OUR NEWEST HULA STICKER DESIGN

Okay, I got a wild hair up my ass to do a new piece of art for a Vinvanco sticker.

So I starting reflecting on the most recent vans I've been seeing and dreaming about. That's when it hit me like a ton of bricks. Maybe it was time to do a mash-up.

I decided to combine of my favorite references and build them all into a Vinvanco sticker.

I started by thinking front to back, which quickly lead me to the front end of Steve Luckett's Econoline "the Creeper".  For subscribers, I did a "Twelve Questions" segment on The Creeper" a few months ago.

Steve's handiwork: Custom grill, recessed headlights, frenched antenna. Badass. 

Then I started thinking about the LWB slammed Super Van I'd posted pictures of on the Vinvanco FB page several times over the last couple years. Even though I've never loved the rear wheel well placement of the LWB Econoline, the ride height of this photoshopped Econoline just looked so right to me. To say nothing of the perfectly proportioned, slammed vintage travel trailer it's hooked to. With this beauty as my second reference point, I then reflected on the build plan for "Pandora", which subscriber may recall from past entries of this blog. To refresh collective memories, I have a color combo and a Polynesian interior motif in mind. 

The color treatment and motif I've been toying with for "Pandora" was my third reference point. A warm olive green and eggplant, as seen in paint chips below, liberated from my local Lowe's. What can I say? I'm a paint chip thief. The original olive color inspiration came from a VW Squareback I found shots of on the web, also seen below.

So I wrote up a design brief in which I shotgun-married "The Creeper's" front end, the slammed LWB Econoline Falcon van and trailer, and the paint colors I've got on the docket for "Pandora". Would it turn into vanning equivalent to mystery meatloaf?

I sent the brief to our talented Dutch friend, Ger Peters, who has illustrated several of our Vinvanco stickers for us, as well as our Hotrodshiftknob.com t-shirts and stickers. He had questions. I provided answers. I was began to think I was wasting his time and mine.

Then it happened. Ger sent the sketch. Wow. We were blown away. Yet again. We changed nothing. Ger did what Ger always seems to do. He took all the loose thinking and pulled it together into something that looked even better than we imagined it would. In fact, we dig the art so much that we not only ordered stickers, but had flexible fridge magnets made, too.

Yeah, we're pretty damn stoked about our new design. The response has been super so far. Of course, we're practically giving them away for the first week. Will we do shirts? In the words of the Magic Eight-Ball "the prospect looks good". But first, we got some new stickers and magnets to sell.

We also just added our second run of Zombie Econoline shirts to the store. In addition, Zombie is presently working on two more designs to extend the Zombie/Vinvanco line to include a first-gen, flat-nose Chevy van and an Econoline Pup. I've also promised I'd cut him loose on some seventies vans, which he likes drawing even more than first gens. Breathe baited.

You can see Zombie's Econoline and A100 Vinvanco stickers in the store.

That's it for now. If you dig the new design, feel free to order some for yourself. The sooner these start moving, the sooner we'll add more designs to the mix.

Over and out.

THE DAY HAS ARRIVED

After much planning, hand-ringing, back and forth with artists and estimates from printers, we have finally officially launched VINVANCO.com, a.k.a. Vintage Van Company (HERE'S A LINK TO OUR PRODUCT PAGE: http://www.houseospeed.com/servlet/Categories) The beginnings may seem humble: a few bumper stickers, here, a couple of t-shirts there, but the hard part is done. We have original artwork from the amazing Tuck (http://www.houseospeed.com/servlet/Detail?no=303), and other artists are officially engaged in adding to the mix. New items will begin dropping with regularity
and you'll be seeing a lot of love for the first-gens. Our first exclusive bumper stickers are here and right in back of them will be a series of bumper stickers patterned after our original HOUSEOSPEED.com stickers (http://www.houseospeed.com/servlet/Categories). We'll have a first-gen DODGE sticker, a first-gen CHEVY sticker, a first-gen FORD Econoline sticker, and a multi-make sticker. I've written some fresh lines, borrowed some existing chestnuts and put a lil' spin on a few of the well-worn cliches. Each one of the vans in our series will be customized, using 70's period wheels and parts. NO BILLET here, folks. If you go to our VINVANCO Facebook page and like us, you'll see the new products before the rest of the world does, which is probably a good thing, given the fact that supplies will be limited. So thanks everyone for your considerable patience and fasten your seat belts for a run of fun first stickers, koozies, tees and whatever else we figure out along the way.

A portion of the proceeds generated by VinVanco will go to the mechanical restoration of "Poochie". Its orginal paint will remain intact, while its ride height and interior will receive thorough "VINVANCO-ization". 

IT'S A GO!

Alright, folks. After a lot of delays, were ready to really get slamming on the VINVANCO inventory.
Our talented friend Hollywood Tuck has designed our initial batch of original artwork and other phenomenal artists are jumping in, too. It won't be long now folks. Thanks for your patience!

EASY TIGER VAN

A guy I used to work with-- a phenomenal designer -- just helped make an old Dodge A-100 into one of the coolest delivery vehicles on the planet. I know very little else about it other than Ryan Rhodes out helped on it. I'm guessing he laid out all the typography. Anyhow, if you see this bad boy running around Austin, TX, follow it to the beer garden. More on it once I've learned a bit more. 

Until then, enjoy. Cheers!

VinVanCo merch is coming

"My, what sharp teeth you have"

I'm not generally a red lover. Better scratch that last thought.

We're just now seeing our first designs come to fruition for VinVanCo and while I'd love to
show them off, I'm going to hold back until everything is set. 

In the words of Tom Petty, "the waiting is the hardest part".
I do think first-generation van fans are going to like what they see.

Until then, here's some F-G (first gen) eye candy.

Look Ma, no doors. 

Now that's what I call raking the lawn.

SOME PEOPLE DON'T SCARE EASILY

One of the things I love about the Internet is how much you can find just digging around. Now as many of you are no doubt starting to catch onto, I've got a first-gen van Jones. But I never did care for the long wheelbase earlies, especially the Econolines. Then along comes someone with a lot of imagination and serious fabrication chops to slap my perception silly.
Case in point: The "LWBECO" seen up above. What the folks at Needful Thingz have done is quite brilliant, in my humble opinion. By relocating the rear wheelwheel of a LWB Econoline about 18" back, they've singlehandedly solved the ungainly proportion problems that made the it look like it had been beaten with an ugly stick. Now this type of fabrication is not for the faint of heart. Do not try this at home. But man have they changed my impression of the long wheelbase Econolines.  Damn fine work, gents. I'm truly impressed. For those wanting to learn more, go to NTKUSTOMS myspace page .
Hope to be bringing you more on this vehicle down the road.

OUR 1961, ORIGINAL-OWNER ECONOLINE (not counting us.)

It's a long story but I'll keep it short. A couple of years a go a young writer who worked for me asked if I might be interested in an Econoline, knowing I liked fixing up old junk. I told him I might be interested and casually inquired, "Do ya know what year it is?" His response went something like this. "I think it's a '64, it was my grandpa's work van and it's been in the garage of his lake house since he replaced it with a new van back in the eighties." Little did he know I had a past with first gens, having owned four different ones and barely surviving the much-maligned "Van Movement" of the seventies with my twenties intact. It didn't take me long to get up to Brownwood, Texas, with a trailer in tow to see what was in store for us. What we found was a bruised, but not beaten Seafoam green Econoline panel van with virtually no options. It didn't even come with a passenger seat or a glovebox door. And it was 100% bone stock as it sat. The mods we have planned? We have a Ford 302 on the stand for her out of a early seventies Bronco. We're looking for an 8", 8.8", or 9" rear for it, as well as a 3-speed automatic. We'll post up more as we add parts. Thanks for reading.

We had to drag the old girl from her cocoon of twenty years.

The original plan was to make it my son's first car, but that plan changed with the purchase of '67 Impala -- so the plan is now for the van to be fixed it up and used as the VinVanCo company van. A nice, period-70's van-movement hauler. I wanted to share a few shots of the van as we found it, and cleaned up as it sits in the garage awaiting an influx of capital to fund its restification.

Here's a quick progress report of where we're at.  

Incidently, the van is a 1961, and was last registered in 1988. 

We've named her "Poochie", in honor of Earl Clements, its first owner, 

who was known by that nickname to friends and family alike.

RIP Poochie, yer ol' girl is in good hands. 

First daylight in two decades. Check the faded Seafoam paint.  Yum.

Here she is back home after a good scrub.

Time for a little internal cleanse.

144 cubes sans doghouse.

The interior post-scrub.

Out with the old. 

Cigars. Candy. Tobacco. Drugs.  Now all we need is strippers.

Here she is having an out-of-suspension experience.

This is in mock-up. Wishful ride-height thinking at its finest. 

Everyone loves her original paint. We wouldn't dream of changing it.
We gingerly tapped out all of her little dimples and dents, then carefully pushed her nose back
into shape. We'll be leaving the paint and body as-is.
Come to think of it, maybe we'll treat her to a nice coat of clear before we start driving her.

A killer 61 Econoline

I was rooting around on the Internet this weekend and found a bitchen build blog on a Sonoma, CA-based 61 Econoline panel van. Its owner is a guy named Donn Dabney, who happens to own a business called leftcoastclassics (which also happens to be his handle on Car Domain.) Anyhow, if you click over you'll find all kinds of helpful info, including the appropriate wheel sizes and offsets for running Cragar SS wheels. Donn even has listed the largest tire you can run without causing interference. As you can see Donn has built himself one honey of an Econoline, sparing no expense as you'll see in his blog.  Enjoy!

INTRODUCING VINTAGE VAN COMPANY FROM HOUSE O' SPEED.

This idea has been brewing in my brain for years, and it's finally come time to pour it out.

Vintage vans are cool. They were cool when I was in high school and owned a mustard-yellow, short wheel base panel van, with a straight six. And they're just as cool now.

Maybe even cooler, frankly. After all, they're no longer so readily available. The price of admission is higher. It seems they had to fall almost completely off the radar, before any of us started feeling nostalgic about them, and reflecting back on just how damn cool they really are.

Given that most vans of the 60's began their lives as pack mules for phone companies, appliance repair services or hauling away dirty diapers before anyone had a concept of disposables, is it any wonder so few are still running around today?

But fortunately, they are still out there. And while those who love them are indeed a smaller pack than the seventies van movement, our passion is even stronger. We were the ones who crossed state lines in these beauties, collecting memories and experiences we'd never forget. Those who were carted to concerts, beaches and national parks in these trusty steads. A few of us probably had the privilege of sleeping off a buzz in the back of a vintage van.

Vintage vans have rightfully earned a place in our hearts. It's that very observation that led us create Vintage Van Company, or VinVanCo. VinVanCo wants to rekindle the passion for vintage vans, and re-establish the vintage van to its rightful place. In our hearts and minds. And for the die hard among us, back on the roads.

Where all those fond feelings got their start in the first place.

Like many fires, Vinvanco will start small. With cool stickers and high-quality tees, created by some of the best artists in the world. Perhaps some fine art prints will follow, as well as patches, beer koozies and the like. But if the idea catches on, it's our intent to evolve into a source for the period correct accessories that today's vintage van lovers need in order to customize their early vans just as they could have been back in the heyday of the original van movement.

So welcome. Vinvanco is as much yours, as it is ours. We invite you to look around, dive as deep as your passion takes you, and feel free to use our helpful links page to find other sources that'll help you fuel your love for vintage vans.

If you're an artist with an interest in helping us grow the vintage van movement, drop us a line and send samples. If you're a manufacturer, and looking to help us fill the void, by all means, give us a buzz. And if you're simply a person who would like share your love of vans through an American made t-shirt, fasten your seat belt.

It's going to be a fun ride.

Cameron & Debbie Day
HouseOspeed.com