As some of you saw recently, I listed my 1981 Toyota HiAce for sale here on Barn Finds. It’s also been posted to the usual classifieds sites, and man, did it bring out of the woodwork a litany of people desperate to live that van life existence. Now, I can’t fault them – the interior of my HiAce is ripe for conversion – but most of the inquiries were from folks who over-indexed on the novice side of vintage vehicle ownership and wondered why it didn’t have airbags, or what a column shift manual transmission was. Perhaps I should have steered them to something more like this 1977 Dodge B200 Tradesman listed here on eBay, which is ready for life on the road or simply for visiting local campsites. The current bid is $14,000 with the reserve unmet.

Now, there’s little doubt this B200 is about as authentic as it gets the second you open the barn doors. The listing notes that this example was professionally converted by a company known as Van American, which I’m sure is familiar to members of the vanning community. Whether this Dodge went from the showroom straight to the conversion factory isn’t disclosed, but many of them did. The seller does confirm it was converted back in the 1970s, so it seems quite likely a first owner didn’t waste any time creating the conversion van of his dreams, or a dealer saw a golden opportunity to get a buyer to pay well above the MSRP for a basic Dodge Tradesman van.

The work certainly looks like it was done to a high level, with nicely integrated features including a full sofa, captains chairs that evidently swivel, tables, curtains, and wall-to-wall shag carpeting. It’s everything you could possibly want in a classic “boogie” van, right down to the shag carpeting continuing along the ceiling. The seller notes that all of the carpeting was recently professionally cleaned, which is likely one of the biggest concerns/fears of anyone looking to get into a van of this style and vintage. Knowing it’s been gone through with a steam cleaner or whatever other cleaning agent might be appropriate will help put the next owner’s mind at ease over the level of hinky-ness that occurred within.

The Dodge also sports the classic custom paint job with an inspirational mural on the sides, no doubt promising a vision of wide open spaces and worry-free existence. The paintwork was completed several years ago and still looks pretty decent, but the seller does disclose there are some flaws from general use. The Dodge rides on sharp polished wheels and has a period air dam installed up front; the chrome ladder rack may be a bit much but at least it’s functional should you want to watch the sun rise from the roof top. I’m slightly surprised at the high levels of bidding activity (and that the reserve remains unmet), but I can attest there’s a lot of interest in living that van life right now.