Puts the Shag in Shaggin’: 1974 Ford Econoline 100
The 1970s were a time of mystery. Who thought that Avocado Green was a good color for major appliances? Why did CB radios become a huge fad? Who the heck thought up disco and why weren’t they punished severely? More importantly, why did America descend into a custom van craze? Take for example this 1974 Ford Econoline 100 van being sold on craigslist in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. For a mere $17,995 you can ride up north to pick up this tricked-out time machine and find out for yourself what the custom van craze was all about. Thanks go to T.J. for this groovy tip!
How did this incredibly well preserved artifact from the seventies survive 48 years in such amazing shape? The seller doesn’t seem to know. They speculate that the van was in dry storage for a long time. A tomb may be more correct. While it didn’t come from Al Capone’s vaults, it may have been sealed away in some bell bottom lover’s garage as the decades passed. We are told that it only has 81,169 miles on the odometer.
The low mileage may have been because it is a van with manual steering and no air conditioning. On the bright side, it did come equipped with Ford’s ubiquitous 302 cubic inch V-8 and an automatic transmission. It is the owner added features that make this van stand out. To start with, the chrome yellow (school bus yellow) is an unconventional choice for a custom. However, the graphics and the airbrushed mural work well with the color. My guess is that the graphics were a decal of some sort, but we do not have a close-up picture to verify that theory.
What also works is the combination of the Cragar type five spoke wheels and the side pipes. The builder even painted the brake drums yellow to match the body. We can also see that a roof rack and plexiglass windows have been incorporated into the design. As much as I am not really a fan of vans, I have to admit that whoever was responsible for this creation obviously had an eye for style.
A look underneath shows even more good news. The underside looks rust free and very well preserved given the van’s age. I work with a fellow that has one of these Econolines and uses it to camp out of when going hang gliding. Rust is quite the problem for him. His van alone is probably responsible for keeping the Bondo Corporation afloat. Pictures like this are good evidence to back up the dry storage theory.
The real surprise is inside. For those readers who aren’t old enough to know what that gold stuff is you are in for a treat. That is shag carpeting. Shag was a carpeting that had long, loose pile that you never see today. Elvis had his famous Jungle Room completely lined with shag carpeting. Even the ceiling was shag covered. I saw it with my own eyes. I guess this van was someone’s own Jungle Room.
The seventies groove continues in the back. We see more shag, crushed velvet in what was likely a bar area, and even fur around the custom windows. Looking at the distance from the edge of the couch to what might be the bar, it is a good bet that that couch folded down into a bed. For reasons.
The reason alluded to in the last paragraph was probably the real reason for the custom van craze. Some of you probably had your lives started in the back of one of these beasts. The seventies were a different time. I was just a kid, but I remembered how laid back everyone was. We didn’t have all of the trappings of the current lifestyle, like computers, cell phones, and all the other electronic pacifiers we are so accustomed to. In the seventies you had to make your own fun. Both in your garage and at the drive in.
Do any of you have publishable custom van memories you’d like to share?
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Comments
With the memories I have from my ’79 chevy van I wouldn’t get into this van without a hazmat suit on………
Buyer should budget for a carpet shampooer and a full case of brown-bottle Lysol, just in case.
and perhaps a shot of penicillin and oral antibiotics
Might want to Luminol and black-light the whole interior first.
I owned a 1975 Ford van. a 1972 ford van new cost less than $3000
I still have a 1982 ford van w/ a 302 4speed
Now, I’m not gonna say…”If the van’s a rockin…..
If this van’s a rockin’, don’t knock. There’s plenty of windows to check out the action.
“publishable custom van memories you’d like to share”. Haha! None publishable from the interior of my Ford panel van.
That van is a steal in that condition and fittings, but sakingsbury20 right; enter with extreme caution. And wear shades!
I had a ’75 E-150, portholes, shag carpeting, quadrophonic 8 track stereo, built in cooler and bed. Lots of good times in that van. Why the van craze? Car companies killed off any real performance cars, and insurance companies took care of what was left. And, womans lib freed those teenage girls inhibitions.
I was born in ’69 and around the time I was 7 a family from California moved in two houses down. They had three teenage boys and they all ended up with Econolines. One of them was in a band and had a window van for hauling their gear, the other brother’s was a work in progress, but Ray had one decked out a lot like this one, bright yellow with wild graphics and the full shag treatment. I remember the column shift lever had a perfectly carved almost life size hand flipping the bird for a handle. As I was 8 or so, I asked him what it meant and all he said was, “You’ll figure that out soon enough, trust me.” He took me in his van to see “Midway” in the special Sensaround theater, which was so loud it shook us in our seats, hence the Sensaround label. Good times as a little kid.
I saw the movie Earthquake in Sensaround. Terrifying an early teen. Thanks for the memory!
I built 2 vans that would blow this away. Anyone want to see pics and if so, how do I post them?
Hi Ken, you have to be a member, which I highly endorse, to post pics.
I would like to see them, these are works of art .
Email them to me, I’ll post them. Unless the Admins say “No”
[email protected]
One at a time, ONE AT A TIME,,okay, 1st, green was a very popular color, EVERYTHING was green, from cars to toilets to our moms oven mitts.( Scotty G) 2nd, CB radios enabled, for the 1st time, to communicate with someone that also had one. It was really a breakthrough in communication, much like the cell phone of today, that ironically killed the CB, but for a time, it was literally a life saver. I spent a good portion of my life yakking on that thing. It kept me and my friends awake. 3rd, I wasn’t a fan of disco either, but like it or not, it had a profound effect on our way of thinking, and 4th, that along with custom vans was the ultimate in rebellion, and the whole scene was huge. Before that Facebook crap, vannin’ was a place where folks could hang out together. It really was like a cult, of sorts, and the Ford Econoline was front and center. Dodge was too, but Ford was the King. Most led an untimely demise, with each owner caring less and less, not many survived, rust killing many. Crazy, we did this for peanuts, vans being a dime a dozen, today it will cost some poor schmuck $20 grand to relive those memories, most of us would like to forget, or already have. It is a cool find.
What’s that gadget on the metal strap in the underside photo? It’s sitting just to the left of the driveshaft, mounted on the strap which is bolted to the crossmember.
That is a magnetic pickup for “Add On” cruise control!
Wires are cut…surprised someone didn’t break the strap off…
It looks be a charcoal cannister. At the time it was a part of the emissions system.
Been a while since I have seen one like this. My buddy had a Dodge Tradesman tricked out set up with a foldout bed, sink, fridge, etc. We towed a trailer of motocross bikes and had a blast. Great times.
They have a even nicer ford E100 for sale also on there web site it’s way cooler than this one you have to see it to believe it they’re used car dealership I don’t know how that’s a barn find
Do you happen to know the name of the dealership?
Disco was where the hot women were….if you were in the ball game that is.
And musically it was far superior to this rap crap…which isn’t even music.
Does anyone feel (name a rap artist) was superior to the Bee Gees.
As you can tell I really don’t like this beatdown of disco, when the popular music of today…is the most regressive, most primitive it’s ever been.
CB’s were great & fun too !
I will be turning 60 in a month
My brother was a dj in a very popular disco when i was 16 so i had a pass for the door
The girls were beautiful and the music was great
Too bad we don’t have any pictures of the crazy after hour parties
And maybe its a good thing that we don’t!
We did not carry our cameras in the backpocket at that time
We had the music, still love it
We had the girls, still love them but they don’t want an old coot
We had the used muscle cars , didn’t use the kcars , still love the cars
We had the vans but i never liked them
We had cocaine , couldn’t stand it but it made the girls WILD
Clubs were supposed to close at 3 but a lot kept going till 6 or you could hit the after hour spots
I had a good 10 years of fun , paused for kids and went back in my mid thirties and again in my mid forties , by that time the dating was on line wich actually made it easier !
There are still disco clubs in montreal but i am running out of steam …
Get a subscription to Sirius Radio. They have several Disco-themed stations.
I listen to American Top 40 on Saturdays on 70s-0n-7 station and disco was HOT from mid to late 70s. Lots of the songs that you will never hear again were Top 40.
If this isn’t a re-creation, then this thing must have sat in an air-tight bubble. Seems strange that the selling dealer has no idea of the history.
First of all, I’m from NY, of Italian blood, grew up in the boros, and we all loved Disco, it’s where the girls were, the beautiful cars after muscle cars were a forgotten thing, and where style and hygiene prevailed, I’m also 61 years old, and wouldn’t trade those days for nothing, CB radios were hysterical, Vans like this were a common site, all that rug, and no A/C wasn’t really a well thought out plan, but the hippie dudes had a lotta girls tripping in them, so if you see a grandma blush when she sees this rolling bedroom, you know she knew the score back then
This the fun part of Barnfinds, no? Comments are great, younger folks missed out on a hell of a time. You can’t have that kind of fun today.
TO,,BE,, CRYSTAL CLEAR, spade calling time again, take it from someone that was there. It wasn’t so much the disco fad with custom vans, it was the up and coming, and booming hippie craze that instigated most of these shenanigans. If you weren’t there, as I suspect many may not have been, I’m happy to enlighten.
1st, utility vans in the 60s were huge. Every entity used them. Phone company, gas company, electric company, not to mention every small business, there was a GLUT of used vans. A dealer in Milwaukee my old man did business with, called “Goodnetter” on Appleton Ave. bought all those at an auction, he had dozens, mostly Fords, and $500 bucks got you a BASIC, bare bones panel van. Many were green, until someones buddy had an airbrush. Then the fun began. An old couch from the basement, carpet someone was throwing away, a cheap Kraco stereo with speakers robbed from Gramps Victrola, the biggest investment was probably the CB radio and some decent wheels,,,BAM, shaggin’ wagon for under a grand. There were Poker Runs ( no pun intended), cruise ins, the camaraderie was like nothing before. Oh sure, there were plenty burnouts that gave it a bad name, but it really was a fun time. This, my friends, whether you like the Simpsons or not, was EXACTLY how it was. The music was best there ever was or will be. I still listen to that music today,, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDvK7LVlxDM
“It will happen to you”,,,
Always look forward to your comments
This was my Uncles van up until 2010ish. My Grandfather bought it new in 74′ and would drive it from northern Illinois to California. My Uncle inherited it in 82′ when he was 9 after my Grandfather passed. It sat in a Garage from 82′ to 2010ish when my Uncle sold it to my Great Grandfather who sold it a year or two later. I used to play in this van as a child. Whoever bought it, if you read this I would appreciate it if you could send some pics of it. Thank you