Quote Originally Posted by SMQQTH View Post
You missed it mate. You have said the canopy is called a sandman. Therefor someone that owns a HBD canopy converted ute has a Sandman!
I didn't say any such thing! I said the HBD brochure calls the canopy a "Sandman" conversion for a ute. Apart from the fact that HBD is not Holden therefore has no weight, it is a Paradox anyway. Sandman means "sports" commercial, not "panel van". Adding a canopy to a ute didn't make it a Sandman, never did. Take a 1971 HQ 173 3spd ute and add a van roof - it isn't a Sandman. It is a "panel van conversion" of a ute.

In the day a lot of non-Sandman vehicles eg V8 4sp BO6's were sold new as Sandmans because dealers "converted" them by adding stripes, as Sandmans were hard to get. They were a dealer modified ute or van, not a Sandman regardless of what original purchase paperwork said. Same deal with this canopy.
Turning this around 180deg, there is an original HJ Sandman ute owned by a person here on this site. It left the assembly plant as an L31 M41 HJ Kingswood XX7. The purchaser (current owner's relative) bought it as he wanted a 308 TH400 for towing but didn't want a Sandman, just a Kingswood. It was modified by the dealer, had GTS guards removed, Kingswood accessory side strips added, blackouts painted over in body colour and stripes not fitted. It was sold as a Kingswood with no mention of Sandman. But it is a Sandman, as that is how GMH built it. The dealer modified it - early HBD!