I always thought that there were more sandman utes than vans as I guess I had more exposure to them growing up in NW Sydney. Vast majority I remember were either yellow (chrome, absinth or jasmine with either the blue, brown or orange stripes - HX-HZ I guess, not too many HQ/J's around from memory) or green (jamaica lime or panama with the blue stripes). There were certainly sandman pannos around but not as common as utes. I guess they were always tucked up in the corner of some beach carpark either rocking or wafting hooch smoke while the utes were getting used as both work and play vehicles....

There were still plenty of sandman utes and vans around its just that they didn't seem to be as common in other colours at the time.

Regards,

Dave.