I’ve shown you quite a few vans over the years here, original and…not. Quite a few of the latter, actually, as Eugene is a van kind of town, given quite a few folks’ tendencies to see their vans as a blank canvas for their creativity. This is a bit of an odd one, as the amount of work put into it to get a couple of inches of more height in the back seems a questionable return on effort. But then who’s keeping track of that sort of thing in this set?
Maybe the owner found these large windows for free at the curb, and decided it just had to be incorporated into his short wheelbase van. Or maybe…?
The bodywork is not exactly professional, but at least it’s not plywood and duct tape.
All things considered, it’s really not too bad of a job.
Thanks to Carfax, I can tell you that this is a 1993, otherwise I would not have known. I knew it’s from towards the later years of the very long run of this generation GM van (1971-1995); a full quarter century, actually. I think that’s about as much information as anyone cares to have about these, unless you’ve got something noteworthy (or not) to add.
I would love to hear the speculation on the “why?” part of it. I remember being surprised to learn that these were made for so long. 1995-vintage or not, after a certain year any business still using them subconciously gave me a sketchy impression.
Seems to be housing a wheelchair accessability device in the rear. My guess is a homemade conversion to allow a differently-abled person to get around.
Wow, don’t think I have ever seen one modified like this. It clearly has a wheelchair or lift apparatus in back, but I have seen lots of full sized wheelchair vans that did not need that extra height. Some kind of specialized design for an attendant who had trouble bending? Or perhaps the lift is for some kind of tall cargo?
Or a very tall wheelchair-bound person?
No, an average height wheelchair user, especially in an electric wheelchair, can’t sit upright in a van without their head brushing the roof. Most commercially built wheelchair vans either have a raised roof or a lowered floor.
It looks like a poor man’s Land Rover Discovery.
Definitely an interesting option. I’d say yes it was likely converted for wheel chair use, for a person that in their particular chair and with their particular needs couldn’t fit through the door otherwise. I’ve had two former wheel chair vans, both had the fiber glass roof extension. One was of the type more commonly found on conversion vans and it had stock height lift door. The other had the high full length top and an extended door where the lift was.
The execution definitely is interesting but I can certainly see why someone who was forced to build one instead of buy one raised just enough of the roof just high enough to get the job done. Though with this little of an extension it seems like starting with a conversion van that had their typical high roof would have been much quicker and easier. Or at least liberating the top from one in the wrecking yard.
I suspect that last wasn’t an option due to the short wheelbase.
Section it?
It would provide a perch for a wheelchair-bound mother-in-law!
There was a van in the 60’s-70’s that had another roof section on top of the original that was driven by a gentleman who drove it standing up in Portland,OR. The story was he was a WW2 vet who suffered an injury and could not sit down to drive. I saw it being driven in person so I know it is not an Urban Legend. I think it was a first generation Dodge van.