Van Go

Ask any guy and he’ll likely tell you that he wishes he still had the car he had as a teenager. I’m happy to say that I have mine.

I bought a 1973 Dodge Tradesman B-100 Van when I was 19 years old. It is presently sitting in my driveway.

I had been in the Navy a few months and finally had a steady income of about $135 a week. While home on leave at Thanksgiving, I stopped by the local Dodge dealer. He told me about a “courtesy delivery option” where I could order what I wanted and then have it shipped to any dealer in the country. We went down a check list and picked out everything; engine, transmission, suspension, interior style, paint, etc. It was fun. Total price was $3666. I made arrangements to have it shipped to San Francisco.

After what seemed like an eternal wait, the van arrived in April. I took a bus from Treasure Island to the local dealer on Van Ness Street in San Francisco. Although I really liked vans, I hadn’t really driven one before. A van is a rather large box without a hood in front, so somewhat different than a car. It was around five o’clock in the afternoon, so my first driving experience was during rush hour. The streets of San Francisco are narrow and the traffic heavy. It was a little nerve-racking, but no problems.

During the 70’s there was a huge van craze, which is why I bought it. Eventually, I added fat wheels and tires, side pipes, portholes, roof vent, flame paint job, interior paneling, 8-track player, and the ever groovy shag carpeting. Looked good and always attracted a lot of attention. Even made the reader’s page in Hot Rod magazine.

I drove the van a lot. I made a dozen trips between Washington and California, and several trips to Colorado. The longest trip was cross-country to Virginia, via Interstate 40 through the South. I stopped at the border of each state and took a picture of the welcoming sign with the van next to it.

While driving on a long, straight, deserted highway in Utah, I decided to see what the van would do. Put the pedal to the metal and held on tight. The van ran pretty smooth up to about 105 MPH. It started getting a little bit squirrelly, but I managed to quickly peg the speedometer at 120 MPH (197 KPH for you Aussies) and then brought her back down to a safe and sane 60 MPH.

The van still runs and I try to drive it once a week. The engine and tranny have been rebuilt and there are a couple of rusty spots. The flame paint job was looking a bit tired after ten years, so I had it painted black. Power train is basically stock except for the dual exhaust and an RV cam. The guy at the service station commented that it’s still a cool “shaggin’ wagon”.