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Retro vans?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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Aug 20, 2004 17:02:01 GMT
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I'm probably going to need a van in the near future for work. A normal human being would be looking at Vauxhall Movano's or Transits.... but I was thinking about keeping it retro and getting an old one! It wouldn't lead a hard life - just ferrying stock up and down the motorway, but if I need one I might as well get something I enjoy driving! Doesn't have to be big either - Escort size would do fine. It just has to be cheap!
I was thinking along the lines of.... Bedford CF Mk2 Transit (Mk1's seem to have disappeared!) Sherpa (look dog rough but it could be cool...I think...) Vauxhall Viva-based vans (CA is it?)
Any other ideas?
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Aug 20, 2004 17:08:54 GMT
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What about an Anglia Van, little on the rare size but if you can get they certainly having character etc!
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Aug 20, 2004 17:17:03 GMT
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Aug 20, 2004 17:18:45 GMT
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The Viva vans are HAs...CFs are more Transit sized. A Marina van would be a reasonable buy although I'd be tempted to look out for a Maestro van and then slip a turbo lump in!
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Aug 20, 2004 17:34:58 GMT
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how about an ex police V8 Sherpa? ;D
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I'm dressed in black again until someone invents a darker colour.
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richy
Posted a lot
Flatheads forever....
Posts: 1,764
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Aug 20, 2004 17:44:02 GMT
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Well....
Last year the missus bought a '64 HA Viva van, which she uses for her gardening business. It's got plenty of room for carrying the tools, and is pretty economical - but with a 1050cc lump it's not exactly rapid.
It has a set of period spotlamps and wing mirrors and she's also fitted a 'bomb'-shaped door mirror. We've also added period trim rings and chequer-tape on those spotlamps. Scruffy it is, but dead cool it is too. Really needs those new front wings, plus a respray to include a matt-black bonnet.
I'll put up some pics but if you want to see it now, it's in the latest Classic Van and Pick-Up on page 32.
'appy vanning!!!
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Retro vans?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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Aug 20, 2004 18:42:19 GMT
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Great suggestions! At the minute I manage to stuff everything in the Merc, but with an engine swap in the not-too-distant future I may need transport (oh who am I kidding? It's just an excuse to get another retro motor!) A van would be dead handy though. I've never seen a Marina van before! I could also convert a retro estate into a van - I'm thinking Mk2 Escort estate or Volvo 245.... few bits of sheet metal, a bit of welding and a few cans of matt black.... Ideally it'd be a VW bus, but in reality I'm looking at a fraction of what those cost really! Richy - stick some pics of the van on here! Love to see it!
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richy
Posted a lot
Flatheads forever....
Posts: 1,764
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Aug 20, 2004 19:07:11 GMT
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Hi Benz
I'll get those pics up asap - well, the missus probably will as it's her car - sorry - van! She says the best thing about it is that people come over and talk about it, and she also says she gets plenty of people waving - which I reckon is pretty cool. Mind you, earlier in the year, coming back from the beach, the van was nearly punted off the road by - wait for it - a Nova! Quel surprise. Anyway Benz, have you ever seen a Volvo 145 Express, which was an estate with panelled in sides and raised rear roof? There used to be one round Chiswick a few years back I think, and it was owned by an Azazon specialist.
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Aug 20, 2004 21:14:01 GMT
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You have plenty of choice really. I'd go for something weird and obscure like a Lada 2108 or Moskvitch 412 panel van if I could get one, but if you want something you can actually get bits for, you could always try a Bedford CF. They often had the slant four from the Viva/Magnum/Firenza, so you would have no bother getting a big tuned Firenza 2.3 in there. Another cool van is the Bedford Chevanne, based on the Chevette, so again you can get all the sporty Vauxhall running gear inside with a bit of welding and grinding.
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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Benzboy, never seen a marina van? the gas board used them by the thousands up until the mid 80`s.
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I'm dressed in black again until someone invents a darker colour.
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Loading it could be tricky though! ;D
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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richy
Posted a lot
Flatheads forever....
Posts: 1,764
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Aug 21, 2004 10:13:34 GMT
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Benz
Damn! A bloke near us has just sold an Ital van with just 9,000 miles on the clock for 200 quid! It was a bit scruffy, but what a van to use - esp as there's room for a much bigger lump under the bonnet...
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Retro vans?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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Aug 21, 2004 18:21:24 GMT
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Wow! I seemed to have erased the file in my head marked "British Leyland Commercials"! Ital van... completely forgot about that one... and now you mention British Gas igbandy it brings the memories flooding back! I like the Fiat Amigo but I reckon they've long vanished to their red oxide graves . A bloke I knew used to blast round in one - all rot and gaffer tape!
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Aug 21, 2004 18:31:06 GMT
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There was a Mk1 Transit for sale last weekend at the Yeovil Festival . & my Dad has a 1700cc Ital estate that he wants to get shot of but it has been standing for years though. ...& don't knock the idea of an estate car either!!! A mate had a Mk2 Cortina estate up until recently & the load area was huge plus there's the benefit of having rear seats if you need them??
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Aug 21, 2004 18:35:05 GMT
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How about a Fiat 127 Fiorino , they had the same ohc engines as the Sport models only in a lower state of tune and were made until the late 80's Get an engine from a 1300GT race car and its Q-Van
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richy
Posted a lot
Flatheads forever....
Posts: 1,764
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Aug 21, 2004 20:15:38 GMT
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Benz here it is... in all its slightly ropey glory!!
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richy
Posted a lot
Flatheads forever....
Posts: 1,764
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Aug 21, 2004 20:16:43 GMT
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Benz
Posting on here is too difficult for me to understand so you'll have to wait 'til I've sussed it!
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Last Edit: Aug 21, 2004 20:19:32 GMT by richy
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Retro vans?BenzBoy
@benzboy
Club Retro Rides Member 7
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Richy - I had the same trouble! The pics have to be hosted on another site, then ya put the url in the message. I don't really know the ins and outs of it all.... computers don't have engines.... I just don't get it! I'll look forward to the pics when they arrive Somebody down the road from me has an ancient Comma van sat at the bottom of their garden - it's been there years so is probably like swiss cheese, but that'd make a cool retro van!
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richy
Posted a lot
Flatheads forever....
Posts: 1,764
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Those Commers are pretty cool: some came with a 2.5-litre petrol engine and what's more, you can fit P5B Rostyles as well....
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