Bedford Vans

Plymouth Vans, people go crazy over them. They sale for big bucks at auction, in reality they’re just rebadged Dodge vans. I admit I share the same kind of enthusiasm for Bedford Vans, basically rebadged GM vans made in the UK and sold through all of Europe.

Bedford Vans differ from their American brethren with the different grille as well as a unique sliding passenger and driver’s door. It’s really pretty cool little feature and I am surprised I’ve never seen an American custom van fitted in this way.

Bedford Vans also differ from the US counterpart in the way that paneled SUV’s and Wagons were considered part of the van line as well.

Bedford vans came in many different flavors starting with a slant 4 cylinder engine. Think a V6 van is underpowered; try driving a standard size van with a four banger!

Very few have made it to the U.S., the ones that are hear are basically rusted out. With the van scene of the 70’s not really taking off in the U.K. like it did in the U.S. custom rides are few and far between, but a little digging on the web can turn up some spectacular examples.

Post to Come: Bedford Vans, Classic JDM Book Update, and Maggie Cheung!

So a month goes by, and I don't post anything. Then last week happens and I write 7 new post. I'm trying to keep the pace up, so here's a list of what to expect. 

Not a lot is commonly known about Bedford Vans in the US, even among enthusiast.

Will take a close look at these British GM people movers in a detailed Profile. 

My post about Classic JDM Books has had a lot of hits but since posting it I have

found many more resources including the English language "BIBLE"  on the subject.

Look for a picture heavy post coming soon.

So Japanese women get a lot of love on this site, but I don't discrihate I love all

Asian women! To prove just that point, we will have a nice profile and selected

Filmography on Hong Kong beauty Maggie Cheung! 

If you notice I didn't put any dates on when these will go up, I'm going to try in fit them all in this week, but there's my other two blogs I have to  post on as well so just check back and see.

My Post Apocalyptic Van

I love Post Apocalyptic movies, with the Mad Max trilogy being high on the list. One aspect I love about these movies are the funky vehicles the survivors outfit for the wasteland. What started as an art project I got some of my artist friends to help me with rendering my van with women posing with it, took an entirely different direction when one of them sent me a quick sketch of my van Post Apocalyptic style.

Below is the results of some of my artist friends hard work. Below each picture is a link to their portfolio, I urge everyone to take a look at their stuff, and consider them for any illustration needs you might have that fit their style.

To see how the Vans & Girls image turned out, click here.

Clean lines and a minimalist approach gave my van a very Dystopian authoritativeness. The

work was done by Argentine artist Diego Martinez. Yeah I'm digging it.

www.mardelplatacomics.blogspot.com   

Spanish artist Antonio Jesus went the opposite direction by adding a ton

of gritty detail bits. I like how he kept the original design of my van and

kit bashed an outlaw look form hell.

http://aj79.deviantart.com/gallery/ 

This big bit of awesomeness is from the very talented Hoyt Silva. Hoyt has

a very unique style a little reminiscent Mignola but totally original at the same time. I had to

wait a little longer to get this piece in, but as you can see it was worth the wait. I really

didn't know what to expect when I commissioned these but Hoyt was right on

what I envisioned.

thehoyt.deviantart.com

hoytsilva.com

The Eagle Has Landed

I wrote over a month ago about how I bought a 1977 Ford Custom Van in Fort Worth, and was going to have it shipped to where I now live in Mississippi. I was waiting on my tax return to come in before I could get it shipped.

As some of you might have heard the IRS had a major backlog of payments they couldn't send out for whatever bullshit reason. Well last week my deposit finally went through and I made arrangement's to have it shipped.

Exactly one week after I made the call it's now in my driveway. I already showed pictures of the exterior, luckily nothing changed in the move. So I thought I would share some pictures of the swank 70's interior.

Custom Wrap Around Couch In The Back

 Thick Shag From Floor to Ceiling

Shot From The Back Seat 

Custom Cup Holder Built On The Dog House

It Flips Down To Reveal A Hand Gun Shaped Spot
And Holes Drilled Perfect Sized For Bullets!  

And One Last Shot Of The Orange Beast  

SCORE: 1977 Ford Econoline 150 Custom

It was the right time and I was at the right place. I had spotted the crigslist ad two weeks ago, and conversed with the seller by phone and text.

I live by the mantra that if it's to good to be true it probably is, this seemed to be the case. The seller assured me everything in the description was accurate. I decided to make a weekend trip to Fort Worth to see it in person. Sure enough it was as nice in person as in the photos.

I paid for the van, and rented a trailer from U-Hall unfortunately the trailer was to small. What really sucked is the fact that I didn't find that out until I loaded the van on and ripped a hole the front passenger side tire. I then hauled it from Godly, TX to Fort Worth and nearly flipped the van off the trailer.

So it was decided I would store it at my friends house long enough for me to arrange transport from a shipping company.

I'm so excited, it's not perfect by any means but is a great platform for a custom van project.

Photos below.

The grille trim needs to be replaced, but otherwise
a nice straight front end

Changing the Tire

Didn't take any photos of the interior, but it's all original from '77. Floor to ceiling shag carpet, four captains chairs and a custom wrap around sofa in the rear.

Dream Machine #001: Daihatsu Hijet

I first became aware of the Daihatsu Hijet Van while watching some forgettable Hong Kong action flick. A group of bank robbers all piled into a black one to not only pull the heist, but to out run the police.

I know now that quite a bit of artistic liberty was taken as to the performance of the van. Although it is quite an under-performer it still has a cult following and is an awesome van to own.

As obvious by the pictures you can see this van is small. It's not a mini van, it's a  micro van. The specs read like that of a high powered golf cart, a 1.0 three cylinder or the upgraded 1.3 four cylinder. It's a mid engine vehicle with the motor sitting under the front drivers seat. With the 1.3 motor the top speed is around 45 miles an hour. It is possible to put on larger tires and reach speeds up to 60 mph, though some question the safety of such an upgrade.

The Hijet ruffly translates to Midget in English, and although the similarly styled JDM Toyota Hiace sounds the same in name, Daihatsu was first to manufacture their van. As stated above the Hijet comes in different flavors, besides the 3 or 4 cylinder option all wheel drive is a choice as well.

Why this vehicle has a cult following has more to do with performance than it being cute. Although it seems criminally under-powered it is a mid engine vehicle with rear wheel drive. Couple with the fact that it weighs so little makes this thing a drift monster. Don't believe me, look it up on youtube and watch the little guys tear up the street (and their tires.)

So, why do I want one? Well I can't say I would drift in it, but when I open a shop it would be cool to have one as a parts runner. Believe it or not the Hijet can handle quite a load, you wont get there fast, but you will get there. Besides that it looks so JDM I would love to drive one around town just for the double takes.

Although you don't see them on the road that often, they do occasionally pop up for sale online. Usually broken in some way. As you might have thought parts are a bitch to find stateside. It helps if you have a direct line to someone in Japan that can ship parts. Something to look out for is that the truck version of this vehicle is also called the Hijet, so when you see one for sale online it might be the truck version.

As an interesting foot note a Hijet was featured on MTV's Pimp My Ride. West Coast Customs did their usual tacky paint job, but the interior was cherry. Watch it here.

For more information on owning or buying a Hijet check out Micro Van Owners Club.

Old School Auto Ads

Flipping through an issue of Car Craft Magazine (May, 1975) I stumbled upon a couple of great ads. I thought I would share them here. As always, click the picture for a larger image.

Car Craft May 1975 Cover

SuperMuff!

Great Dodge Ad

T-Shirt Iron On Decals

Close-Ups Of Some of the Decals

SCORE: T-Shirts

Love T-Shirts, but I don't like wearing what everybody else has on. This preference has lead me to tracking down specialty boutiques online catering to the not so normal. Latest buys below.

Showing some love for old-school vannin

 

It's kind of hard to see in this photo but the astronaut
in yellow is sitting buy a bunch of anti-anxiety pills.
My youngest sons theory is the man in yellow is pack man,
the astro-zombies pack man's arch rivals the ghost,

and the anti-anxiety pills, power pellets

 
Crappy photo, awesome Shirt

Check out the back
[click for bigger image]

Deal of the Week

I have a ritual I preform every Sunday after church. I look around on Craigslist for cars. Since moving to Mississippi I have have felt a bit of an underwhelming feeling every time I look at the Jackson listing. I keep forgetting  how big the DFW metroplex is compared to where I am now.

Anyone familiar with the DFW metroplex knows it's a lot more than just Dallas and Fort Worth. It also refers to the smaller urban areas in between the two city's and the larger towns surrounding the entire area. It's huge and the DFW Craigslist listing covers it all. So, I have gone back to searching the DFW listing. If I ever find something good I can always make the trip back down.

It doesn't happen often but every once in a while I come across something that is to good to be true, today is one of those days. One of my weekly searches is for vans. To grab a wider result I simplify my search terms like "dodge van", as opposed to "1976 Dodge B100". Querying that term (Dodge Van) I came up with an awesome result.

The listing said "Dodge Van For Sale - $900 (Dallas)". I always jump on these listings because the year is not listed because they are often older vans and they think it will scare away people from clicking. A lot of people don't know what they have when it comes to an older van.

This is obviously the case with this guy. The Dodge van for sale for $900 is a certifiable Mid 70's Good Times van. I called the guy and asked some questions. The paint is as old as the van and was purchased at a custom van dealer in '76. The body has very little rust and the only real problem seems to be the brakes.

If it weren't for the lack of storage space at my place I would buy this rig in a heartbeat

For those interested the sale can be found here.