Wednesday, March 30, 2016

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.