If this van is Rocking , Don't Bother Knocking !
[h=1]Dodge’s Adult Toy: 1978 Dodge Street Van[/h]
image: http://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/050516-Barn-Finds-1978-Dodge-Van-1-630x420.jpg
This van isn’t the wildest of the
era, but it has to be one of the nicest ones left over from the 1970s van craze. The
1978 Dodge Tradesman Street Van seen here is in Wilmington, Delaware and it’s listed
on eBay with a current bid of less than $4,000 and three days left on the auction. Get those skin-tight
polyester pants out of the closet, trim up that burly mustache and put a bid in on this thing! Thanks to Charles H. for tracking down this disco-era party van!
image: http://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/050516-Barn-Finds-1978-Dodge-Van-2-630x420.jpg
What an era. Raise your hands if any of you either had a van in the 1970s or you wanted a van in the 1970s? Ha, I knew it! I had a succession of four Dodge vans from 1980 up until 1992, I loved these things; still do. Dodge had a hit on its hands with these factory custom vans, they called them
Street Vans and they were a part of Dodge’s “
Adult Toy” collection. Please, for the love of Mike, do
not Google that term, you will not find vans. I don’t know what Dodge was thinking; thankfully there wasn’t really a public internet back then or they probably would have changed it to something else.
image: http://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/050516-Barn-Finds-1978-Dodge-Van-3-630x420.jpg
This van is “original”, but as is often the case, it has been repainted, so it’s
almost original. The seller says that the van had a repaint this past year and although the owner was insistent that be exactly like it would have been when new, it somehow turned out lighter. I’m guessing the green part is lighter, you can’t get much lighter than white.
image: http://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/050516-Barn-Finds-1978-Dodge-Van-4-630x420.jpg
I would watch out for rust on this van, even though the underside looks amazingly
solid with just surface rust. I know from experience that these things rust like crazy in the rockers and the bottoms of the doors. I had one totally restored with all new metal in the rockers, door bottoms, etc., and of course, on the drive home I hit a deer. Sigh.. But, I digress. If you watch this video on
YouTube of this van, you can see rust on the
bottom of the driver’s door. I would be worried that the fresh paint may be hiding something, but I could be wrong. Why they didn’t paint the bottoms of the doors is beyond me. The
interior of this van looks
great, almost like new. I bought a “paneling kit” for my ’74 Dodge van that consisted of paper templates that you would lay out on paneling and cut it out for a perfect fit. Add insulation and fasten the paneling on with screws and you were lookin’ sharp! Some shag carpet and a couple of compartments over the wheels for a seat and a bed and you were in business. I mean, for.. like camping and stuff..
image: http://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/050516-Barn-Finds-1978-Dodge-Van-5-630x420.jpg
This is the famous 318 engine that’s crammed in there, it’s probably my favorite Chrysler product V8. Just because the only other Chrysler V8 that I’ve ever had was a 360 in a ’76 Dodge Ramcharger and it was thee worst vehicle that I’ve ever owned, up until my wife got a new Mini Cooper in 2011, and that
far exceeded the Ramcharger in worst’ness.. Supposedly everything works on this van, even the AC; although it could use a recharge. This looks like a great van, these have to be one of the next hot things in the collector market. Almost everything else is rising in value like crazy, once these classic 1970s vans start showing up on TV auctions the bubble will start for the factory custom van craze all over again. I’d love to get one of these Dodge vans again, have you ever owned a custom van like this?
Read more at
http://barnfinds.com/1978-dodge/#99djK3kcuJCyZktl.99