Papa Smurf Creation: 1974 Ford Custom Van
And now for something from “The just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” department. What we have here is a modified 1974 Ford E series van with a little 1976 VW bus thrown in for good measure. Referred to questionably as the “Half Breed”, this van mash-up is located in Mowhawk, New York and is available, here on eBay for an opening bid of $4,500, zero bids tendered so far.
The seller states that this van was customized by an Iowa custom van builder named “Papa Smurf” and it was popular on the custom van circuit of the ’70s and ’80s. It is listed as having been built from two VW buses and the aforementioned Ford van. The seller adds, “I’ve chased this van for several years, now can say I owned it but time to let it go and get back to my 50’s custom cars”. Sounds like a good move. As can be seen, this van was customized with three rear axles but the rearmost has gone missing. Nevertheless, this van still yard drives and stops. The seller mentions that this van used a “torsion trailer unit” as the third axle but I honestly don’t know what that means.
There are only six images included with the listing and none of the inside, underside, or engine compartment. We are told that power is provided by a 351 CI, Ford Windsor V8 engine, more than likely a 163 HP variant, that was commonly in use in ’74, but that is not known with certainty. As with the rest of the drivetrain, while some complexity would have been involved with the triple drive axle arrangement, which is now a dual-drive axle arrangement, there is no description as to how it was assembled. The mechanical design and components employed would be a noteworthy inclusion to the listing.
The old and new images portray quite a juxtaposition of what has become a very forlorn custom. The confusing thing, however, is the change that has occurred over the years. In three of the four images, where this van is wearing a Ford nose piece, this van reveals what appears to be two pairs of front steering wheels, one pair in the traditional location, and the second pair residing under the extended front entry doors. In one other image, where the van possesses a VW front clip, as well as in its current form, the rear steering wheels have been removed. So what happened? Hard to say, an inquiry would need to be made.
As opposed to what to do with this custom van, the more pertinent question would be why do anything? It seems to be in pretty deleterious condition, one can only speculate on the interior, and then there is the entire matter of the missing axle. It’s an interesting study to give consideration as to what lead to this van’s creation. The big puzzle, now, is what to do with it; any suggestions?
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Comments
Park it on a farm and male a chicken coop out of it.
Look up Tor-Flex axle. Imagine a rectangular tube with four round rubber rods placed inside the tube at each corner. Now imagine a length of square bar jammed into the spaces between the rubber. When the inside square is torsionally displaced, it compresses the rubber. The rubber acts as both spring and damper. I used Dexter brand on smaller equipment trailer designs back in the 90’s. They tend to sag with time, but do make for a very low frame height compared to typical leaf springs.
Supposedly just sold of FB marketplace
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3139676832786189
More pics from May 2020
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TerribleUglyCars/permalink/1404689833072383/
When I was i kid, I could have built something very similar to this using several LEGO kits. To do in in real life as an adult…well, that’s…that’s a *whole* different deal.
An additional pertinent question: Even if it was in pristine condition, 2020’s world would one even be allowed to get it inspected/registered/insured? I’d put my money on “no”. However, there’s got to be a well-endowed Museum of RVing that would be interested in enrolling it into its permanent collection. GLWTS.
To add to your point, and I left it out of the article, it only has a salvage title which further complicates matters.
Thx,
JO
Its actually not even a salvage title. It’s a bill of sale. It would not be an easy task to ever license this thing legally. It was stated in the on-site auction 2 weeks ago that there was no title.
That would look good going over a cliff
Cliff is not high enough…..I’m thinking rolling it out the back of a plane.
Certainly not my style but you have to give the creator credit for the vision and execution. They had to have a great deal of fabrication and mechanical skills.
Is it possible there was more than 1 of these made? The double steer axle version and the single steer axle version?
It looks like they built the single steer axle then added the double steer axle, then removed it again. That double steer front end is the only ford I see. Everything else looks VW to me.
I guess papa smurf was a pothead and the seller is on meth or crack cocaine
I cannot find an other logical reason for this
Don’t blame weed for this monstrosity. More like Acid.
This thing was recently in an auction in Newfield NY. It was sitting by the road and so odd I had to stop and look. it is a 74 VW bus with another panel side bus grafted on the back. powered by a mid- mounted ford 351 just behind the drivers seats. Only one rear axle is live. As far as I can tell the only ford parts are the engine and rear axle. everything else is VW or custom fabricated. the interior is in very poor shape but still has the marbled mirrors on the ceiling. I was glad to see the pictures of it “back in the day” as I could tell it must have been one interesting custom at one time. It’s a mess now.
marbled mirrors on the ceiling?????? Hmmmmm. Not a tour bus I’m guessing. :0
Wait, what?
This is one of those vehicles that,when stopping
to kook at it,you hope nobody sees you.
interesting, but NO!
Reminds me of what Jeff Goldblum turned into in the movie “The Fly”
Might be good in a crash up derby.
God bless America
pay attention to the pictures… the first pic is a different van than the second pic, because it has 1 front axle rather than 2. the second and third van are the same, but the fourth is another completely different van from the others, with a VW front end and 1 front axle. either it’s been hacked together and taken apart 4 times, or there are 4 “half breed” vans
Good Spot,the 4th pic it has a flat nose front,U are right,it appears to be a VW Van,flat nose. Thats kinda scary
4 of these atrocities
It is the same vehicle with different noses. They all have a VW bus windshield frame, and from there back are identical. At some point, the Ford front end with an extra axle was grafted on the front. The latest pics show that front end removed and a smaller version grafted on with the most forward axle removed.
What a waste of talent and thousands of hours of work, and now it’s worth Zilch [zero bids].
Food truck!
It looked its best–and I say this with only a slight bit of guilt-when it was 100% VW van and looked like one from all angles. I don’t think the Econoline style front did any favors to this visionary Papa Smurf creation. I’m thinking the E series front clip is actually not a graft off a real steel Econoline.
Looks like fodder for the crusher to me. Not a single redeeming quality.
It’s my new boaterhome….
I can’t believe that this still exists! This van was built by my late uncle Don Arnold of Nevada, IA. It started out as two VW busses. He told me that he cut one in half, rolled the two halves apart and then welded in the center of the second bus to make one long bus. He did all the body and paint work, minus murals and air brushing, in a two car garage, that was one car wide and two long. Everything was welded with a torch and smoothed with lead. He later added the second front axle. The Poppa Smurf name came from the Smurf-themed 1964-ish Econoline van he built. It had an olds Vista cruiser roof welded in, landau irons on the sides and little Smurfs airbrushed all around it. That one was sold in the mid 80s. He didn’t have a ton of money but his self-taught skills allowed him to create some interesting vehicles and have a lot of fun at car shows and meet a lot of friends along the way.
Hi Ross I’m just finding your comment a year later but I’m the one who bought the bus I’m finally planning on working on it next year and getting things ready to work on now. If you can I would love to hear more about it.
Do you really have the half breed? Papa smurf was my great grandfather!
Hi Kip! I’m glad this got a little attention. I can remember sitting in my aunt and uncle’s living room and being surrounded by car show trophies. I was pretty young when he got rid of the Half Breed but it went through several versions. The Ford nose was added last. Again, Don built all of that by himself. He liked VWs and Ford econoline vans and trucks. He got his name, “Papa Smurf” from his econoline smurf van. It had smurfs painted all around it. One of his last customs was “Liberty” which was an econoline pickup. What have you been doing to the van?
My great grandfather built the half breed! We wish we knew where it possibly could be. My mother has so many fond memories in this vehicle. He built many custom vans, entering them into the van circuit in the 70s. He went by “papa smurf”. That was his CB handle. Sadly in 08 he passed.
My great grandfather built the half breed! My mother has so many fond memories in this vehicle. We wonder where it possibly could be. He entered the half breed among other costum made vehicles in the van circuit in the 70s! His CB handle was papa smurf! Sadly he passed in 08.
Good morning, i hope you get a reply as this is quite the attention getter and the builder HAD to be quite a character !
He certainly was! He was self taught! I hope I get a reply soon as well.