My HK van 1977-1979

[we wreck xx7s only]

the good ole days huh?? no one hassled you for being different and modifying a car like the van, guys like rob were true innovators, ppl like him made me crave to learn about a gas axe and litrs of K&N, awesome days and memories of 1980-81 riding my push bike down to vancraft and seeing john evans latest creation, and next door seeing keith matcham chopping a lid on a 350 HQ coupe with tee tops, saying to myself "one day I will do that" and in a few short years it became a reality..the other differences was everyone had a job, was skinny, was happy and the only drug we worried about was a bex from mum for a headache we got when we were clipped about the ear for talking in class..
they just don't write em like that anymore

[Big Rob]

the good ole days huh?? no one hassled you for being different and modifying a car like the van, guys like rob were true innovators, ppl like him made me crave to learn about a gas axe and litrs of K&N, awesome days and memories of 1980-81 riding my push bike down to vancraft and seeing john evans latest creation, and next door seeing keith matcham chopping a lid on a 350 HQ coupe with tee tops, saying to myself "one day I will do that" and in a few short years it became a reality..the other differences was everyone had a job, was skinny, was happy and the only drug we worried about was a bex from mum for a headache we got when we were clipped about the ear for talking in class..
they just don't write em like that anymore

Kind words, thanks. Your memories are similar to mine. I couldn't wait for the next "Custom Vans and Trucks" to come out, or the odd couple of pages vans would get in "Wheels" magazine.
I don't know about being an innovator, I was a bumbling teenager, but I knew what I liked and went about finding out how to do it. The van was resprayed by Daryl Issacs when it made the transition to "Time Machine", but I did all the flares after reading how to in a US magazine, possibly "Car Craft". I wasn't scared (probably should have been!) to cut and join stuff.
I built the interior after looking at a heap of vans at van shows and talking to the owners. I had good wood and metal working skills from school, so it was a piece of cake. The fur was easy, just a big roll of bathroom carpet and a huge tin of "Kwikgrip". I nearly died of the fumes while I was doing it!

John Evan's "Tangerine Dream", then "Reincarnation" (I loved black vans) got my blood pumping. I was fortunate to later meet and be friends with John Strachan and was heavily influenced by the early "Alley Cat". John showed me how to think outside the box, so that's where I got the guts to do things that were "new", like the A9X flares and hood scoop being moulded-in, rather than just bolted on.

I have a lot more pics of the van in the build too.

They were great days....