I’ve been walking past this driveway for many years now, and I finally decided to stop and shoot this four-some, as they all fall in the category of “Eugene-mobiles”.
Let’s start on the right…
The venerable Toyota Previa, which has now fully replaced its predecessor, the Toyota van, which in turn replaced the VW bus as the official van of Eugene. What will eventually replace the Previa? The Sienna, of course, but probably not in quite the same numbers.
This one is extra desirable, given that it’s an All-Trac (AWD) version. Just the thing to go mushroom hunting or snow-shoeing.
As a former W124 300E owner, this is sad, but representative of the genre. They’ve become beaters, and worse. I’m sure there’s a few nicely kept gems in some garages, but these were everywhere here for quite some years, but now they’re mostly used up, and not worth fixing anymore.
I love me big old vans, and this one is a bit of an oddball. Does anyone recognize it?
It seems to have been used as a minibus and not a delivery van, which makes it extra unusual. I’ve never seen anything just like this before. It’s on a Chevy chassis.
Quite the throne there.
It’s been converted into a kitchen, for food cart use. But the location and style of the windows and doors very strongly suggest that this was never a delivery van, and built as a minibus from the start. But I could be wrong; it won’t be the first time.
Last but hardly least we have us a W123 Mercedes diesel, in 300D (non-turbo) form. The fact that it’s still in pretty good shape and obviously in regular use, unlike the w124 300E, is representative of the vintage Mercedes scene here: w123 diesels are being kept up, many in still quite good shape, while the w124s are languishing.
That van is super interesting. The center door along the one side would certainly indicate not a delivery van as well. I have not seen one of that style before either. The other side has less windows that you’d think for a passenger role but more than a delivery one. Very curious.
So sad to see the W124 in that state. 123s hardly do anything for me but the 124 is a classic.
I spoke a little too soon. I guess at least that specimen is a unique color and has Euro or not 5MPH bumpers.
The W123’s rear bumper also doesn’t look protuberant enough for US regs, though the taillights are US-spec. It appears the owner has something of a fixation with Euroid bumpers.
The van is a Mobilux rv, made in 70s and perhaps early 80s. Unique in steel outer body like some front drive toronado’s, but in this case, rear drive cleaner van base. I thought they were cool in high school as an rv bug but consumers didn’t.
Well spotted. I’ve never heard of this beast, nor have I ever seen a van like this with quad round stacked headlamps. Usually they just used the standard-issue Chev/GMC setup with a single 7″ round above the park/turn signal.
The Previa, is one of my favourite exterior shapes of the last thirty years. And one of the all-time best-looking minivans. Toyota could really have explored bolder exterior colours, creative wheel styles, and trim packages. For such a dynamic styling effort, they kept the design detail choices too conservative IMO.
Imagine, one of the domestic makers daring to introduce a mid-engined minivan, serviced primarily from under the drivers seat. The assured increased service frequency alone, compared to Toyota’s reliability, would have made them a regular repair nightmare. Toyota’s reliability, allowed such an engineering risk.
So many design possibilities, Toyota never explored/marketed. Could have made, a cutting-edge pickup design. They look great lowered, as well.
Not just a mid-engined minivan, but a supercharged, RWD or AWD mid-engined minivan with a 5 speed manual transmission! Unfortunately there was a caveat, as you couldn’t get S/C, AWD, and a stick shift in the same package; pick any two IIRC. Also on the menu was swivel 2nd row bucket seats. Those had a caveat too – unlike the standard 2nd row bench seat, they weren’t removeable (at least without tools). All Previas got split 3rd row seats that folded up against the sidewall – a big deal back when other minivans required the 3rd row to be removed from the van if you needed more cargo space.
I almost bought a used Previa; they were amazingly space efficient and had great outward visibility. Flat engine under the floor but barely intruded on it; you could still easily walk between the first and second rows as well as between the two front row seats, both impossible in Toyota’s current van. Overall length was identical to the Lexus RX of the time (2nd or 3rd gen), yet there was a roomy third row seat and plenty of space behind it the RX didn’t have.
The available features, technology, and packaging, was impressive for that era. Besides being beautifully styled inside and out. The supercharger being a potential unwanted extra maintenance expense, as its primary role was to compensate for the engine being under-powered. They would have been much more popular, if not for the exclusive price. And, the mid-engine placement, may have chased some buyers.
It would have been my leading choice in the early 90s, if in the market for a minivan. Though, I likely would have waited for the more affordable pricing of a pre-owned version. And, they would have been mighty hard to come by.
Always loved the shape of the Previa. The Lucida variant (4″ narrower, to meet a JDM tax band) used to be surprisingly common here in London a decade or two ago, but they’ve all disappeared now.
Used to see a lot of Lucida and Emina versions in Forest Gate when I lived in London. 10 years ago now! 4″ narrower makes 8″ difference when meeting another one coming the other way. Handy on the back streets.
I was going to guess that the mystery van originally saw service as a “mobile post office”. I could swear that I’ve seen something similar in-person years and years ago. But I couldn’t find any photos of a version as old as the one you may have found.
Here’s a modern version of what I’m thinking about.
Was a “dreary day”, evidently. Still, the house, line up of rides; just hollers “sad”.
I believe that van is actually Flxible bodied van on a Chevrolet chassis, probably from the late 60’s or early 70’s. See the little triangle shaped area on the edge of the hood? That’s where the badge with the letters FLX would be.
Looks about right. This one was featured in Macgyver.
Looks like a Flxible Cruiser motor home – same window pattern:
Cutaway view and floorplan:
That’s it! Excellent sleuthing, as always.
The face of that truck looks so familiar.
It looks like the old Schmidt Baking Company bread trucks that used to run around the Baltimore area when I was a kid.