A mongrel is a plant or animal produced by the interbreeding of at least two different breeds; the product of mixed or undetermined origins. Although the term is applied mostly to dogs, I’d say it also works quite well for this Chevrolet van/truck mash-up.
It’s hard to say whether this thing started life as a van or a truck. The badge says Chevy Van 30–the heavy-duty one-ton variant in the G-series van lineup–which had eight lug wheels and beefier suspension. It’s difficult to say how much of that remains since the G-series is unibody, while this particular van/truck (or vruck) has a full frame.
Another possibility is that it started life as a cab chassis–perhaps a motor home or cube van. However, the rear of the cab casts doubt on this theory, as it’s obvious that a stock 1973-1977 van body has been radically shortened to create the cab. The side marker remains, as do the tail light extrusions. The rear doors have been welded shut, leaving it with a ’63 Corvette-inspired split-window treatment.
Around back, we can see that the box is sourced from a 1990s dually pickup. Could it also be the source of the frame and running gear? Possibly, but note the addition of a chrome gas cap on top of the fender flare. One has to wonder if the bed was adapted to the frame, and thus the gas tank is not where you’d expect to find the stock version. Do I see the remains of a GMC script on the tailgate, making this not only a van/truck hybrid but also a Chevy/GMC mix?
I missed the owner just as I was leaving, so the origin of this mongrel shall remain a mystery. It is undoubtedly an extremely useful workhorse, and likely a very effective tow vehicle. The van nose would give it a lower overall length versus a traditional pickup truck dually (thus increasing maneuverability), and the higher cab would allow a commanding view of the road. And a CC bonus: this Volkswagen Cabrio had taken up residence in the adjacent spot.
Its the Generolet Cab Over 1 Ton Johnny Cash Special. Make mine a 4×4 with a LLY Duramax.
Whole lotta utility and haulin’ ability in a manageable wheelbase. I always cringe when I see people maneuvering their current mega cab, 8ft bed 3/4ton+ vehicles in parking lots.
Someone obviously spent a lot of time creating this rig. Aside from the shape of the cab not matching-up very well with the shape of the box sides (which is fairly unavoidable) I like it.
> It’s difficult to say how much of that remains since the G-series is unibody, while this particular van/truck (or vruck) has a full frame.
Fullsize GM vans unibody?! I had a 3/4 ton GMC van of this generation and it had a full ladder frame underneath. Was it considered unibody because the frame was welded directly to the floor of the body instead of being bolted together? The Jeep Grand Wagoneer was considered BOF but I think the frame was welded to the floorpan of that as well. I have welded replacement floors into examples of both.
Good thing too, as I had to weld a new floor into mine after the
Only cutaway versions of the GM vans had real frames the rest were unibodies with “frame rails” welded to the floor pan like other unibodies. The Grand Wagoneer had a proper full frame bolted to the chassis.
Reminds me of the the Dodge Dreamer that was on “Counting Cars” a few months ago. I found this one on the web.
I would put money on this having been a cube van or motor home originally. They welded on the back of a van to the cab, and plopped on a bed. The odds of someone going through the complex job of dropping a van cab on top of a pickup frame are next to nil, given the hassle involved.
Good point; and it would also explain the impetus to do it. I can see a motorhome, trashed or weather-damaged but low mileage, no rust and mechanically sound. Occasionally I see them sell for less than $1500 this way. If you’ve got the space to work, it might be one way to make a sound, well-powered, high-capacity pickup – and a unique vehicle to boot.
RVs and conversion vans are often cheaper than an equivalent cargo van. Modifying the rear cab bodywork would likely would have been easier than doing a frame swap and still doing bodywork.
What Paul said.
It’s not exactly done the way I’d want, but I can dig it.
That being said, I’ve always wanted a G-Van based tow rig. If some day I find myself having no more projects to complete and in need of a challenge (ha! yeah right!), I could see grabbing a dually cube van and grafting on a sleeper cab and a flatbed. Add all the factory chrome bits I’ve been squirreling away over the years, a fifth wheel setup, and a nice set of aluminum wheels – that’d be the ticket! Only question then would be Vortec or Duramax. Hmmm.
Put a trailer behind it capable of hauling two or three cars, fill up the tank (again and again), and I could finally fulfill my dream of going south in the winter and dragging back rust-free cars to play with here in Minnesoda. Only 38 more years ’til retirement…
Here’s a similar one I’ve shot:
He’s a member of ‘The Car Clamp Club’ ! cool! Glad I’ve never been inducted! lol
> I would put money on this having been a cube van or motor home originally.
Good point. over the years, I’ve seen several GM cube-van cab-and-chassis with a box bolted on to make a pickup truck. However, that usually results in a big gap between the back of the cab and the front of the box. I assumed that this started out as a full van body because of the back section grafted on, but maybe the builder had lots of parts to play with. 🙂
I agree that it left the factory as a cutaway and was likely up-fitted as a motor home before this conversion. Lots of motor homes succumb to rot before the chassis and power train does, while a high cube van will usually be worked to death. A former tenant of mine converted a Dodge Class C motor home to a flat bed/car hauler, a branch had damaged the roof and then it was left to sit in the rain and rotted pretty badly. It only had something like 50K on it when he got it. He was on a budget so he enclosed the back of the cab with sort of extended cab made of plywood. Ugly but it worked.
Paul, you are probably right but some weird stuff was built in the Elkhart IN area when it was the conversion van capital of the US, and this could have been a one-off experiment. There were some very odd van, cut away, pickup, and medium duty trucks built that were creative but not ready for prime time.
Yes but the bed and the cab are from distinctly different eras indicating it was done long after the vehicle left the factory. If it was something they were thinking about as a product they would offer then they wouldn’t have started off with a 20+ year old chassis.
It looks like the Cabrio owner is putting a new license plate on the car.
I see an occasional van/truck similar to this…it seems to me that most I see are Fords though.
The Cabrio owner was putting his purchase in the “trunk” of his car.
I’ve seen a few 80s Ford vans turned into tow rigs – I wonder if the Ford conversion is easier in some way.
Yeah the Ford has a real full frame under all of them. The GM’s only got a proper frame if they were a cutaway chassis, the Dodge didn’t even get a proper frame in a cutaway configuration. So with the Ford you can take any old van and do the conversion relatively easily. With a GM or Dodge it is only practical on a cutaway.
A home grown extended cab pickup, it works I guess, Ive seen plenty of Transits and CF Bedfords modified in this fashion by moving body sections around doing the same to US models does not seem strange.
Was this size of trucks (or the original ones) ever available with Detroit Diesel two-strokes ? DD being a subsidiary of GM in those days. Like the fairly big Cummins diesels in the Dodge pick-up trucks.
A Detroit Diesel two-stroke, as a kid that was my favorite diesel engine sound.
Local truckmaker FTF used their V6, V8 and V12 engines. You could hear them scream from miles away !
No. The DD diesels were never offered in the pickups and vans, only in the larger medium and heavy duty trucks. IIRC, the smallest truck to have a DD (the 4-53) was the C-50 or C-60 series medium trucks. Although some were converted; I saw a Suburban with a 4-53 once. But their noise is difficult to subdue.
These were available with the 6.2 L V8 four-stroke GM diesel, which was a rugged unit, and has powered military Humvees for decades.
Right. BTW, those DD 2-strokes were also in our Werklust wheel loaders.
I think all guys who worked with those engines on a daily basis for years in a row must be stone-deaf by now.
An FTF driver told me that he was stopped by the police now and then, people had complained that there was a big truck speeding all the time through their neigborhood. Obviously he didn’t, it was just the natural sound of his Diesel from Hell.
This is the type of weird combination that I love. I love it that there is a site where others are at least interested.
A Ford similar to this is normally parked not far from here. Something cool like this is never there when I want to buy. Wife wouldn’t like it anyway.
I’d much rather see something like this than a modern super car. My wife thinks I’m nuts. 🙂
There’s a Ford version of that rig a couple of miles from my work, built from a ’75 1/2/’91 E350 and an ’80/’86 F350 dually box.
The beige fender flares that didn’t take the paint correctly and the stubby running boards seem to say RV conversion.
Pics of similar front end (disregard silly advertising girl):
http://schaubglobal.com/rv/84392
RV Conversions discussed:
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/converting-van-front-motorhome-to-car-hauler-anyon/35874/page1/
We covered a similar truck here last summer – a Dodge that was better executed than this one.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/uncategorized/curbside-classic-1990-dodge-ram-radio-flyer-the-big-red-wagon/
I forgot about that one, but enjoyed re-reading it. How’s the screenplay for “Escape From New Yorker” coming along? 🙂
How about some James Bond tie-ins? Dr.Nova, Thunderbird, From Chevy With LUV, Diamantes Are Forever, Live And Let Diesel, Casino Custom Royal, Quantum of Solara, (Saturn) Skyfall, Die Another Daytona, A View to a KIA
i just bought this off my grandpa, he bought it off his buddy dont know the story behind it though