Stephanie saw these vintage vans congregated at a parking lot at Half Moon Beach, and sent me a couple of shots. All at least gen2 type, no forward control types.
And a shot from behind. Looks like two of them are 4x4s.
CC Outtake: Vintage Vans at the Beach
– Posted on February 5, 2019
Very cool, lots of patina, no trailer queens in sight.
I’m always curious how ten similar vehicles end up together in a parking lot-
Did it start with three or four vanners and evolve into this weekly/monthly/yearly get together, or did some friends decide as a group to acquire full-sized vans?
How fun! Yes, 2nd gen for the Dodges and Chevys and 3rd gen for all of the Fords. Apparently 2nd gen Fords are rare everywhere.
I love 2nd gen Ford vans and you’re right they seem to be hard to find. Funny, my wife was watching some Marvel movie last night and eventually I ask what the heck is it? She says it is Ant Man & the Wasp. Oh? I watch some not knowing what I am watching right up to the point when a 72 Econoline Ford rolls into the picture. I jump up and exclaimed “Wow, look a 72 Ford van!” My wife yawns and continues with the movie. I want to see the van again.
I know, I had the same reaction as you when I saw it. And I think our wives would get along.
Keeping van culture alive.
MY God I miss the ’70s…
i watch this and can’t believe I actually lived through this time. I was 13 and I couldn’t wait till I grew up – only half a decade away – so I could own and drive one of these lifestyle vans myself. But before I reached adulthood, seemingly in a blink of an eye, all these custom vans just disappeared. Within the space of about two years (’78 to ’80), they went from popular and fashionable to extinct.
I went to a hotrod show recently van culture is alive but hasnt progressed past the early 80s when decent sized vans left the market Bedford CF and Ford Transits were van of choice here, they easily swallow a V8 up front and lots of interior out back wide stance is standard, And of course I only shot an Aussie panelvan, I owned several and they are rare nowdays.
This is making me like the vanlife (and my Astro) even more. Once everything in it gets fixed, I’m planning to drive it all the way to Edisto Beach in September for my vacation. I went there in the Ranger around the same time this past year & it handled the trip without any problems, but even with the camper shell it just isn’t quite the same as a van (especially with room to stretch out & relax in). I really wanted to do it with the Aerostar, but certain “events” prevented that from happening. Hopefully I won’t run into any of the problems like you did with the Chinook.
What kind of candy did they have? 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever really noticed vans having the spare on the rear, but about half of these do. Are they usually underneath on a non-4WD van? Maybe that’s a new thing. Or an old thing that passed me by.
Ford has had theirs underneath forever it seems. Similar for Dodge and Chevrolet.
The downside is on my van the receiver hitch impedes removal of the spare so I have to drop the spare, jack up the rear end a bit so the hitch can allow clearance of the spare, then jack the rig up again where needed. Not exactly the most elegant process and hanging them on the rear door makes a lot of sense in some instances.
I don’t think that the under-floor spare became a thing on Fords until the 4th gen in 1992. I know that 70s Dodges mounted the spare along one side in the cargo area and that external spare mounts were very common in order to get more usable space inside. Pretty much every conversion van I ever saw had an external spare, and they were not uncommon on factory passenger vans. I guess you had to live in the midwest to get a decent sample size.