Jalopnik: chevy van

Primered, Chong-Autographed, 3-On-The-Tree Chevy Van May Be Best Motor Vehicle Ever!

Murilee Martin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:30:00 EDT

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!

And that's not all- this mid-70s Chevy van boasts cubic yards of hipster accessories without being at all ironic and/or pretentious. I ran into this fine machine at the 24 Hours Of LeMons South Fall a few weeks back; its owner is a member of the USS Enterprise Ford LTD team.

Quadruple exhaust pipes, 8-ball shifter, North Carolina plates… and Tommy Chong's signature on the dash. Yes, it's for real!

1978 Chevrolet Chevy Van 20

Murilee Martin — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 09:00:00 EDT

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?

We're going to fix that problem right now! I've finally found a genuine late-70s Chevy Van with authentic stripes and bubble windows. Let's get in the mood to appreciate this fine vehicle with the appropriate song:

Hmmm... that was actually kind of horrible. I was too young to drive back then, but I'm pretty sure Sammy Johns wouldn't have been my choice for custom-van soundtracks. See, that's what happened with Generation X and our damn cynicism and irony- we couldn't appreciate the simple pleasures of purple shag carpeting and CB radio. Anyway, it's good to see this battered but still recognizable Custom Van Era survivor still moving around under its own power.

First 400 DOTS Vehicles • DOTS FAQ

Dog Drives Van Through Coffee Shop Window

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST

When touk-wearing musician Bryan Maher of Port Jefferson, New York left his van idling outside a local area coffee shop to go in for a quick chat he didn't expect his van to follow him in for a latte. His dog Bentley had other ideas. Maher left the dog in the running van (it was cold out) and during a ten minute conversation (no doubt about jamming) the hopefully-named Bentley managed to shift the van into gear and promptly pilot the old Chevy through a plate glass window. Nobody was injured and damage to the business, van, and dog were minimal. However, we suspect the dog was punished with only a half a doobie that night. [Newsday]

Edsel, Old Trucks Distort Irvine Master Plan's Reality Field

Murilee Martin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:20:00 EDT

You may think you've experienced a planned community in which every last detail was carefully designed by lab-coated scientists in 1956 to elicit Maximum Upscale Suburban Ennui in its residents, but only Irvine, California, gets it down perfectly. Well, almost perfectly, because Al Frente has spotted these street-parked relics shattering Irvine's soothing vehicular harmony of BMWs and Tahoes. We've got an original-looking '59 Edsel Ranger, a mid-60s forward-control Chevy G-series van, and a '68 or '69 GMC pickup in L.A. School District colors. Make the jump to see all the photos and read what Al Frente has to say about these vehicles.

This car parks in Irvine, CA. I don't think it's a daily driver, but it does move a bit. The pink paint is very faded, but Also, here's a cute little Chevy van and the GMC Suburban-type that I mentioned. The GMC is my favorite, especially with its LAUSD vintage. These are both in the Irvine Groves neighborhood. The GMC always parks at the front and the Chevy is always on the east side at the back.

Now This Is How Race Fans Do Vanning

Ben Wojdyla — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 11:20:00 EDT

Traveling all the way from Alabama to Wisconsin for the 2008 ABC Supply AJ Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile can only be explained by rabid fandom. This race fan showed his true colors by covering his Chevy van from rockers to roof with enough race stickers to make a stock car look like an exercise in Swedish minimalism. Color us impressed, not only with the amount of time it took to create this masterpiece, but that he had any money left over to pay for infield parking when it was complete.

The Japanese Convert JDM Boxes Into American Iron

Mark Arnold — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT

Apparently, the custom van fad of the '70s never died in Japan. But what if you want all the style of a vintage American full-size, but you need the efficiency and small size of a Japanese econobox? Well, do what these guys did, and convert the front end to look just like a Dodge or Chevy Van. Auto-Otaku found these custom creations at the Japanese Mooneyes Street Car Nationals, a gathering of all kinds of American iron in the land of the rising sun. Besides the vans, there were also a couple JDM rides transformed into old Chevy Suburbans, as seen above. [via Auto-Otaku]