'67 Chevy Van 108 on Car Crazy

A friend called me tonight to let me know that my '67 ChevyVan 108 was on Barry McGuires "Car Crazy" show on Velocity/Discovery Channel tonight. It was apparently viewed at the Blackhawk Museum in Danville, CA, last spring at one of their "Cars and Coffee" Sunday morning meets. I don't get cable or satellite and the online archive only goes as recent as 2014, so I'm hoping my buddy was able to save it to his DVR for later viewing.

Yup!

Today it was appearing at the Good Guys Grand National meet in Pleasanton, CA. First time I've ever done a show & shine there. What a mad house. But in a good way. Saw only one other van, and it wasn't even an early... a '72 Dodge... with a HOOD!!!

Got a lot of positive comments, including one that the van was the best entry in the show...

At Good Guys Grand National, Pleasant on, today...

so when did you get into vans,,,,,,,,,sure is nice getting more attention than the hot rodder whose rims are worth more than your van,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

donivan65 wrote:so when did you get into vans,,,,,,,,,sure is nice getting more attention than the hot rodder whose rims are worth more than your van,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I didn't bring the van to Good Guys to engage in a pissing contest.

And I didn't post the photo of my visit and some description to get into a pissing contest either.

you got it all wrong,,,,,,,,,I am just saying that I sure like it when people at the car shows pay more attention to my van rather than the $60,000 hot rods next to me whose rims are worth more than my van,,,,,,

Understood.

Although I'm not clear on how seniority in the vanning world plays into this

In any case, I posted the photo and some of the comments to try to encourage other vanners in the area to bring their earlies to the next get-together. As far as I could tell, mine was the only American early there, although I saw a daily driver VW microbus there on my way out today.

It was nice to hear some of the positive comments and how the van brought back memories for people. I don't want to knock the hot rodders, they do some amazing stuff. And I don't pretend that I have sunk a lot of money into the van. Although it has received a lot of my time and effort.

It would be nice some day to see a line of earlies at one of these get-togethers, so people could get a bettter idea of what they were all about. Lord knows there are enough tri-fives at these meets. Great car, but when you can get a perfect replica tri-five for about $70k... it changes the dynamic, so to speak. After seeing all those lineups of tri-fives, it would be nice to see a line-up of earlies.

Finally I'm not deluded into thinking that the van got more attention than the perfectly restored '55 or the ultimate hotrod. But it seems like the van strikes a chord with those who weren't expecting to see anything like it. The most common comment was, "You don't see these any more. Where did they all go? Thanks for bringing it."

,,thats what I mean,,,,,,back in the 90's you could not even give these vans away,,,,,the junkyards were full of them,,,,,then VCVC and VV came along and that started the rise of the Earlys,,,,,,,and to me, getting an Early is about the most inexpensive way to join the cool people,,,,,,you drive an Early,,,,,you get ATTENTION,,,,,,and for what,,,,,,maybe under $5000,,,,,,,,,lets see you get a mustang, corvette or roadster for that,,,,,,,,,,I still am amazed how popular they are now,,,winning awards,,,,,,hanging out with the rich people at the car shows,,,,,,,,

One guy told me that in Southern California the vans are "catching on". Not so much up here, though. But I think that's due to change here as well. The same guy asked me if mine is for sale. At first I said no, then I said "make me an offer, but it won't be cheap". I think he lost interest at that point. He didn't come back. Fine with me!

I can see it now: early vans at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, year 2050. Well, no, I don't expect to last that long. Hopefully this van will!