A brief history of my vans

When I was 18 I owned my first car, a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle. It was a great car and I traveled extensively in it. Why I didn't choose a van as my first wheels, I have no clue but it wasn't long before I decided that I should have. I scoured the newspapers, the auto trader magazines and a new tool that I was beginning to learn called the Internet to try and find my first van. As an established VW fan the choice was clear, a VW bus. My first VW bus was a 73 camper that I purchased from a stoner in Ohio. It was a mess and the engine was sitting on the back seat. The price was cheap and with more enthusiasm than sense, I bought it. Despite his hesitations, my dad rented a Uhaul and a trailer and we went and hauled it straight to the yard of a local VW shop that I had begun to haunt. There it would stay until the day the shop closed and it was hauled to the scrap yard with all the other junkers out back. Just before I left the shop for the last time, I wrote 'Casual Turtle' on the front of the van with a sharpie. I never drove it, but still it was my first van and I thought it should receive the honor of making its last journey with a name.



The beetle sold and some cash in hand I began my search again. I came home with a 72 camper that actually drove. It was rough, but operable. It was a standard Westfalia interior with the folding bed, sink and table. From the moment I put the key into the ignition to drive it home it was far more than another vehicle, it was my first apartment. I immediately set about customizing it to suit me. I recovered the seats with tie dye and made curtains to match. My mother worked all her sewing magic to make a custom tie dyed canvas top for the pop up, something I was tremendously proud of since I never saw another like it. I covered the folding table with a US road map and plastered the windows with stickers. It was home. I took many trips with it, including a 4 month stretch of living in it while traveling all over the east coast. I hung onto it long after it stopped running and it was eventually sold to someone who, I hope, got it back on the road. The Casual Turtle 2 will always have a special place in my heart.



During the Casual Turtle 2 days I was attending community college. In the campus library one day I stumbled on a book that captivated me. The Do-It-Yourself Custom Van Book by Franklynn Peterson and Judi R Kesselman. It was a 1977 how-to manual for customizing a van produced at the height of the 70's custom van craze. It was very detailed in its instruction even going as far as how to lay out parts on a sheet of plywood to minimize waste. I checked it out, paid for it as if it was lost, and still have it to this day. When the VW bus stopped running properly, I stored it at a relatives and began a stint of driving my late grandmother's old Plymouth Horizon all the while dreaming of the next van. I poured through that book over and over and when some cash found its way into my pocket, I became the proud owner of a 1985 Ford Econoline. The Casual Turtle 3 was born. I built the interior from scratch, largely from plans in the book. I had it painted in green with a custom white stripe across the hood and down the side. It was my pride and joy and was played a large role in the beginning of my relationship with the woman who would become my wife (not like that, get your mind out of the gutter). It was my mobile apartment where we could spend time alone and get to know each other in addition to taking many road trips together. I spent all the money I had replacing the motor when it seized up from blown oil line (the oil light is no help if the bulb is burned out, so check them often). When the transmission went I had no money to fix it and it was taken to a small car lot my grandfather was the landlord of. It was sold to a man who wanted to take it to Nashville and live in while he followed his dream of becoming a country singer. That man lived in the van right on the car lot for several months before a fire in the office trailer claimed it along with several other cars. A computer crash cost me all but one picture of the van's interior in its completed state, the picture on the 'for sale' flyer I had made for it.

The Casual Turtle 4 was a short lived 88 Astrovan that only made one successful road trip before major recurring electrical problems took it off the road. The interior was nothing more than a futon mattress layed in the back.

My Current van is a 1978 GMC Vandura. I purchased it from the original owner who customized it with van catalog accessories in the waining years of the van craze. I have used it mostly in the state I purchased it. It has a tough reliable drive train attached to a rats nest of an electrical system. It has been on several road trips so far and is currently sitting in storage in South Carolina awaiting some funds to repair its molested wires. Its interior will be redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up, so stay tuned for that.

Although not a member of the Casual Turtle family, honorable mention goes to 'Working Class Zero' my 93 Dodge C/V (the cargo model of the Caravan). It is my work truck and daily driver. With a quarter of a million miles on the clock it is approaching retirement. It will be replaced by the redesign of the Casual Turtle 5 which will incorporate both living and working functions into its layout. The little dodge is a beast and has earned a lot of respect from me.