If painted vans like this are unfamiliar to you, you must have missed the ’70s or ’80s. The airbrush was king, and Star Wars was a favorite theme, along with mythical kingdoms, unicorns, and warriors. This Star Wars-themed example can be found here on eBay and is a 1978 Chevrolet G10 survivor that was pulled out of an old warehouse. It is now in Assonet, Massachusetts with a $3,000 high bid. The nostalgia quotient is high, right down to the porthole windows, and what is left of the quilted interior.
The Chevy van has only 21,000 miles on it, but despite inside storage, it’s hardly pristine. Some of the rust (on the hood, lower front doors, and sliders) is fairly substantial, and it has affected the heroic painted imagery—including a larger-than-life Darth Vader, a young Luke Skywalker in action pose with weaponry and more.
This is the third edition of these G-Series vans. They had a long run, and were offered between 1971 and 1996. The base powerplant was a 4.1-liter straight six, and there was also a 4.3-liter V-6, but this one has one of two short-block V-8s, either a 5.0 or 5.7-liter. It’s coupled to a TH350 three-speed automatic transmission.
A rot-free hood and cleaner doors are included, as are an extra grille, bumpers, glass lenses, marker lights, mirrors, wheels and tires, and dog-dish hubcaps. The owner says the van runs, drives and shifts, and that the brakes, ignition, and fuel systems have been gone through.
This thing must have been quite a ride at one time, but it looks like after the glory years it was used as basic transport. Much of the interior is stripped out, and the sunroof is missing its lens. There are bases for swivel seats, but only the driver’s seat is in place. Some captains’ chairs are included in the sale, however.
The van wears a nose, bumpers, and taillights from a 1972, but is a later vehicle. The missing headlight bezels and lights are included. American Racing Turbine wheels are shod with “vintage” Revenger T/A tires. Unfortunately, tires aren’t a category where “vintage” is an asset—maybe you could keep the old rubber for shows.
You could probably throw a mattress in the back, hang out a “don’t come knocking when this van is rocking” sign, and call it a day. Or you might want to restore this period piece to its former glory. The hardest part will probably be finding an airbrush artist who can touch up the graphics. There was a mural on the hood, but that’s one of the rusty parts and said artwork is “not visible.”
The owner is correct in asserting that the van is a “one-off period-correct piece” and “you don’t find them like this”. No, you don’t. So want to take a plunge back into a simpler time? The owner has additional photos and videos if you query him. It would be nice to get a good view of the dashboard. From what’s visible, the radio is missing, and maybe some other pieces.
With those graphics on the rockers and lower doors, you can’t even notice the rust.
Memories…..not necessarily great ones, but memories nonetheless.
Neglected it was. Rust it did.
Wondering why the front end was replaced? Was it wrecked, or did the owner just prefer the round headlights over the rectangular ones 1978s had?
Luke I am your father because the van was a rocking with shag carpet 😂
Seriously these-old vans went out of style like polyester pants.
Good luck with flipping 😉✅
They are still cool. You never see them. That paint has got to go, though.
Luke Thighwalker’s van?
Someone did a decent job with the artwork, except the Death Star is upside down!
In space no upside down there is.
Probably more DNA in the back than what’s in Jurassic Park lab.
My old middle school, well back then we called it Jr. high, friend drew all the time in a class we had together. Batman was another one he drew back then. I was building a chopper and brought him a gas tank to the warehouse he rented for painting. He was working on a chevy van like this, doing a total star wars theme all over the van. He is gone now, but I was wondering if this is one he did. I spent the night in his garage at his home to get my tank finished as I was ready for it then! I still have the tank, well it’s still on the bike. It was a full page in the mag. “In The Wind” in the late 80’s. Man that guy didn’t even have to think about it, just went to the canvas and did what was in his mind. Awesome. That was in Fl. where painted, but they could have moved to up north.
Waaaay back in the late 70s custom van/cb radio days my dad had an early 70s Ford van. Being young and not knowing much about cars I don’t remember the exact model year, engine size, and so on. Things I do remember…. it was red with flames,side pipe exhaust that I burnt my leg on once, shag carpet, leaky sunroof, overhead console for the cb and 8 track tape player, a sink and built in cooler, and a bed in the back ( never knew why there was a mirror on the roof over it lol ). He had it for a few years then traded it for a Pinto wagon. Ah the good Ol days !!
Saw one very similar to this one at the Syracuse Natl.s last year
Same Star Wars theme but in very nice shape. Sound effects and even lazers shooting around inside with the sliding door open for display. Plenty well worth checking out.
SOLD for $4.600.