Looking to track down a van that can get 30 mpg

[freebeard]

The 13-window was [L 312] Palm Green over [L 311] Sand Green. Radiused rear wheel wells with Buick 8" rims on wide-five centers.

It was stolen from in front of the house and left upside down in Amazon Slough. Took two wreckers, but we rode in it for 6 months with mud in the headliner.

It had lost 4th gear and the engine failed the day the tags expired, so I'd have to say yes.

OTOH, I'd had the 1954 23-window barn-door bus for five days when it got hit by drunks in a pickup truck and totaled. Else, when I got a [smol] inheritance a few months later it would have been repainted solid [L 324] Polar Silver.

Almost forgot, this is in my albums:



Get a Subaru with an equal wheelbase (I forget) and cut it off 8-10" above the floorboard. Put the bus or Vanagon body on top and re-jigger the steering. Four pull-out bins where the side doors were.

All-wheel drive and Subaru power for cheap.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by User1

These days I'd look for a clean Vanagon. More body width and A-arm front suspension.

Even though the average soccer-mom would despise it for the lack of crumple zones, it's hard to deny the Vanagon and its predecessors were great designs.

[User1]

freebeard is my newest hero!

[freebeard]

Thanks. Something like Tineye might find the original artist for that picture, all I know is it was [exfiltrated] from Tumblr.

That sort of build would not be out of place on Ecomodder. Those with more tools and workspace have done some interesting things.

Hoopie: 1946 Chevy Prius Truck
Hoopie: Hybrid Hot Rod 2.0 - The Pria Ghia
Bill the Engineer: The Firebrid Hybrid Convertible Project (Prius platform swap)

Whoops! Those are all Prius based.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Whoops! Those are all Prius based.

Hoopie's truck seems to make a point for a Prius-based replica of some earlier Suburban which used to be more like a van than SUV until the '60s. Not the cheapest option, but I'm sure it would be cool.

[JSH]

In the mid-10's my wife and I did several week long trips in a Dodge Caravan campervan conversion with the 3.6L V6. Keeping highway speeds to 65 mph we averaged 27 - 28 mpg in mixed driving. That is with a kitchen, fridge, extra house batteries and fresh / grey water tanks on board.

If you want a traditional full size van the Chevy Express with the 2.8L diesel will do want you want. Someone here on ecomodder has one and reports 30 mpg at 70 mph with loaded to 7500 lbs.

https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...mpg-36542.html

[hayden55]

Whats your price range? The Ford Transit lwb short height vans with the 2.0 get up to 24 city, 29 highway but are expensive. The pre-transit vans could be a good way to go too. Grab a 4.6L van and do an axle swap since they usually came with 4.10 or 3.73 axles and swap to a 2.73 axle. Might be able to get 25 ish mpg.