lost van found..............GUY NEEDS HELP CAN WE DO IT!!!

[obsession]

 

Hi

Im sure that all Vanners Australia wide will do there best to help you find this VAN

 

Hello Vanners,

 

     Can we help find this Van? If you have any idea please read Evans story below and give him a call/email

 

     Thanks and Keep on Vanning

 

     Regards

     AnDREW



To: info@vanning.org.au

Sent: Monday, July 20, 2009 12:22 AM

Subject: trying to track down a custom van from the 70s


 

Hi guys,
              My names is Evan Richards and i am trying to track down a 74' Bedford van that my father and uncle built back in 1976.
My father was Donald Richards and he and my uncle, Bill Stringer, built the van in an attempt to make a few dollars and have a good time doing it. From memory, the profit part wasn't too flash, but the fun was there!
I was about 7 years old when the van first rolled into our driveway and i still remember it clearly. My dad bought the van from Berry Fruit Juice and it was fully lined in alloy sheet in the back, but otherwise just stock with a 173 and white paint.
Bill put up the dollars for the majority of the parts, but dad did all the work apart from the woodwork as Bill was a carpenter. My dad was a self employed spray painter so it all worked out well. I remember helping fitting the flares, side pipes and bubble windows too, and mum did all the upholstery.
I actually ended up being a spray painter too and taught myself custom painting, graphics and air brushing and was heavily involved in drag racing in the 1990's, but quit spray painting soon after, though i'm just about to get back into it all again, i just miss it too much! (i actually found the jar of SEM gold flakes that dad used and it's still 3/4 full and perfectly good!)

What i would untimatley love is to get that very van back again and restore it to how it was, though i do realise that even if i did find it, the chances of getting it would be slim.
Having said that, my father passed away a few years ago and not long after i found a copy of Van Wheels #10 which the van was featured in and it still sticks in my head, and my mothers, that we would just like to know what happened to it after it left us back in 1979 or 1980. I know this is a big ask, but if you or any of your members know anything at all, it would be fantastic for myself and my family.
If worst comes to worst and i can't the real van back, i will be building a replica, with a few twists though, like a Chev engine and murals!

Thanks in advance,

Evan Richards,
039 799 9528  0437 901