Introductions

[GARRY]

G'day all i've had my 1975 beddie for a few years now i bought it from some german backpacker in carins it had a very tired 186 & auto in it but it also had front discs; bullbar; full lenght roofrack; high ratio diff; 15'wheels ; sliding front doors ; good fun driven around in summer with the doors open. So i pulled the motor out and put in an RB30 & AUTO and rebuilt the front end and made a dash for the new gauges now it drives and handles very good i painted it myself so it looks like shit. I use my beddie every day and hope to do a 4x4 conversion on it when i can afford it . I also have a TRIUMPH TR7 V8 and CCM 644 DIRTBIKE i"m a sucker for pommy vehicles.

[Kirk]

Hi My Name is Kirk,

I have a drinking pro...(oops wrong forum) scratch that:)

I love bedfords, and have done since i was 15/16, and im 31 or 32 when looking for my first car i wanted 1 and there was only 1 around and it was for sale at $6k (in Darwin) alas it was a dream as i had about $1500 to spend, now to give you some idea of my sick love for these cars, i was a 16yr with 3 cars i could pick from to buy 1/ HZ MONARO all original BUT in pieces, 2/ Torana sedan on the road and in good shape, 3/ a Nissan C20 Van, lime green with rego.  I brought the Nissam cause it was the closest thing to a beddy i could afford.

I recently purchased my first and hopefully my only beddy, there is alot of work and cost to be involved but my goal is to make her into a more modern MTV styled Themed van.

Ohhh i work in a call centre at morning and weekends and run Poker games on week nights.

[Clappers]

Hi my name is Tim
I own and run a Motorcycle shop working on Harleys which I run part time now. I also work doing fabrication work. I'm 42 and a Mechanical fitter by trade.
I have a L.W.B 350 chev,turbo 400, 9" . I,ve had van for a while on and off the road. I,ve decide it's not going on the road until it's completely finished. Almost everything is new.

I'd like to thank all who gave words of encouragement when I was going to sell Big Betty on the old sight. It will be staying and I'm going to finish it. Hopefully by Xmas.

[obsession]

good on ya tim.!

[eddy]

g'day Eddy here, been into beddies for at least 30 years (oh my gosh that means I could have bought one new!) have owned around 12 in varying degrees of capitulation and returned most of them from the dead, had sad ones and bad ones, had ones that didn't last, had ones that others drove past and had ones that went very fast, got used to being asked "do you wanna sell her mate?" got used to the head turning, loved the moments when other beddie drivers gave a nod when passing, loved the times when we stopped and chatted, and may I say never sent one to the wreckers, I just turned late late very late 40ish (alright then 50, and I have to admit that only cause Benn was at the party!) have 3 boyz and not one of them wanted a beddie even when I offered it to them! anyways they are all grown up now and doing there own thing but somehow I think they are regretting taking the blk beddie on, I work in emergency services, carpenter by trade, into fitness and outdoor adventure sports, born in NZ and happily married and settled in Oz for past 26 years, don't believe I am a beddie addict but the missus will say otherwise. Current van is a camper that will more than likely be the last one (although one must admit that there is always room for improvement in ones life ... take that as a suttle hint missus, I still got one eye open for that dream beddie) , beddies in good condition are hard to find so decided to stay with what I got and rebuild as I please .... great to network with so many beddie owners, the buga site has been a source of information,encouragement and inspiration for me since its founding and the beddites on here are the real deal. The improvements are astounding, a huge thank you to the current beddites for putting so much work into developing this site     check out my gallery for pics old and new ..... and ...... keep on vannin

[vanner065]

Hi all, i am a 43 yr young Truck/ van driver and in charge of our warehouse, we import Italian wines and beers. A radio/stereo fitter by trade for 17 yrs. Needed a change so did courier work for a while until i decided to get my truck licence about 8 years ago (wanted it when i was 12) Love the alcohole industry i am in now. I am founder and president of Diamond Valley Vanners, now in its 19th year, also president of Van Council of Victoria. Love my vans, have had i think 23 vans and i am sure there is more to come. I got interested in Bedfords when i first saw The Judge and Tabu. I guess i have been lucky with my vans as i have a very successful show van in Bad Company which i have had for 19 years. Had the opportunity many years ago to buy the Judge but the car yard dude would not trade the van i had on it, BUGA. Then about 10 years ago did buy it, wish i still had it but sold it to a mate to fund a trip round oz. About 5 years ago bought Mystic Fantasy from a member of our club who neglected it big time, i could not stand seeing what he was doing to it so i said give me your best price, got it  . Now i also have the Victorian 3XY Coca Cola Easyroller which i found about 2 yrs ago, after 8 mths of negotiations the keys were handed over and now its in for a full resto, hope fully i will have it at the Van Nats. Want to get myself a LWB windowless with a V8 and on gas next for a daily driver. WOOHOO, luv vans 
                                                                          James

[Clance]

Hi Guys N Gals, Well I got the Beddy bug years ago as a teen but didn't get around to owning one until I was 39 years old. That was my first Motorhome and I used it for 4.5 months travelling down the East coast of Aus heading back to Tassie after 16 years on the big island! wow what a hoot of a trip!! I sold that one to a guy near Bennalla and pretty much immediately regretted it!! I'm 42 now and the time has come to go back to the mainland for work so I searched for another Beddy motorhome and searched and searched then one that took my eye turned up on ebay with all the bits I wanted 350 Chev, T400, gas and highway diff. Bought it for $9000.00 drove it up to the guys place in Bennalla that bought my first one and did a bit of work to make it safer to drive back to Tassie. The thing is a machine, it's 7.2m long and 3.2m high has a lazy back axle and sits on the highway at 100k with no drama, jump on the gas and away it goes, got 145klm/h on the Hume and it handled like a car!! Got heaps of strange looks from truckies as I passed them!!! hehehehe.
Well now it's sitting in the backyard with the interior gutted being slowly rebuilt. I've done all the mechanicals including a complete front end rebuild ( Thanks Benn for those upper and lower control arms ). I'm heading back to Mackay in QLD in 8 weeks so the pressure is ON now to get the inside back to livable.
I'm not working at the moment so everyday is Bedford day
This is my website where I have some pic of the first and the current one and a bit more about me and some of my other bad habits.
http://imaginocean.bigpondhosting.com/default.htm
Maybe I can catch up with a few of you guys on the way north.
Cheers, Clance

[doofhard]

I'm Scott from the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne.  I currently have a LWB which I bought off ebay from Queensland unseen.  Was a risk but I still love the look of her, she hasn't been touched since i've had her.  She has a 9" rear, chopped roof replaced with flat fibreglass, disc brake front and did have a 350 in her before I got her.  I have had built a tuff 400 chev with lots of chrome and have a mate who will build the T-400 for her.

Now problem is in the next few weeks i'm going to be working in W.A again, thats 4 weeks on and 1 week off.  Not to much time to play.  I may be looking for anyone interested in getting her on the road.

[ben]

id probably be interested.. give us a call some time.. craig said he sent my no to you so cheers

ben

[ShaneJ]

I guess I better get in on this.

My name is Shane and I live in north Brisbane.

I'm an Electronics Technician by trade but I now work as an IT Manager.

I bought my first Bedford only a month or so ago. Stock standard with 3 speed manual and 173.

That's about it.