2026, another milestone year in vanning!

There were so many milestones in vanning in the 1970s! 50 years ago in 1976 the van craze was in full swing. I jumped on board the bandwagon that year at the impressionable age of 18 and was hooked after attending my first event the inaugural Van Canada in Mosport Ontario. It was also the year that Coca Cola in the U.S launched their most succesful contest to that date, the Denimachine giveaway contest. We had a major reminder of that this past Monday with multiple online media posts from the likes of Hagerty and Ford itself. Coincidently just the day before I was talking with someone connected with the most recent Denimachine acquisition in Ontario Canada, that timing was impeccable. 

https://www.fromtheroad.ford.com/us/en/articles/2025/ford-denimachine-van-collaboration-levis-coke

This year also marks the 50th Anniversary of the Maritime Van Council with a big event in Nova Scotia in June. I was fortunate to be at the 25th Anniversary event in New Brunswick, hoping to make this one in Nova Scotia. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/30696667864

The 53rd Van Nationals, the largest van event on the planet is happening in Cortland Ohio. I have been trying to persuade the radical van owners to bring their chopped, tandemned, shortened vans to that event with the hashtag #radicalreunion . Ohio has long been known for it's radical vans and had quite a few the last time the Nationals were there in 2022 for the 49th Nationals. I'm guesstimating 800+ vans in attendance at the Nationals this year. 

www.2026vannationals.com

Vanfest 29 will be happening in Aylmer Ontario Canada. I've been involved with this event, Canada's largest van and custom truck show for over 25 years. This event attracts 500 of the finest vans & trucks in Ontario and many from the U.S.

www.vanfestcanada.com

This year i will be making one last attempt to convince the diecast manufacturers, mainly Hotwheels and Green Light to finally make a 1/64 version of the 1964-1966 Chevy van. Pretty much every version of domestic van has been replicated as a diecast or in model form. The whole GM line of vans including the concept Universelle and even the dustbusters have been replicated, all except for the 1964-1964 vans, which are quite popular to customize. I even managed to contact GM licensing back in 2023 and they reached out to their diecast partners about doing this with no results yet. I even mocked up the blister packs for them :).