Here's a forgotten fad that might be fun to re-visit....

Hot Rod every once in a while has a column showing old covers and articles from "10 years ago today...20, 30, 40 and 50 years ago."  One that caught my eye that the editors today made fun of was the "Van Craze" in the late '70's and early 80's. I remember-My dad and I worked at Serramonte Ford in San Francsico and they sold tons of tricked-out vans for top dollar. And the buff mags like Hot Rod, Car Craft, etc-featured them almost on a monthly basis. The upside for someone wanting to do a project now-is whether Chevy / GMC or Ford or Dodge-late '70's and early '80's vans are just old utility vehicles-they don't even bring the price of a beater pickup truck. Which means you can usually buy one in decent shape dirt-cheap. You could certainly do one in '70's style-carpeting, paneling, captain's chairs, a bed, a TV etc. if you wanted to. What would be cooler in my opinion is a bare-bones racer. A Dodge Van with 440 stompin' cubes under the bonnet,a Torqueflite with a high-stall converter, some 3.55:1 or 4.10:1 gears in the rear end, maybe some sandbags strapped down in the rear for extra traction. How cool would it be to show your tallights to the little boys in their rice-rockets, yuppies in BMWs or middle-aged guys in Hemi Chargers or new Camaros with an old van?  Pretty cool I think. Dodge vans were available with everything from a 318 to a 440 up until 1978. I'd definitely look for the 400 and 440 models, but a 360 would do in a pinch with the right parts. Ford vans were available with everything from a 302 to a 460 well into the '80's. I'd try to find a 460-but the much more common 351M / 400 can be made to really run too. Unfortunately GM never put a big-block in their 1/2 ton vans but there are zillions of them out there with 350s under the bonnet. There is more speed equipment on the market for the Small-block Chevy than anything else on the planet so making big power shouldn't be a problem. Just a thought....Mastermind