Mount Your Toilet Seats? 1957 Converted Step Van

v1

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Got a studio tour to do? Maybe transporting folks around as you tailgate? Or driving around the local flea market? This converted Ford step van could do that and more. As a matter of fact, I am really interested in the creative uses you could come up with for it (the owner suggested outfitting it with 8 toilets and manikins with their pants down to amuse passersby)! It’s located in Los Angeles, California (no surprise there) and is up for auction here on eBay where the opening bid is $2,500 but there is a reserve.

v2

Anyone remember taking a studio tour in one of these? I’m sure that’s what it was used for. I’m thinking at some of the larger swap meets and shows I’ve been to I would have cheerfully paid for a period ride, especially if it came with an ice-cold bottle of water! The seller tells us it has 76, 800 miles, but with a five digit odometer there’s no telling how many miles it’s actually traveled!

v4

Here’s where you’d carry your friends, mount your toilets, or perhaps a rolling party? The structure certainly appears sound with only minor surface corrosion that I can see. That’s the engine cover next to the driver; I’d have to at least mount another seat up there so I had some company!

v3

Can you say “plain-Jane”? Interestingly enough, I was searching the internet for 1957 Ford pickup gauges thinking that’s what they were, and came across this pair of 1951 gauges that look like an exact match to me! Hmmm. I’m guessing that’s not a collapsible steering column! And where’s the padded dash? Just kidding.

v5

The seller tells us that the carburetor could use a rebuild, and that it’s been sitting for a while so both they and I would recommend going through the brakes. It does look like it’s got a recent fuel filter and coil, so maybe it hasn’t been too long since it’s been serviced. The equivalent of a PCV valve attached to the valve cover defies description! So the time has come–now that you’ve looked it over, tell me what you’d do with it!

Comments

  1. Cody

    I was in a river bottoms drunken barn dance style of wedding recently. The wedding party rode around in a converted hay bail trailer pulled behind a pickup. This vehicle would serve that same purpose well and with style. The area above the rear tires would be a perfect spot for the coolers.

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  2. Fred W.

    Perfect for tours of downtown Nashville. Just buy lots of insurance and don’t take those corners too fast.

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  3. David

    We have beer bikes in town and now they allow drinking while bar hopping (sorry about the pun). Perhaps some would prefer not to pedal and on this thing the drunks are even facing the right way to feed the raccoons, for the old heave-ho you know. Even with my twisted sense of humor, I don’t get how maniquins on toilets is funny.

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  4. Tracy

    1957?

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  5. DrinkinGasoline

    1955 Ford Vanette Conversion. We had two of the 55 Vanettes in the family business from the late 50’s well into the mid 70’s. The Vanette came standard with only the driver’s seat. I spent a lot of time in those trucks as well as two F Series Panels, a 55 and a 56.
    With the Creaper Gear, the Vanette’s would pull almost anything out of well…..almost anything.
    Around the Cleveland, Oh. area, they were commonly used as police paddy wagons, parcel delivery vans, and there was a company called “Charles Chips” that would deliver fresh potato chips in a large tin container, once a week with a subscription to their service. Our milk delivery vans were mostly Divco’s.

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  6. DrinkinGasoline

    Not sure where the “toilet seats” idea came from.
    Maybe a new twist on “Porta-Potties” ?
    “Step right up…sit right down and do yer business next to ?!?!…..”
    Umm, awkward.
    I’ve often wondered, how much alcohol, or how many hallucinogenic drugs were involved in some of the greatest mechanical inventions.
    Laudanum was widely used during the Industrial Revolution. Something to think about.

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  7. Wayne

    I think I’d be very tempted to adapt a vintage Airstream to the front clip.

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