Started off 2023 with a bang!

The craziness that happened around March 2020 put a major dent in my plans for the next few years. Long story short after 2 years of putting a California trip together we managed to get down there in late January 2023. We managed to get pretty much everything done that had been planned. Highlights being visiting Count's Kustoms and get an amazing tour by Ryan. Having Rose give us a great tour of Gene Winfield's shop in Mojave. Having a self guided tour of the Galpin Speed Shop. Getting a guided tour of the Cambra Speed Shop by Ron. Meeting Terry Cook, former editor of Hot Rod Magazine and one of the main instigators of the 1st National Truck In. Meeting Ira the amazing airbrush artist who did the Moreland Choppers Chevy. Going to the Grand National Roadster Show over 4 days and seeing 12 custom vans on display! I wanted to get this up now, will tweek it as time allows. Have some major projects coming up with regards to the 50th National Truck-In in Sterling Colorado     

We got to see Ryan's Master Vandal at Count's. He also gave us a full tour. 

Ron was gracious enough to give us a guided tour of the Canbra Speed Shop. They were putting the finishing touches on 3 vans that had the GNRS the day they moved them in! Here's Deathwish an iconic van from the 70s that they did an amazing job restoring. 

One of the vans in the GNRS Keep on Truckin van display

One of the vans in the GNRS Keep on Truckin van display

Coby and I in front of Vango. It was great to see him again. He had 2 vehicles in the show including one of the most talked about hot rods of 2023 Saint Christopher. 

The Boogie Van, one of the vans in the GNRS Keep on Truckin van display. 
Jeff is planning at the 50th Nats with it.

Brian's great looking Dodge, one of the vans in the GNRS Keep on Truckin van display

Ron's Octopus's Garden, one of the vans in the GNRS Keep on Truckin van display that Ron also  coordinated.

Deathwish in the GNRS Keep on Truckin van display.

Squarebody Syndicate's Smokebox.

Jason's A100, one of the vans in the GNRS Keep on Truckin van display

A very nice Evel Knievel themed early Chevy.

A very nice Evel Knievel themed early Chevy. One of the vans in the GNRS Keep on Truckin display.

A van in the Grand Daddy Drive-In .

A van in the Grand Daddy Drive-In .

California Street Vans in the Grand Daddy Drive-In .

California Street Vans in the Grand Daddy Drive-In 

California Street Vans in the Grand Daddy Drive-In 

Rose gave us intro into making bubble windows! 

Gene Winfield's backyard! 

A shot in front of Gene Winfield's shop.

The California Street Vans Cruise to the GNRS.

The California Street Vans Cruise to the GNRS.

Dave was super busy so he let us take a self guided tour of the amazing collection in the Galpin Speed  Shop. 

Coby with Saint Christopher, his 34 Ford coupe that won the Good Guys Hot Rod of the Year last weekend in Nashville Tn. 

The December page from the 2022 Showvans calendar signed by Ryan and Dave.It would have great to get Gary to sign the Disco Van picture but we ran out of time to go that far north. 

The Boogie Van leaving the GNRS.

Met up with Chip during the awatds on Sunday. Doesn't that Chevy look like the one they overhauled for Mike, but in orange :).  

We walked into a sandwich shop beside Foose's and a guy called out: "Are you guys vanners?". It was Terry Cook, more about him coming up soon.

Catherine let me display my 50th Nats banner all weekend with her van. Billo also had one on display outside in the Grand Daddy Drive In.  

THe Cambra Speed Shop display featured this great looking Chevy. 

 

Ordering info for the 2022 Showvans calendar is now availalble! https://vanning.com/showvans/calendar/index.html

The proceeds of the 2022 Showvans calendar will be going towards the 2022 Council of Councils in Covina California. Once again Showvans will be donating all the awards for the CofC Van Show Feb 26, this show will be free to entrants as well as the vanners in attendance. 

Plenty of media attention for custom vans!

The month of January and early February to date were full of vans in the media and online event coverage.
The build of the Deberti 1961 Econoline seen at the 2019 SEMA event was featured on the Twin Turbos television show on Motor Trend. What a beast it is, 850 HP Coyote!

Gary a.k.a @cadbomb 's Van Slam early Econoline got a well deserved amount of attention at the Grand National Roadster Show. I would have loved to be at the show when he pulled up with the Disco Van towing Van Slam! We'll be seeing this in Custom Vanner Magazine and I imagine in at least one more magazine.

The Rust Valley Restorers featured the very tasteful updating on this 1965 Chevy Handivan.    

 

Last but not least on television, Texas Metal is airing a show tonight.
Where they are doing up a 1965 Falcon.

Disney is even getting into the van action. They will have the full sized version of the Onward van at the Toronto International Car Show. It has been on display at other events as well. Look forward to seeing that van soon.   

 

Back in February 2011 the Council of Countils a.k.a CofC was in Buena Park California. Showvans was a big part of that great event donating money towards the actual event and sponsoring the CofC Van Show. This weekend at the 2020 CofC, the Pacific Van Council will be putting ina bid to host the 2021 CofC once again in Buena Park. If this bid is successful, Showvans once again will be a big part of this event which will guarantee another calendar for 2021.   

 

 

Happy New Year! 2020 is going to be another great year in vanning, but aren't they all? Maybe it's time for a new look. At the 2019 Nationals in Greenfield Massachusetts, Matchstick and maybe a little bit of my help convinced artist Scott Fisk from Sudio669.net to attend. His Misfit cartoon had been out for a while, I was able to get a print and a decal at the 2014 Syracuse Nationals. He put together a very nice A100 cartoon in time for the Nationals. We spent some together in Greenfield and kept in regular contact. He did this new look logo up for me which kind of energized me. The Showvans website will be revived with features and event coverage. With the flurry of Facebook van pages, I realized and my friends have mentioned that something a bit more serious/substantial is needed, like what was done in the past with the features.  

In late November 2019 I decided to do another Showvans Calendar. That's about 3 months later than I've ever started before. In fact one year possibly 2012,the calendars were already delivered in late November. The proceeds from these calendars have enabled me to support van events on both side of the border. Once again I'll be able to do this and it will help me doing something special for Vanfest 25. I've been involved with Vanfest since about 1999 doing the website and some of the social media.

Vanfest 25 will be June 12-14 in Aylmer Ontario Canada. It's going to be a big one, many vanners will be there from all over North America, I've been putting out the welcome mat for this for quite a while now and planning some features that will make it even more special as I have in the past.

 

The 2020 Showvans calendar was a whirlwind project lasting less than a month from start to finish. There were a few glitches along the way, including the printer sending me just over 250 calendars when the order was for 350. So I came up short on some larger orders unfortunately. I'll hopefully get that straightened out very soon and be able order some extras on top of the original 350.

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted here. Facebook and Instagram have changed many of our routines online. It's so easy to post pictures and get instant feedback. It has also made it much easier to connect with everyone who is interested in custom vans and the press. So now instead of a handful of people trying to get vans back into the eyes of the public and press there are potentially hundreds. That has been paying off in droves. 2 weekends ago the largest indoor showing of vans in over 3 decades happened. The Cleveland Autorama invited vanners to bring their vans to the show to be part of the 50th anniversary. 38 vans were in the show ! I was very fortunate to be able to attend this grand event. Ron and Aixa did a heck of a job coordinating the event and logistics of the hotel. Jim and Lucy did their share coordinating the online portion of this on Facebook. Kudos to everyone involved in this show !

  

These are just a few of the vans in the show. I've posted all the vans on the Showvans Facebook page and will do the same on the Showvans.com page soon.

In the fall of 2013 Coby let me know that M2 Machines was interested in doing a 1/64 diecast replica of Vango. They had actually approached him about this in 2011 when Vango was first introduced to us. Vango is one of the top vans ever built. So replicating it took quite a while and M2's designer Sean Taylor nailed it, inside and out. I was fortunate to have Coby mail up a bunch for myself and my vanner buddies who collect diecast vans. It's been pretty hectic around here the past week so today was the first day I was able to really check it out. Previous to this only version of the M2 Econoline was available in Canada. Comparing the two versions shows the absolute crazy attention to detail that went into the Vango version. We are used to Hot Wheels rebadging the same mold 50 different ways. The Vango van is unique with the correct interior as well as body details, down to the door hinges removed. There is a 3 van set showing the evolution of Vango, Coby ran out of these in the first 3 days but other M2 dealers do still have some as far as I know. However he does have plenty of the final Vango shown here. You can order direct from Coby on his website :  http://churchforsinners.com/html/channel/prints_other/index.php    Here's what they look like, remember this is the same scale as Hot Wheels.