(Updated 2/19/2026) I’ve been walking by this 2nd Gen B-Series Dodge Conversion Van for several years – it sits in a parking lot near our home in suburban Tokyo. Knowing how much our founder Paul enjoys these B-Series vans, I always made a note to shoot a few pics someday. In going by last week, I noticed it had acquired an abandoned vehicle notice on the windshield; a sure sign it won’t be around much longer. Time to get the camera out…
It’s in pretty poor shape now, but in its prime, this must have been a pretty snazzy custom van. The workmanship looks fairly good – even in its present state. It sits on the B-250 ¾ ton chassis. I can never determine the year of these Dodge vans – they didn’t change much from 1979 to 1993. In 1981 they did update the names from 100/200/300 to 150/250/350 – so this is a post-1980 extended length model.
Surprisingly, it didn’t have any graphics or decals identifying who made the conversion. All I could find was this small plate on the back – “California Vans by ANIC Corporation.” I tried a couple Google searches and came up empty – so maybe this came from one of the small conversion outfits so prevalent during the 70’s-80’s van craze.
Like the Ford E-Series custom van I stumbled across several years ago, it highlights the fact that quite a few of these made their way to Japan in the 80’s. The 80’s were known here as the “bubble decade” – when the stock market and real estate assets were extremely inflated and folks tended to splurge. These vans cost a pretty penny here when new, and with their engine size and exterior dimensions, would be very expensive to keep on the road (taxes, fees, insurance, etc.). When the bubble burst in 1991, they were likely parked.
Another possible reason you see a lot of these abandoned is the lack of any dealer support. Chrysler opened a few dealerships here, then after a couple years pulled up and left – only to come back several years later as FCA, and then do the same thing again. Ditto with Ford – they made a big splash opening up dealerships, but only stayed for seven or eight years and quit in 2016. There are private mechanics that can wrench on US models, but parts are always a problem.
It’s a shame this one has been neglected for so long – and that it won’t get back on the road. Would make a great way to do some camping and touring when the cherry blossoms start blooming late next month.
Man, that thing looks out of place in Japan.
In the US, there’s still a stigma about these that never really went away. After the conversion craze was over, these began to be associated with drifters, pedophiles, and the down and out (see “Uncle Rico” or “Matt Foley”).
Even today, you’d get a thumbs up in a Westfalia, but a look of suspicion if you drove one of these conversions into the downtown of many American cities.
Maybe that’s changing slightly, but where I live on the California coast, you typically only see these vans parked at the Walmart, or being moved from parking lot to parking lot when a drifter is living out of one of them. I’m not judging; just offering my observation.
I, myself, turned my Honda Element into a camper with a fridge and a bed. It’s much easier to drive than one of these, and it blends in well. I haven’t paid for a hotel in years.
I saw a similar-vintage Dodge conversion at a supermarket near us in Toronto. It ran and drove, and it looked like someone was living in it.
I’d be very interested in learning about your Element conversion, if you would be willing to share in a response or a COAL!
I wrote it up a couple of summers ago:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/cars-of-a-lifetime/coal-2008-honda-element-5000-miles-in-the-pacific-northwest/
I find NO stigma at all.
I do some business in LA and Reno, sometimes in Sacramento as well, but my home is in Missouri.
Most of my time is spent just being around and waiting for certain thongs to happen, huge payoff… however, till then I’m on my own financially, so it has become the Van Life when I’m away from home.
Hotel/motel expenses are way too outrageous for someone like me. In Reno especially and when one of the many weekend events takes place, balloon races, fat guys on motorcycles, air races, hot rod meets, etc go on, the Thursday night $48 rate goes to $250 and more.
My wife and I always enjoyed the room, comfort and abilities of our vans.
Mine is a 1994 Cobra High top on a Chevrolet chassis and hers is a 2000 Explorer High top also on a Chevrolet chassis.
We have NO interest in folding ourselves into some micro car. We often go from central Missouri to the thumb area of Michigan to visit family, taking our luggage, gifts and more with everyone in a comfortable seat or sharing the sofa.
I’ve added cabinets in place pi f my center seats, a fridge, 5000 watts of AC Electric power, 2000 watt inverter, toilet, working sink, a swivel under the passenger seat, 19 inch color TV, extra LED lighting, and most recently a small but amazing diesel powered heater (and 10 liter fuel tank).
Everything has been carefully done so it can all be removed in a few hours with no evidence it was ever there.
Everyone that sees my van is amazed and positive.
Granted, I keep it clean as I can, it’s not smashed, crashed or rusted.
As soon as my business pays, the Mrs wants a brand new nine passenger Explorer Van.
Yes, they are still hard at it!
Ive literally crawled through a few limousines, give me a high top van ANY time.
Just adding another pic.
These were nice vans in their day, and once in a while you’ll see an old one driving around. Here in Ontario, the older ones are usually parked for the winter. I can imagine that parts and service (let alone gas) would be almost prohibitively expensive for one of these in Japan.
Good luck, trying to identify and find a matching replacement for any conversion van side glass.
Not to mention the “SceniCruiser” roof glass.
Make a carefully crafted cardboard template, a glass shop can cut and edge it, send it off for tempering, and you’re set.
Had that problem once and ot was WAY more economical than ordering a new window, plus I dod not have to remove wall trim or upholstery!
The bottom two panels and screen were fine anyway.
I can narrow this down to a 1986-90. Before 86 the grille was different, and starting in 91 they changed the emblem on the front doors to get rid of the square emblem with the little picture of a ram over the 150/250/350 designation.
During the last gasp of the big passenger van in the early/mid 90s you could go onto a Ford or Chevy dealer lot and occasionally find one or two of the factory passenger vans. But at Dodge they were all but special-order. A Dodge dealer near me always had about six new conversion vans lined up facing the street. I think the typical customer by then was a blue collar retiree who was looking for something comfy for long distance travel.
I tried, but also came up dry on ANIC or California Vans. This looks like a job for George Ferencz.
Don’t forget those conversion van dealers in the Midwest, I remember screaming commercials in my childhood for dealers in Indiana and Ohio dealers like Paul Sherry. Places that would have Ford, GM, and Chrysler vans in all sizes.
My 1st wife’s family (three children total) had an odd progression in my mind. 80s Escort Wagon, Chevy Conversion van, and then a loaded Pontiac Transport Montana.
Fullerton Dodge in CA claimed to be the #1 van conversion dealer in the U.S., but I’m sure others made the same claim. It seemed like their television commercials ran 24/7 on certain channels. They bit the dust in 2008, perhaps because they were too dependent on that particular market.
“Tell them ‘Tony B sent me,’ and get a free E-bike with your purchase”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONucBGIKEd8
Jack Prince had a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership in Inglewood, CA. In 1984, he created a corporation named California Vans, which he merged into his dealership in 1989. There’s no mention of ANIC, so it could be a completely different entity.
The documents are available if you want to do a Business Search for California Vans on the CA Secretary of State’s website:
https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov
He had a Dodge dealership on La Brea, also in Inglewood. Bought a D-150 off him in the mid-80’s.
JP, you have as good an eye for detail as I do. If this is a B250 3/4 ton chassis, why does it only have 5 lugs on what appears to be 15″ wheels? Wouldn’t this be a half ton chassis? I thought all 3/4 and 1 ton chassis vans and pickups of this vintage had 8 lugs on 16″ or 16.5″ wheels with LT tires along with maybe the floating dualie style rear axle.
It didn’t work that way with vans. You had to go to the B300/350 for the full floating axle and big wheels. The same thing was true for the Chevy vans. There were three variants. The middle one just had somewhat stiffer springs, but not the true HD axles, brakes and such.
The Econoline had up to four different series. For example, in 1980, here are the four (138″ wb versions) and their max. payloads:
E100: 1535 lbs
E150: 2355 lbs
E250: 3885 lbs
E350: 5015 lbs
Only the 250 and 350 had the big wheels and full-floating axles.
Still see plenty of them around here, in The Land That Rust Forgot™. Still doing Yeoman duty for tradespeople of all flavors, and as Scott wrote, the conversion vans are either serving as shelter for those who otherwise have none, or have refitted interiors by Instagrammers living the hashtag VanLife.
I find this generation’s front styling to be among the better efforts in regards to these vans, it just looks chunky, solid and purposeful (in a good way). I can’t speak as to the rest of the van although I am somehow finding them more attractive in general as time goes by.
Having been to Japan, it does seem odd that someone would want such a big barge there. And an extended length one too. Must have been a ball to drive in some of the denser areas. There’s a reason kei vans are so immensely popular. This is the ultimate anti-kei van.
I forgot how they changed the numbering on these, from B100/200/300 to B150/250/350. The usual inflation.
One of my kids has repeatedly stated a willingness and desire to purchase some sort of van and actually live in it while attending college (not the kid that will actually be going soon though). He watches tons of YouTube van life videos and not just the “adventure” ones, but also the ones showing very normal folks that have decided renting an apartment doesn’t make sense for them.
We actively discuss which vans would be better suited, from Minivans re-outfitted to house one person to the large money-machines and everything in between, there are videos and websites on virtually every possible style and brand of van including the young dude that works for Google that has been living in a retired U-Haul box-truck for several years and blogging about it. One major aspect of our discussions is the importance of fitting in and not standing out, i.e. flying under the radar which the subject van really doesn’t do well, it’s a bit too garish for that as it sits. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s still interested in this as the time comes closer but it’s fun to discuss and also to realize that there are a number of people choosing this lifestyle not because they have to and don’t have any other financial options (see Matt Foley, van, river, etc) but because they want to and have other uses for their money. I’d love to buy him a van and outfit it rather than pay someone rent… 🙂
Jim, Your son might like the book Walden on Wheels by Ken Ilgunas. It’s a non-fiction memoir about a millennial who goes directly to college without a plan, lands himself in debt, realizes what a crappy situation he’s in, and decides to vandwell while finishing his education at Duke. Along the way, he adventures to Alaska, taking a series of odd jobs before deciding to return to grad school. Vandwelling saves him money, gives him resolve, and helps him find a purpose. I’ve been teaching the book at my community college for a couple of semesters. Ilgunas is a humorously self-deprecating and philosophical author, and a lot of my students have enjoyed reading this book.
Excellent, I just ordered it! Thanks for the tip. I’m going to read it myself first I think as it sounds good. 🙂 Watch, it’ll make me buy a van…
Awesome! Enjoy the book- I hope it inspires you and your son!
If I was young and heading off to college and was concerned about living expenses, that’s what I would do. It’s not uncommon now, and it wasn’t even back then. Especially in CA where the weather was mild, I ran into a number of kids doing that. I actually crashed with one, who had bought a little 50’s vintage trailer and parked it in the car port of some other students renting a house in Arcata, at Humboldt University.
I always hated paying rent. I like collecting it much better. 🙂
Just repaired an ’86 B250 high top conversion van. Only had 96K original miles, great everything.
Although the 1980’s called, said they wanted their TV back!
Nice vehicle after we rebuilt the carburetor, new belts, hoses, thermostat, a few fuses and bulbs. 4 tires, some scrubbing.
I wonder if the huge rectangular windows were added later. It looks like someone just wanted a bunch of big windows and didn’t care about paint schemes and aesthetics. In the bottom photo, the left window appears to be slightly lower than the one next to it.
On that note… the windows’ lower frames don’t look like they were ever a good fit to the raised rib at the van’s beltline.
Believe it or not that van is in great condition there seems to be no rust on or around the body that I can see the looks a little better than mine I was surprised to know that that van was in way over there but then again Van’s are very popular over there believe it or not I have one very similar to that one it was owned by a neighbor that purchased it brand new in 1983 it was a plain empty cargo van I was grey he had it custom painted added burgundy to it with custom burgundy and grey interior it needs to be repainted but the interior is in mint condition garaged kept for 27 years the rest of it years it sat on the street only being moved twice a week for street cleaning believe it or not it burns less gas than a morden day SUV despite its size it’s nice to another one besides mine even if it’s over seas I wish you could have took pictures of the interior here is a picture of my 1983 dodge b250 old faithful thanks for sharing and caring about the old school van
Until recently I had a Chrysler-issued Japanese-language promotional brochure for the ’87 Japanese-market Dodge B-vans. They were shown in various camping and road-tripping scenese. For some strange reason they were not shown trying to enter or leave a parking space or a laneway in Tokyo.
We have just bought our 1st 1993 conversion van, that has not yet been converted. Can you please advise us on what size kitchen sink with room for the 2 tank storage under it and a small fridge, or would get an electric cooler. We have already purchased the convert and batteries to handle loads. we also got a portable small ac unit that sits on a counter (hopefully where the sink would go) I was thinking of just putting a cutting board over the sink to sit it on that. My husband and I have decided to obviously remove the back seats, but also the fold down bed, it’s not comfortable at all, and a bit used up. So he is planning on making a plywood base for a small queen roll up mattress, and then using the underneath for storage. Can you give us any rally helpful tips, esp with the sink and under it, and where can we find a good deal on a retractable awning that will last, we do not have luggage racks to mount to either, so if you know anything about how to do that or how not to do it it would be great! We are in Florida, so that’s the reason for nighttime cooling. any thing else you think may help us on a SS budget would be really welcome! Thanks for your time! Cindy & Norm
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Can’t one air up the tires and jump start it, drive it a bit and park nose in or something to show it’s not abandoned ? .
Seems a shame and waste .
-Nate