I’m from Arlington, Virginia. I always bought all my parts from my local dealer, Dick Blanken Ford in Arlington. One day on my way in to get my parts, I saw a van parked in front of the showroom with a “for sale” sign in the back window. After I got my parts, I went into the showroom to see about the van. Turns out, the showroom was being painted and the guy painting it owned the van. It was his work van. If you take out all of the carpet, cabinets and interior, there are still a lot of paint spills and spatters on the floor and walls.
This was 1976. I bought it the next day and became the second owner. We did a lot of driving in the snow that winter. In the summer of 1976 it did a trip to Padre Island, Texas. We did the 4×4 “area” and passed a sign that said “four-wheel drive only. ” This guy stopped us and said, “You can’t take that van past here, you’ll get stuck!” I floored it and threw sand all over him. Ha! In 1977, I did the interior that is still in it to this day. The van did many van events in the 1970s throughout Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. It always won “Best 4×4” at every van show. I moved to Florida in 1980. With starting a new business and building a new house, the vanning events were very limited, so the van sort of got parked for a while. Luckily for it, it has always been stored inside. A couple of years ago I got it out of the corner of the old shop, got it running, and went through all the brakes, changed all the fluids, and resealed the C4 trans, transfer case, and both axles. It still has the original 302ci V-8 with 77,000 miles, but has a mild cam, aluminum intake, Holley 600 cfm carb, and has been updated to a Duraspark ignition. Most of the paint is original except for minor rust and off-road dents. The van was definitely not a “pavement princess.” It has had a lot of red Virginia clay and black Florida mud on it. I have taken it to two van events recently and plan to go to Deland, Florida for Vanners in the Forest.
One of the pics was taken on Assateague Island, Maryland, around 1977. I jumped it about 40 mph. Broke the front axlehousing. Ordered a new one from Pathfinder, which was still in business then.
That Dana 44 housing was specifically made for Pathfinder, not a transplant F-150 or Bronco housing. The overhead console also came loose and hit me in the head on the landing. This pic is inside of the van on the wall. I get a lot of comments on it at shows. —Craig, via email
Watch: Racing a groovy ’70s Van in the Gambler 500
Keyword: Check Out This Mega-Rare 1974 Ford Econoline 300 4x4 Quadravan!