Brent's Van (uante)

Wow Brent, this is going to look really sharp inside. Also, I really like that Hearse-like Brougham trim piece (Not sure what the technical name is for it) on the rear upper panel. Gives it a nice classy look!!!



I really like the direction you're heading in..making it your own and there's not another one like it!
Keep the updates coming....Love it!

Thanks Vanny...
The little piece is called a Landau. Those ones are off an old Thunderbird and I have another set with a bigger center circle that I'll probably switch to one day. But for now those are working good. The reason I went with them is they had them on the Spy Van I'm basing my van on.

Here's a picture of the old spy van

That’s cool 😎. How cool would it be if someone from the show saw it and had their picture taken with you and the van? Maybe they’ll do a remake of the show and rent your van for it...

The only one from the show left alive is John Ericson and he's 91. I wrote him a couple years ago, but he's really private and doesn't respond to fan mail. Kind of hope they don't do a remake...they usually screw things up...i.e. Wild Wild West, Honeymooners, Starsky and Hutch.
I watched that show as a kid and after rediscovering it whIle trying to decide what type of van I wanted, I picked the Econoline. It was a tough choice as each van has its cool aspects. I was kind of leaning towards the Ford because of the Vonage vans which got me started.

Got my beefier, wider, wheel project done. Pretty happy to get that figured out finally. Also now have 3 of the 6 instrument panels in the rear completed. Once the other 3 panels are finished, I can trim out the rear of the van and move on to more fun stuff.

I decided to get the writing on the side of my van hand painted on, I found a guy at a car show who does it for a living and not too expensive. Originally I went with the magnetic sign to see if I could stand it on there, and as it turns out I really like it. In hind-sight the magnetic sign is a little cheesy and over priced but *shrugs* now so now it's going to be gone soon.

You could become a Private Investigator, Brent P.I. ...Coming Soon to a Theater near you!!!

The Arizona Cardinals practice facility is about 2 miles from where I live...might make that my first spying gig. lol

Well its painted on now! No turning back...

A 100 mile round trip drive on Phoenix Highways to get it done. Even with both trips on a Sunday, it was a hard to relax. People just want to go 80 in a 65 for some reason. Felt ok with my girlfriend covering my six in her car.

Looks Great Brent! Bet you got lots of Thumbs-UP!!!

Took my van to a car show last weekend. This is the first time with the Honey West theme almost complete. Although still haven't ran into anyone who knows the show...it generated a lot of interest and people saying they were going to look it up.



Van parked in the grass and shade. Nice show with about 105 cars. It was for the Pioneer Park Save the Train event.



There's me telling a guy about the History of the van back when it was a Fire Fighter Vehicle. Also Amy's yellow 68 Convertible Bug and our green 65 Bug that her nephew drove to the show.  



Folks checking out the 'Spy Van'!



Instrument Panel complete enough for now. I have plans already for upgrades/adjustments, but that can wait until after I trim in the back and complete the other props.



There weren't any back seats in the show, but what the heck, I like them back there. Got an vintage 8mm movie camera from eBay and an old tri-pod from a garage sale looking out the back window.



Amy and I made a board with some explanation of the show that people could check out if they wanted to. Worked a lot better than me trying to show people pictures on my phone!

Nice setup Brent! I've never seen that show either...I wonder if the show is available on demand or if the show is available on DVD. I'll have to google it to see.

The best place to watch it is at a site called DailyMotion. Here's a link to an episode. It has pretty good quality. You can also watch it on Youtube, but it's not as good of quality for some reason.

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrWp2jUxt9ahhEAOjWJzbkF?p=Honey+west+tv+show&fr=yfp-t&fr2=p%3As%2Cv%3Ai%2Cm%3Apivot#id=3&vid=c31fcfa9808622a06896a0a2ba94ac75&action=view

That was cool! Some of the still pics looks familiar to me and the intro to the show does too...I guess it's just a show I really didn't watch growing up. I watched one that they were getting into the van and driving off. You've done an excellent job in paying tribute to that van!!! Thanks for the link! She was ahead of her time being a strong independent woman!

Thanks Vanny. I was probably 4 years old when I saw this show. My Mom used to sit me in front of the TV while she did laundry or something. I don't remember much but the intro and thinking "This isn't a Cartoon". Anyway it was enough to keep my interest and I watched. Forty-five years later while looking for Rat Patrol DVD's at Fry's Electronics I saw the Honey West DVD set and bought it watched a few and stuck it in a drawer. In 2014 when I decided I was finally going to buy a Van I remembered that show had an old Van so I watched them again and decided I'd get a Ford.
Wasn't until later when trying to decide what I was going to do with it that I picked making a Spy Van replica/tribute. Thought it would be fun and shag carpet never really applied to me.

That show is widely thought of as ground breaking with a Female lead in a detective role. It was a spin off from a popular show at the time called "Burk's Law" and Honey and Sam's first Truck was actually an old 58 Ford Panel Truck, but when they got their own show, they went with a new Econoline because it had more space and side and back doors for filming.
Anyway lotsa cool stuff and tie-ins when you do some research into old TV programs.

uante wrote:Took my van to a car show last weekend. This is the first time with the Honey West theme almost complete. Although still haven't ran into anyone who knows the show...it generated a lot of interest and people saying they were going to look it up.



Van parked in the grass and shade. Nice show with about 105 cars. It was for the Pioneer Park Save the Train event.



There's me telling a guy about the History of the van back when it was a Fire Fighter Vehicle. Also Amy's yellow 68 Convertible Bug and our green 65 Bug that her nephew drove to the show.  



Folks checking out the 'Spy Van'!



Instrument Panel complete enough for now. I have plans already for upgrades/adjustments, but that can wait until after I trim in the back and complete the other props.



There weren't any back seats in the show, but what the heck, I like them back there. Got an vintage 8mm movie camera from eBay and an old tri-pod from a garage sale looking out the back window.



Amy and I made a board with some explanation of the show that people could check out if they wanted to. Worked a lot better than me trying to show people pictures on my phone!

I watch that show growing up! She was the coolest detective with a cat as a pet that was  not a leopard but maybe a Lynx? Honey West was the best show a little girl could watch! She was tough, beautiful-sexy and smart! And had a nice fur coat! Great theme!!

I watch that show growing up! She was the coolest detective with a cat as a pet that was  not a leopard but maybe a Lynx? Honey West was the best show a little girl could watch! She was tough, beautiful-sexy and smart! And had a nice fur coat! Great theme!!

Thanks Jackie!

That's cool you remember it. You are the first to have said so emphatically. There have been a couple at the car shows who said they vaguely maybe remember it.

Anyway, the cat she had was named Bruce and it was an Ocelot. Probably not a good pet to have if you have a Parrot like I do! lol

uante wrote:

I watch that show growing up! She was the coolest detective with a cat as a pet that was  not a leopard but maybe a Lynx? Honey West was the best show a little girl could watch! She was tough, beautiful-sexy and smart! And had a nice fur coat! Great theme!!

Thanks Jackie!

That's cool you remember it. You are the first to have said so emphatically. There have been a couple at the car shows who said they vaguely maybe remember it.

Anyway, the cat she had was named Bruce and it was an Ocelot. Probably not a good pet to have if you have a Parrot like I do! lol

Oh, yes Bruce, cool! I did not know my cats when I was a kid! Thanks for bringing up a great memory for me!
Your van is cool... Honey would be proud! Spy cam and all!

"Streetside Classics" Car show today. Two pretty good shows in two weeks. Probably take a break for the holidays now though. Van was a Big Hit again. People seems to not only enjoy the Honey West angle, but also the real history of the van being a Fire Department vehicle.

It's fun talking with people about it, but the best part is the drive there and back!

Seems like every time we see it, more little added touches appear. Looks really great, Brent!

Thanks Vanny.

Next project in work is the periscope and can on top of the van. For the can I bought a pair of vintage 12" film cans from ebay and then was able to grab some 12" diameter PVC pipe from a construction site. The film can bottoms fit almost perfect with the PVC...I'll be painting it today if I have time.

Here's the Periscope can from the TV show. Kind of cheesy looking in the close-up. I guess they weren't too particular about this prop.

Last Saturday won Best in Class for 58 - 83 Truck Original. I think I got lucky as the usual competition was at the "Good Guys" car show across town. But I'll take it!

Fantastic Brent!!!

Well deserved with all the work and effort you put into that van!

Thanks Vanny....So my Girlfriend didn't like the pictures I took, she said why did you wear that Gilligan Hat! lol
I was like, Because it was 6 hours out in the Sun!

The hat did it's job protecting your skin from the sun, good thinking little buddy!!!

LOL - Always one of my Favorites!