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Speaking on pot drinking and partying
Ditch-Runner
Member Posts: 25,222 ✭✭✭✭
How many of you had a van or a friend / relative with one
Back in the day when they were the rage
I know I spent a lot of time in several vans , just enjoying life as it come and wow the reputation of them was spot on lol
So many memories and stories of those days but most would not be considered family friendly so just leave it at that
But all those friends have passed on RIP to a great group of guys and gals
sadly just great memories remain And will all disappear with me when I pass
I am just jogging your memories
I am positive all the old "van" songs of the day will bring a smile to your faces
They do make me smile any way
Not to mention the fantastic art work on the vans and wild interiors
Comments
I was there. Had a couple buddies with fancy conversion vans back in the early 70's. * carpeted, super stereo systems, full size bed, fancy paint jobs with artistic murals on the sides.
As much as I liked the vans, I'm glad I never owned one though. Those buddies had trouble picking up dates at their parents' homes when they pulled into the driveway with a bedroom on wheels! 😁
Hate to go against the stereotype, but I couldn't afford a conversion van until I was in my 30's. Then I wore out a couple of Indiana built Chevy conversion vans. The wife and I would put the kids down to sleep or put on movies and swap-off driving all night to Panama City, Orlando, Daytona, the Colorado Rockies, or home to central and western Arkansas. No "Are we there yet?". Then, there were the camping/hunting trips (beagles crated in the back). I would have one, today, if the old school conversion vans were still available. SUV's just aren't the same.
I agree it was a obvious statement.
a old GF of mine her older sister bought a chevy van and well shortly after that we were not BF GF any longer 😥
her and her sister who broke of with her BF also put a lot of miles on that van and never left the drive ins 😕 😲 with it .
but looking back at a lot of the girls I picked up with my excessive loud obvious hot rod cars really long hair a kind of hippy looking fellow picking up their daughter. 😣 its hard to image parents especially dads allow it 🤨 different times all I can say
one last thought I had a 71 mustang mach 1 the rear seat folded down flat and it had a fold down panel that laid down into the trunk it was fast looked great and a bonus a drive in movie special 😁
friend I worked with had a 4-wheel drive van, one of the best things around in the snow. Till one night we got to much snow and he had to much beer, off the road he went and a he found out you can't drive over a large oak tree.........
I did not own a van until the early 1980s nothing real fancy, but it was a conversion van it was great like you say taking the kids and family on trips , but the party days had long since passed when we got it
we switched to chevy blazers. for years then on to honda elements
I had a 1961 VW van. Five of my buddies piled in one summer day in 1970 and we went to the Atlanta Pop Festival. Jimi Hendrix playing The Star Spangled Banner at midnight in front of 250,000 people.
Three of my pals in the van
were combat Marines, just returned from Vietnam. Here's two of them, Phil Plott, left, and Ronnie Baker center. Those Marines were some wild and crazy boys.
I had a Ford Econoline van with the camper interior conversion .............. sure glad they can't talk ............... just sayin.
Remember the saying "when the van's a rocking, don't come a knocking" ?
Remember the saying "when the van's a rocking, don't come a knocking" ?
Great! Now you've got Stevie Ray Vaughn's song takeoff on that stuck in my head.
My first one was a 67 Chevy phone company van. It had the dog box between the seats over the motor. I had to manually choke it to get it started. My friend would kid me about seeing it parked on a backroad. In truth, it was probably broke down and we had to walk out.
Second one was a 78 CHEVY.
Third one was a 82 Ford Econoline. By then I was getting into canoeing and kayaking.
Last one was another Econoline. We'd put to canoes on top and stuff the back full of boats.
I did not have a conversion van but i did make some changes to my 72 Chevy van. I had just gotten out of the service and I was doing a lot of scuba diving. I had built a bed over the wheel wells. I left it open in the back so that I could store scuba gear under the bed. I put curtain's behind the drivers seat and over the back and side windows.
Where we dove at we used go down the night before and I could sleep in the van. It was also a great place to change into my swimsuit and back into dry clothes after diving.
I used that van to pick up my wife for one of our first dates. What a time I had explaining to her parents that the van was set up for diving and not what they thought I wanted to do with their daughter.
^^^^
“and not what they thought I wanted to do with their daughter.” Hmmm…I assume you did want to do what they thought you wanted to do.
Not a van but one buddy we called big Mike ( over weight big time but a fun guy to have around ) had a old Ford pickup with a topper on it
Not exactly what most teenager's owned or crused in back then lol
But it came in handy at the drive in parked backwards in the parking spot
He did buy a 396 70 chevele later on
RIP big Mike
I didn't have the van but I did have the1977 f100 truck . Camper shell on the back .pass thru sliding rear window ,carpet ,curtains and a built in bed. Met my first wife while driving it .
I will wager more than a few campers and topper trucks came into play .
A acquaintance not a real close friend but we knew each other he was related to the truck owner
ended up getting married one of the two sisters we picked up while cruising one weekend the two sisters hung with our small group of friends for a few years , before he married her I have not seen him for years but some years ago I heard they had some kids and later got divorced from the grape vine info
will add
I still have my 69 camaro from way back then ( i bought it in early 1976) every time I get to thinking on old times and old buddies and fun times I could never sell it way to many memories for me
I think now no way possible now and how did even back then flex , bend , and contort our bodes like that in bucket seats 😲 youth sure had its advantages