The (New) BattleWagon in the Flesh

The newest BattleWagon is the oldest BattleWagon.  She doesn't have a name.  My daughter calls her "The Big Blue Van" and my father simply calls her "Big Blue".  She's a workhorse, to be sure.  The nitty gritty of it is, she's a 1988 Chevy 1-ton van, Bonaventure model.  It's got a 350 cubic-inch V8, with throttle-body fuel injection, matched to a 3-speed automatic transmission.  I like to call her the Millennium Falcon, because, like her namesake, I feel like "she may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts".

This was the vehicle I learned to drive in, over a quarter century ago.  Since then, this van has traveled to Arizona numerous times, Washington state, Minnesota, and West Virginia.  She's shuttled soccer teams over high mountain passes, and families across stark deserts.  She's pulled trailers, other cars, and given the occasional ride to a stranger.  The heat always blows warm, and the old-school "smoking windows" up front keep it cool on the highway in the summer.  The 1-ton status gives it a little extra strength in its frame and a little extra height in its stance.

Built in Canada and sold to a church group near Pueblo, she wound up in my dad's hands after a trip to Phoenix in her predecessor, a slightly older Beauville van, turned out to be less-than-fun on account of not having rear air conditioning.  I don't know if that's the official story, but I like telling it that way.

Unfortunately, I have a ways to go to get this old van in the kind of shape we require.  The list, at this point, includes, but isn't limited to brakes, weatherstripping, gaskets, motor mounts, windshield washer motor, rear heat and AC, and tons of cosmetic touches inside and out.

Still as it is, it's really nice to have the ability to take 12 people somewhere (haven't done it yet, got up to 7 once), and to take all of the seats out and haul a cord of wood, 4x8 sheets of plywood, couches, or anything else I get called about.  That, and we've camped out in this van a few times as a family, and it's a great space for that.

The end goal, which may never be accomplished, is to turn this thing into a poor man's SportsMobile.  I don't know about throwing a pop top on there, but this van is the base camp for all of the expeditions.  Just need to get moving, and we are.  One mile at a time.