I miss cars plastered with bumper stickers all over their tail ends. There’s still a few here and there in Eugene, as well as Berkeley (or thereabouts) where Jerome Solberg presumably found this old Econoline. But where’s Visualize Whirled Peas? And COEXIST? I’m afaraid This Is Not a Taxi is just not quite up to snuff.
The rest of it is decorated with these flowers. I remember flowers; but lots of really big and bright primary-colored ones. Who’s going to be the first to id that front wheel cover?
Oh yes, the good old days. Reminds me all-too much of my ’68 Dodge A100. That exposed heater blower motor down there next to the spray bottle is a familiar sight. I’m not sure of the exact year, but if it’s a ’63 or earlier, an automatic transmission was not even an option. Which still strikes me as odd.
Of course it would have been painfully slow, especially behind the 144 six; a bit less so with the 170. But then the Corvair van was mighty excruciatingly slow with a PG. Stay tuned, I’ve got a vintage comparison of the Corvair Greenbrier, Econoline and VW bus coming up.
Only one bumper sticker in front: Think Skylights! Oh, and there’s a Toyota emblem.
More on the gen1 Econoline:
Curbside Classic: 1961-1967 Ford Econoline – The Leader Of The Pack
A very charming ride. It looks very Boomer college era. A real rolling stereotype that was immortalized in the Disney/Pixar movie “Cars”, with Cheech Marin as its stoner voice. Quite cute.
Too many things to take in with the interior shot:
1) The hula dancer
2) The 4×4 block of wood that was a) cruise control b) parking brake c) engine cover prop d) all of the above
3) The superman backpack
4) Whatever is growing next to the backpack
5) It’s got TWO stereo tape decks!
It’s an Econoyota coming, and a Volvoline going!
What do you mean slow? The Ford, Corvair, and Dodge vans all had at least twice the horsepower of a contemporary VW Bus. They were rocket ships in comparison!
You’d be surprised. In the comparison I have, the Corvair Greenbrier with PG was not much faster than the 40 hp VW bus. HP isn’t everything; the VW bus had really effective gearing and weighed less. Stay tuned…
This van is singlehandedly breaking CC’s commenting policy. That said, and since it opened the door for that sort of thing, where is the “Give Peas a Chance” bumper sticker?
To that I’d say, “NO!” – I really don’t like peas, and never have. 😉
Those bumper stickers do lean one direction mostly. I know of the radio station and you can look it up. The one thing that catches my attention is the focus on one particular date with three bumper stickers. Yep, that is good old Berkeley. I went to Cal for grad school in 1977-81 after a more staid San Diego State University before. I did have issues my first week there when I saw someone going through garbage cans that I never saw in San Diego. However, once you simply embrace the quirks, have a grad class from all over the country, have access to San Francisco and Oakland besides Berkeley, it was an absolutely great time every week of those four years.
Orange man because he was always juggling oranges and don’t ask why as I didn’t ask why.
Actually I discovered mushy peas during my long ago month in England, that’s as close as we can get to whirled peas at the moment.
Great van, and great sticker collection. Although I’m more a “Forget world peace, visualize using your turn signal” sort of guy it’s too bad this one isn’t a taxi. You could probably listen to quite a monologue on your way to the airport.
That is an absolutely next-level idiosyncratic bumper sticker collection.
Probably a libertarian.
In the early 80s we had one of these (a 63 if memory serves) as our family mobile. Dad installed paneling, cheap carpet, and extra seats in the back. Part of its job was to be a kid taxi, and, by the safety practices of the day, could fit a lot of kids. Riders were subject to sudden shifts on bumps and turns, noise and vibration at all speeds, and cigarette fumes from Mom.
I learned how to operate the 3 on the tree when I was 17, and still have a soft spot for them. Dad painted it in primer gray, but he didn’t like stickers.
The classic AA-associated stickers were fairly common back when these old Econolines were more plentiful. Before the internet, it took me a long time to learn what they meant.
Less subtle, even to a youngster, was “gas, grass, or ass, nobody rides for free,” “if the van’s rocking, don’t come knocking,” and “don’t laugh, your daughter might be inside.” I knew what they meant right away.
Those were the days.
In a strange turn of events from the hippie van days, most vehicles I see today that are covered in stickers lean towards right-wing ideas and/or Christian slogans.
“No Draft”? Anyone who has ridden in one of these in the winter knows this isn’t true. 🙂
“Where Have All The Flowers Gone?”
Now we know.
Those were the _dayze_ ~ there, I fixed it for you =8-) .
As always, how old tech engines were tuned had a massive effect on how slow they were or were not .
I got a speeding ticket in my 1969 VW Van going up hill through some sharp curves ~ I was enjoying the new gas shocks too much to look at the speedo .
The judge and traffic school guy both thought it was impossible, I was only going45 MPH but the hill was steep and curves were sharp so I imagine it -looked- faster that it was .
In 1962 I remember 8 kids jammed into a not yet rusty Econoline, it wasn’t any slower than the rest of the traffic, I’m sure it never went on the open highway though .
A few years back I stumbled onto the local Econoline Club’s outing and two had four speed column shift manuals ! I never knew .
The were good little trucks although they rusted out quickly and once you’ve seen one in a serious collision you’ll never ride your children in one .
Looking at this makes me miss the many old art cars and ones with endless stenciled comments along with the hippie’s flower power vehicles .
Berzerkly ? my first time was n the Summer of 1969, very weird to say the least .
A few times in the 1970’s, lots and lots to see there .
-Nate
CC effect: Caught this one on my daily bike ride 3 months ago.
Still chugging along…
My buddy in Wisconsin found an early Econoline panel truck that had been used as a factory worker pay window ~ it had HUGE square holes cut in the side, he found enough old junkers to assemble the correct sheet metal .
-Nate
whats the metal piece that looks like it might be the “jettison” cargo control, just fwd of the driver seat.
That’s the emergency brake handle, ipulled vertically instead of the typical horizontal placement. It’s placement was dictated by the lack of front-to-rear depth between the bottom of the dash and the front of the cab sheet metal. Plus by placing it in this location, Ford saved the additional costs of an extra 4 to 5 feet of cable.
As e-brake cables are used, they stretch, hence the need for regular adjustments. As almost anyone who has used an e-brake can attest, once the length of pull dramatically increases, it takes greater effort to set the brake. Pulling up takes more effort than pulling horizontally towards you.
In the 1980s my shop was located down the block from a non-profit adult/student daycare that used about a dozen older Econoline vans like this one, delivering lunches and students. Because we were so close, we ended up doing their service work, and one of the common complaints from drivers was the difficulty in pulling up hard enough to set the e-brake.
Oldsmobile wheel cover. Not a real sticker head without a “Wall Drug” bumper sticker though.