go low and slow... or high and muddy? More »
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We've seen a Double Econoline and even a stretched Suburban, but most such weld-em-and-pray projects lack sufficient axles to really make a forceful statement. Not so with this 1984 GMC van, which features four axles, an overstuffed armchair, every marker light in the JC Whitney catalog, and a sauna. Really, a sauna! Thanks to Brent for the tip. More »
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Yet more proof that nobody can outdo the Japanese when it comes to wild-ass vehicle modifications comes courtesy of this photo sent to us by reader Nathan. You got your Dekotoras, and now you got the BatVan! That means it's time for some Melt-Banana, so make the jump and crank up your speakers. More »
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In a rare upset, a French car actually lost a Choose Your Eternity challenge! Not only that, front-wheel-drive triumphed over a rear-engined machine. Yes, the Fiat 128 Rally beat the Simca 1000GL in our last Project Car Hell! Today we're going to look at a pair of vehicles that do interesting things with the concept of scale: a tiny German Thunderbird or a huge Seattle Hot Wheels car. More »
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A French hydropneumatically-suspended diesel managed to win a photo finish against a V8-powered Malaise Lotus in our last Choose Your Eternity poll, which means we'll need to have another English Channel Hell Project Battle right soon. But today we need to go to the PCH Tipster Mailbag (which, sorry to say, I haven't been using as much as I should, due to the fact that I still haven't had a chance to crank up the PCH Tipster T-shirt assembly line) and check out a couple of real humdingers sent in by Bumblebee. These are machines any sane Jalopnik reader would dream of owning... yet actual ownership of either one would lead to plenty of wake-up-screaming nightmares! More »
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Why, a custom van, of course! And, man, the onion-like layers of conceptual heaviosity involved with this painting; since our commenters are a bunch of Wittgenstein-quoting theorists, we're sure Brandon Bird's Signifier and Signified will be food for some serious thought this fine Wednesday morning. Thanks to Teargas for the tip! [BrandonBird.com] More »
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Life was tough on swingers back in the Malaise Era- say you needed to go to the next county for that Quaalude-fueled pool party, yet the goddamn price of gas was keeping your LTD Brougham (with the classy opera lights) firmly anchored in the driveway. What to do? Why, get yourself a snazzed-out Pinto wagon with the custom portholes and shag carpeting! And now, having served its purpose for three decades, this Pinto offers up its components that other Pintos (and Bobcats) may live. More »
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Do you feel it? The strains of Frampton Comes Alive, the scent of Acapulco Gold, and the sight of a Primo Beer T-shirt? We don't know much about this twin-cab Econoline pickup (known as "Two Faced") but we're hoping it has two engines to go with the two 9' whip CB antennas. We'll dedicate the next spin of "Do You Feel Like We Do" to any reader who can give us more info about this fine machine. More »
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Once we saw the mighty Thames Freighter van at Laguna Seca, we knew: someone, somewhere, had turned a Freighter into a full-on 70s-style custom van. Sure enough, crazy New Zealander Colin Cowie has created The Sorcerer from his Thames Freighter. We can practically hear the strains of Frampton Comes Alive from here! [Van Association of New Zealand] More »
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While consuming a burritos-and-beer meal (served on the trunklid of the Crown Vic) in the Oakland Coliseum BART parking lot prior to watching yet another A's loss, I found my appetite disrupted by the sheer menace of the image painted on this yellow-and-black custom van. The sinister, knowing facial expression. The utter lack of limbs of any sort. The sunglasses. More »
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Those crazy Russians have done it again! Take nice expensive Mercedes, throw many rubles at a serious airbrush artist, specify a knights/castles theme, and here's what you get. We must assume the knights are of the Eastern European variety, storming a Polish feudal lord's castle or some such, although there's definitely an element of the Conquistador visible here. We'd like to think the interior is done up in velvet and jewels, but no matter. – Murilee Martin More »
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Something unusual about this parked van caught my eye as I strolled past, but it took a second to figure out what was the deal. Then, of course, it became clear: someone had cleaned out every junkyard in the area of 70s Detroit land-barge opera lights and installed them all on his Dodge van (apologies for the crapola camera-phone shots)... More »
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Plymouth produced some of the most legendary American cars of all time. The Roadrunner and Superbird are but a few that come to mind. Plymouth was also no stranger to the Vannin craze. Before Plymouth Voyager became associated with boxy eighties minivans, the nameplate was used on the Plymouth equivalent of the Dodge Sportsman. The auction for what looks to be the 70's promotional Voyager shell for use atop a go kart chassis has come and gone, but the reserve was not met. Airbrush on a Star Wars mural, pop in an opera window, and stuff a transverse-mounted 392 Hemi with some centrifugal clutch chain-drive on each end of the crankshaft. You could be the Mayor - of Go Kart City. – Mike Bumbeck More »
]]> http://jalopnik.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=256830&view=rss&microfeed=true Wicker interiors... life-size cobra hood ornaments... pet raccoons... macrame bikinis... Grandpa's steamer trunk converted into a trailer. All these wonderful things- and much more- will be on display for you in this fine three-part documentary of the fourth annual Truck-In, held in 1976 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. According to the narrator, it's the Rose Bowl, Indy 500, and Woodstock of vanning. It's a pretty sure bet that nobody within 50 miles of this gathering would have been able to pass a drug test for the next several years... More »
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Thanks to a tipster whose name got lost in Jalop hyperspace (sorry about that, tipster, but don't think we don't love you), we now present this incredible time-capsule Kustom Van on Craigslist Oklahoma City. It's been sitting in a barn for 20 years, and it could be yours for three Gs. Damn, we'd feel ten feet tall owning this thing. – Murilee Martin More »
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