Fullsize Sport Vans - Van Reflections

Let's roll back the year-o-meter to the early '70s. Being the elder statesman on the Truckin' staff, I have been appointed to reminisce about those youthful glory days decades ago. I had finished my stint in college after receiving my California teaching credential, began my teaching career, and slipped the life-long commitment ring on my wife's finger - 29 years, so far. Drag and off-road racing was my recreation; horsepower has always been in my blood, ever since I was eyeball to a headlight.

At this time, the Big Three in Detroit were rolling some butt-ugly automobiles off their assembly lines. Ford was just getting out from under the Pinto inferno and was proudly producing its Fairmont. Chevrolet was building the Vega and the Monza. The gasoline crisis smothered the musclecar era; people of the United States were forced to ration gasoline. Gasoline lines were blocks long, and customers had to obey the odd/even days determined by the last number on their license plate. The gasoline crisis was just that, a crisis. Who was fooling who? Disco was happening; Debbie Does Dallas was keeping the football jocks happy; Linda Lovelace was still doing her porn thing; Saturday Night Live was still new; Ding Dongs were the antidote for the stoner's munchies; Dan Haggerty, Grizzly Adams, was the earthy wilderness man on TV; Robert Blake was the leading star of Baretta; Lieutenant Theo Kojak (the late Tony Savalas) was sucking on Tootsie Pop suckers; Steven Spielberg's movie, Jaws, was terrifying beach-goers; and Tiki gods were cool.

To answer the invasion of the Volkswagen vans and pickups in the late '50s, the domestic fullsize vans were introduced in 1961, when Ford launched its E100 Econoline-series van. Chevrolet unveiled the Corvair 95 truck the same year, which featured a Rampside pickup. Late in 1963, Corvair introduced the Greenbrier Corvan and Sport Wagon. The Corvair vans lasted through 1967. In 1964, Chevrolet and GMC rolled out their first fullsize vans. Dodge entered the van market last, in 1964.

Also during the mid '70s, a new publication entered the magazine wars. Our founder, the late Tom McMullen, noticed a trend that had become the latest craze - vans. Truckin' magazine was born; the title was taken from the ol' van phrase, "Keep On Truckin'.

Van mania became the latest customizing fad. Quenching the need for a new identity, longhaired males cruised in these shag wagons, making parents nervous everywhere. Any boyfriend that rolled up in one wouldn't last. Bumper stickers read, "If This Van's Rockin', Don't Bother Knockin'," or "Your Daughter Could Be In Here." Vans attracted both young and old. Clubs were formed and Van-O-Ramas became happenings attended by thousands. Fullsize vans were the hot trend of the '70s. Unfortunately, their brief celebrated existence was terminated by the gas crisis of the mid-'70s. The van world maintained a strong heartbeat only to go into cardiac arrest, creating a weakened faint pulse before going flatline. But some die-hard enthusiasts and clubs have survived over the years, saying the van craze has been comatose for the past 30 years, and will make a comeback.