(first posted 4/18/2017) Time for another “Last of Its Kind On The Streets” edition. Sadly, vintage conversion and cruising vans are another endangered species on the streets. The 70s era cruising vans fad spawned the conversion van, and created a pretty good sized industry. And some rather colorful versions, like this 1980s Starcraft conversion van with its multi-colored stripes. It’s a rolling period piece.
There’s a few ratty old vans around from this era, but none with such finely preserved historical features, like those rainbow stripes repeated at three levels, no less! These rainbow stripes, although with red at the top, is the official symbol and flag of the LGBT community. Maybe Starcraft was ahead of its time, or maybe that’s why they stopped with the rainbow theme? More likely it had just run its course.
I was never a big fan of conversion vans, since their interiors were invariably not to my taste, with overstuffed chairs upholstered in some pouffy velour or such, and of course the ceiling-to-ceiling shag carpeting. I was more into the spartan plywood look, a bit more functional and suitable for genuine camping.
But this baby has wood too. Check out this mega-console, which appears to have been carved out of solid wood (of course, looks can be deceiving). The finish is…finished, but that is an impressive piece of rustic consolery. And it looks like some more slabs found their way onto the doors. I may have lied about the ceiling-to-ceiling shag carpeting. Too bad I couldn’t get a shot of the back. A solid wood conference table?
Let’s get a nice close-up of the stripes. The purple has not aged well.
This is a G20 van, GT Series. Presumably that suffix is thanks to Starcraft’s creative marketing department, as it’s hard to imagine how “GT” has any relevance to a van. The “L” and “B” are obviously missing.
Enough with all that. Obviously I’m grasping for something to say about this van. Why bother? It speaks quite eloquently for itself.
Can’t say anything bad about it. My grandmother (who was a hippy in the 60’s) taught me not to. She had a sayin:
If the old van is still a rolling, don’t come a trolling
Maybe Starcraft was ahead of its time, or maybe that’s why they stopped with the rainbow theme? More likely it had just run its course.
The official van of Mork from Ork.
These were really awesome to travel in. As a passenger. To drive or fill up with gas, not so much. But as a kid these were my dream ride.
+1. A couple of my uncles had van conversions as their family haulers and I would love riding in them as a kid also. As an adult driver later on, my impression of driving one is that of navigating a boat!
The wheel well flares and side cladding are….interesting. You just don’t see these anymore, and when you do they are never this clean. Always a fan of the 1971-1995 GM G-van.
“1971-1995 GM G-van”
Now that’s a surprise. I always thought the Bedford CF (1969-87) post-dated the American version. They do look very similar.
GT is “Grand Touring”, right? You could definitely tour in a grand fashion in this…so there…. ???
Damn… did that thing get beaten down with the ugly stick! Wow! If anything needs to be killed with fire this rolling abortion does!
I used to deliver these and little box trucks. I’d go up to their yard in the evening, find the right one, grab the keys out of the tailpipe, and there’d be a packet on the seat with the paperwork and cash for gas, bus trip back, and a little profit, which would be higher if I hitched home.
If it was a box truck I’d roll my motorcycle in and ride back. Either way the deliveries were more adventure than profit. I did have some fun trips and learned some things about self-reliance at a time in my life when those lessons were invaluable.
The vans drove well enough for that time period, quiet and cushy seats, but I would never have bought one if I’d had the money. They were festooned with odd gimcrackery that would have quickly gotten tedious for anyone practical.
Those cup holders…
I suppose they are fine if you only want to hold half a cup.
Thank you Paul, for finding time capsules like this. It’s in remarkable condition.
It makes sense that conversion vans are fading faster than their work truck brethren. The “luxury” features make them both more prone to decay (rust under the fiberglass body kits, rot from water leaks on the wood and carpet inside) and less useful as haulers or even home made camper base vehicles. The last niche I see for these is as RV haulers and even there, a pickup or more basic passenger van is better.
I just looked it up and found that Starcraft is still alive and well in northern Indiana. Only now it makes its living selling parts and accessories for older conversion vans and other vehicles.
With a couple of counties in northern Indiana being the epicenter of the van conversion business, you can imagine that my area was crawling with these once upon a time. But they are getting rare here now too. I believe, however, that someone may still be doing conversions on the old-school Chevy/GMC van.
These were always a great used car buy for a family as the resale values did not hold up all that well. Not my style, but they certainly were roomy, comfortable highway cruisers for a family or a group.
Cringe. At the risk of sounding mean-spirited, the day these disappear should be a national day of celebration.
If you want a shock, take a look on the sold listings for conversion vans on eBay. It’s eye opening and a ray of sunshine for anyone who has one that doesn’t present itself like a used mattress.
Yes, these competed with Chevettes for the vehicle most likely to be at the head of a massively long left-lane traffic blockage. Also, Paul frowns on commenting negatively on the types of pinheads who drove these………..oops, just did.
Hey, wait a minute Jason, don’t you own the Ford version of this?
Sadly, yes, which is why I was looking at sold listings on eBay. Have to know what to expect for the disposal process. Pricing these things is a really funky science.
My parents had these, a ’79 GMC and a ’92 Chevy, both conversions of some sort. I remember them well from many family road trips. My most distinct memory is from the ’79 GMC. Water got in it at some point (through leaking windows most likely) and gave it a really bad musty smell. Recipe for car sickness!
Bitchin’. I never owned one, but a friend—still, to this day—refuses to drive anything but a de luxe Chev conversion van. He gets a new one every six years or so, and it sounds like every time they get harder to procure. Me, I never owned one, but I do have this book, which is about 85% of the fun with no hassle and nearly 100% less cost.
Good Grief, I just clicked on that link, and after 5 years the prices for that have gone completely berserk. There’s either way too much disposable cash out in the world these days, or it really is true that people will pay just about anything for something they can call “rare and vintage”. The older I get, the more wonder I view humanity with.
Those look like 5 mph bumpers. I can appreciate the styling efforts for the modern integrated-bumper look. but to duplicate the 70’s battering rams is odd. I guess they double as steps, which can be useful.
I’m a big fan of G-vans in general and like the conversion style. A friend has a pristine van much like this. It looks retro-bordello- nice but the seats are too soft and the swivel pedestals are very floppy.
I found a well – optioned factory Beauville van to be a better compromise. Its not as luxurious -looking, but comes with power options, rear-AC, its just as quiet, the seats are more supportive, and more easily removed for a flat cargo floor.
I think that two things contributed to the decline of this type of vehicle: The price of gas and the advent of the mini van. These things got dismal gas mileage with their big V8 and terrible aerodynamics. I personally didn’t like the image that these portrayed, as they sometimes looked kind of tasteless. When I sat in my first Dodge Caravan in 1990 I was hooked on it as a family vehicle. Two nice Captain’s chairs for the parents and a reconfigurable second and third row seat for the kids and cargo. Plus it fit in the garage and returned as solid 20 mpg. on the highway. I must have put a couple of hundred thousand miles on my two minivans over almost twenty years.
I was never a big fan of these vans. They were rather expensive new, with furnishings and fixtures you knew were going to age badly and quickly. They seemed to get a second life as mini-campers for some of the racing crowd. But mostly, they were cheap beaters.
I often wondered about the appeal of taking a rolling living room with you everywhere. Like others noted, the interiors after a few years showed accelerated decay and fixtures took up most of the space in the things. It never seemed like a good mix. I knew many people who had these and while new, they were a very nice riding vehicle, in as much as a short wheel base commercial van converted to a passenger vehicle can be.
Not said with hate, but more like exasperation, not sad to see them go.
The atmosphere in these tended to make their drivers totally oblivious to what was going on around them, hence infuriating others unfortunate enough to be in their proximity.
The quality of these varied fairly wildly with the different conversion companies. The Starcraft was one of the better ones, as I recall.
But you are right – as these aged you would see them with rust bubbles, mangled window shades and the occasional piece of plywood or plastic attempting to fill the space of a broken window.
These carried unique sliding door hardware because to clear the wide rear wheel flare the door had to move further away from the body than with a common cargo van. Some of that hardware became pricey “rare gold” as the vans aged.
Interesting. I’d never considered that before.
As I suspect is the case in Eugene, conversion vans, along with mini-motor homes of similar vintage, are far from rare in my town. Parked on the side of the road in industrial or semi-rural neighborhoods, and occasionally overnight in my quiet residential neighborhood, they are transportation, homes, places of (probably illicit) business and social gathering spots. Unfortunately I don’t feel much nostalgia for them as they seem to leave a trail of litter, and worse, behind them when they leave. Not to mention their presence seems to coincide with stolen bicycles.
Nice find – my first thought was I see the A-Team has retired to Eugene…
Haha, the theme song started playing in my head the moment I saw the pic…
This one is more like the B Team.
I remember when these things got feedback carburetors and later TBI, the computer was under the driver’s seat.
That wood console took a lot of work. Any idea if it was part of the conversion or just owned by someone with wood working skills?
I’m quite sure it came that way. It’s like furniture-making; not that difficult if done in volume and with patterns.
I love to write “Free Candy” in white chalk on the side of my 1998 Choo Choo Conversion and drive slowly past the elementary school. Just kidding. Ha! That’s a pun in itself!
Seriously, just yesterday afternoon, 100 miles on cruise, AC on, two aboard with some gear, Scan Gage read 19.4 mpg average when I got off the slab. And great fun for an old cabover truck/bus driver with all that visibility.
I’ve had occasion to borrow one of these a few times for long trips, including a cross country run. They are mile-eaters. After a days drive you still feel relatively fresh, and what you pay for in gas you can save in hotels.
They have picked up a negative image in some areas, but that only makes them more affordable. For long haul towing, with people and gear, they are still hard to beat.
Owing to low-durability materials, the interiors of these vans tended to age poorly. Because of that, there is a moment in the life-cycle when one of these becomes cheaper than a similar-age cargo van, and with lower miles.
I see bunches of these that have been gutted out and reverted to cargo van status, with the windows spray-painted over.
Was there any reason the “3/4-ton” G20 vans always used 5-lug wheels?
The usual reason: cost. 🙂
The 20 series vans by all of the Big Three weren’t genuine HD nominal “3/4 ton” vehicles; those were the 30 series, with their full-floater rear axles. The 20 series were analogue to the F150 on such. I’m not exactly sure of the load ratings (don’t have time to look them up right now), but they were essentially 10 series trucks with somewhat stiffer springs and bigger tires. The 10s had pathetically small tires along with the softer springs; el chepos for light-weight delivery service and such.
And a pretty healthy percentage of the ones built were 20s; the 10s were most often seen as swb versions. I may be wrong, but they might have essentially stopped making 10 series lwb vans after a certain point, or only on special/fleet order. The 12 passenger vans were invariably 20 series, for liability reasons.
As such, these vans previewed the changes that would eventually happen with pickups: replacing the expensive full-floater axle with a regular one, and slightly bigger tires to carry the extra weight.
I believe that Ford’s E-250 used the 8 lug wheels. Only the E-150 (or swb E-100) used the 5 luggers. Dodge used 5 lug wheels on the Ram 250, and offered the Ram 150 only as a short wheelbase passenger van.
These numbering schemes were something of a moving target. On the ’68-73 generation Econolines, there were E100,200 and 300 series, with the 300 having the HD axle and 8 lug wheels.
But with the next generation, there were now 100, 150, 250 and 350 versions. As Jim said, the 250 had HD axles/wheels and was the “3/4 ton” equivalent, and the 350 was the one tonner.
And the E100 was not just limited to swb versions, at least not initially.
Did any Ford vans ever use 7 lugs like the pickups? I’m sure someone here knows!
Quintessential moment growing up in the ’70s: During the Summer of either 1977 or 1978 while my cousins were visiting from out of state my father borrowed a then new Econoline conversion van from a business associate and took 6 kids and 3 adults to a drive-in movie to see….wait for it…’Corvette Summer’ on the big outdoor screen. (If you’re unfamiliar, it’s one of the worst stink-bombs of even THAT decade.)
The van was rust brown metallic with swirling stripes in various earthtone hues, had slotted mags, side pipes (on which my cousin burned her leg climbing in through the side door) and was “decorated” inside with the expected swivel captain’s chairs, a folding couch/bed at the rear and a bar height round cocktail table. So 70’s-licious. Being 10 or so years old of course I rallied for the purchase of one for at least 6 months after this wondrous experience. My mother fortunately nixed that idea firmly. Good times.
Here in Portland these are somewhat common (not so fancy looking) and usually used by Motorhomeless. The one Paul found is mighty impressive and I agree dated.
I’ve always had kind of a thing for conversion vans like this. I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, so they always had this kind of “grown up” status somehow. They loomed large in story and song.. Bitchin’ Rides, Stabbin’ Cabins, Bone Zones, that kind of thing. Aftermarket heart-shaped windows, velour trim, CB radios, all that good stuff. I’ve heard stories..
If I could find one that wasn’t completely rusted out and water damaged, I’d like to go crazy with double alternators, battery banks, inverters, and some serious speakers. I’d paint me up a Pink Floyd “Dark Side of the Moon” theme, and then park it and play some DSOTM on the turntable, pop out a few lawnchairs, and have a few drinks in honor of those who went before.
If you need some awesomely awful van culture in your life, I would suggest watching Supervan if you can find it. But be warned…it really is awful. This is the music video from the movie. And really, probably the best part of it.
These were still selling in the early 90s at the suburban Ford dealer I worked at…I completely understand why they are thin on the ground now. The interiors were slapped together almost like a home custom, and most of them were owned by families with some money and little kids. Combine little kids with a non-sturdy luxury orientated interior and people that can afford new cars, and soon you have a trashed van that gets traded in and quickly attains beater status.
I’m looking at a 1986 Chevy Starcraft camper van, Class B. I have been trying to do some research but I can’t find anything on it. Even Starcraft couldn’t tell me about it! Why is this?
Not necessarily a lbgt machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWPI_Ia0dxE&ab_channel=DjMcPartyMaker
The van craze was a unique thing. Can’t say I had a hankering for one, but I clearly understood the appeal.
They were for cruising, just riding around or everyday transportation. No matter how wide the tires or aggressive the ground affects, they were not a “driver’s machine.” I’m not really aware of any aftermarket suspension upgrades.
In high school, my sister’s boyfriend got one of the most bitchinest vans around. A ‘75 Dodge Tradesman short wheelbase, the quintessential make and configuration for a “love machine.” We called it yhe “mushroom van.” Ground effects, wooden running boards, a wooden grille with a huge mushroom cutout, mushroom shaped portholes, and awesome custom painted murals of a mushroom farm, with a guy (think “Keep On Trucking image) wheelbarrowing a huge mushroom. And the inside? Every bit as over the top as the outside. It needed the truck suspension for the load of deep shag carpeting covering every surface.
You’d think my parents wouldn’t let their daughter near such a thing, much less parked in front of our house. But they were cool and had a sense of humor, and Danny was a good kid. However, whenever I watch “That ‘70s Show” basement smoking scenes, I think of us inside that van, parked in front of the house. Hahaha.
And all it miss is to listening to Sammy Johns’ song “Chevy Van”. 😉
Btw, could you imagine a Ford Transit or a Ram Promaster customized in the style of the Chevy Van/GMC Vandura, Ford Econoline and Dodge Sportvan/Ram Van of the 1970s and 1980s? 😉
Not necessarily a lbgt machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWPI_Ia0dxE&ab_channel=DjMcPartyMaker
“Elvia Gratton”, I remember that movie, doubful if the same scene would be made today.
This post deserves a little Fu Manchu…
LONG LIVE THE VANS!!!
https://youtu.be/_Zko7pBeHkk
In early ’82, for about 3 months, I worked for a shady, fly by night outfit that did conversions like this. No structural member in the side walls was sacred for the installation of the windows. The sawz-all spared nothing. It took those guys about half a day to completely gut and install the windows, shag carpet and those consoles were prefabed elsewhere. The fact that they paid me in cash, under the table while I collected a wopping $125 a week in unemployment insurance meant I could actually eat, save some cash and pay rent. Over 40 years ago, hope the statute of limitations has expired.
My experience with these is fairly limited. I got to ride in one that belonged to a friend of Dad’s when I was 10-12 years old, and at that age, I couldn’t imagine a much nicer place to be. It was a circa-1988 Chevy, I can’t remember which conversion company did it, but it was much more tasteful than in-your-face, and was fairly new and well maintained. Sitting in back, in my choice of a number of comfy seats, wafting along while looking at scenery go by behind deeply tinted windows. I had my own heat and aircon, reading lights, ambient lights, and good sounding stereo speakers. There was the stereotypical aesthetic of captain’s chairs swathed in velour, thick carpet, and slabs of wood trimmed with bright metal hardware… but it all came together nicely in that place and time, and this one seemed well screwed together.
This Starcraft is an interesting one. It’s 1985 or newer, and I thought that rainbow stripes were pretty passé by the mid 80’s. If they weren’t, it couldn’t have been very much longer before styling trends turned the page and left this van disco-ing by itself. I can’t remember many van body kits that involved the bumpers like this one, either… where they’re completely wrapped but the bumper faces are still showing. Maybe it’s the way that the stripes and two tone decor draws attention to this area on this one? It’s interesting that this one isn’t in heinously bad condition overall, yet it still looks pretty shabby. As others have said, many of the upfitter added parts tend to age faster than regular production line stuff, assembly quality was all over the map, and the vans often suffered at the hands of their second or third owners who purchased them for peanuts once the new wore off…
I’m seeing that the overall opinion of conversion vans ain’t particularly positive, and full size vans as a whole (at least in the USA) have a stigma attached to them. I’m not sure if this is due to some of the happenings of the “van craze” in the 1970’s, the pre-#vanlifers who bombed around in tatty 1980’s-90’s conversion vans, or …? It’s still pervasive enough that my last girlfriend referred to all full size vans as “creeper vans”, not matter their condition or purpose. So, this begs the question: If this particular van were in pristine condition, would it command more respect or be appreciated as a relic of its time, or would it still be the type vehicle your mom warned you to stay away from, lest you be ‘napped and hauled away in, never to be seen again. I’m voting for the former.