What overlanding vehicle is shown on the cover of the "vanlife diaries" book?

[El-Dracho]

Hi community,

Just saw the book "Vanlife diaries" today. The rig shown on the cover looks awesome. Does anybody here know what make/ type this is exactly? Looks like one of these Sportsmobiles but an older one maybe?

Thanks,
Bjoern

 

[64Trvlr]

Looks like a mid 80's Club Cab Ford van

 

[Road]

Hi community,

Just saw the book "Vanlife diaries" today. The rig shown on the cover looks awesome. Does anybody here know what make/ type this is exactly? Looks like one of these Sportsmobiles but an older one maybe?

Thanks,
Bjoern

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Well dang...went to amazon and looked up Vanlife Diaries and came up with a completely different book cover with the same title, hence my reply in quotes further below. Evidently they used a different cover for the German version than they did for the American version. It's the same book with different covers.

Yeah, that's a Ford van on the cover for your link, though I don't think they used the term Club Cab for vans, just pickups, and used the term Crew Cab for vans.
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re: Vanlife Diaries with the cover I found:

"Well, not really an 'overlanding' vehicle in the sense most here seem to think. Not really that great for trails or backcountry travel.
It's a VW bus, Vanagon, VW Camper, Eurovan; been called a lot of things: Model Overview: Bus, Vanagon, Eurovan (1968-2003) | Gowesty
Here's a whole page of them.
Interesting note: It's my understanding they were the first to come up with the poptop style that Sportsmobile now uses, but lost the rights or patent or something somehow through a sale or transfer, so now use the wedge poptop."

Funny they used an American van on the German edition and a German van on the American edition.

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Roaddude - On the Road In North America - ROADDUDE

Roaddude - Traveling Photographer/Writer/Artist On the Road In North America. Gear, reviews, people, places, and culture.

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[Billiebob]

Just an old E350 with a Pathfinder 4x4 conversion. Pretty common in the 1980s.
Looks like a recent picture but an old van.

 

[El-Dracho]

Funny they used an American van on the German edition and a German van on the American edition.

Yes, that´s funny!

Thanks for the answers! Great community here

Looks good as an overlanding vehicle... a rig with a character and not as boring as many of the new 4x4 vans, I think.

 

[Road]

Yes, that´s funny!

Thanks for the answers! Great community here

Looks good as an overlanding vehicle... a rig with a character and not as boring as many of the new 4x4 vans, I think.

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The Ford vans are great candidates for converting to 4x4 because of their front suspension and the ease of converting, whereas a lot of conversion companies don't like to convert GMC/Chevy vans because of their IFS (Independent Front Suspension) so they just don't do them. I'm hoping to convert my diesel GMC to 4wd at some point.

There's an outfit in Kamloops British Columbia, Sportsman Light Truck/Clydesdale (not to be confused with sportsmobile at all), that has great luck with GMC/Chevy vans and converts them to 4wd with all stock parts, making it far easier to repair/replace parts anywhere. Many other conversion outfits use specialized or custom parts that can be hard to get if in a rush to repair/replace.

The advantage the GMC/Chevy long wheelbase vans have over the long wheelbase Ford vans of the same vintage is that they have a longer wheelbase, not just a longer body on the same shorter wheelbase as the regular vans. This makes backcountry travel and trails easier for departure angle, where the Fords and Dodges have too much sticking out the back past the axle (like in the cover) and will get hung up easier. If you're not going to be going over serious trails, not as big a deal.

Good luck with whatever type of vehicle you choose!



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Roaddude - On the Road In North America - ROADDUDE

Roaddude - Traveling Photographer/Writer/Artist On the Road In North America. Gear, reviews, people, places, and culture.

roaddude.com

 

[64Trvlr]

Yeah, that's a Ford van on the cover for your link, though I don't think they used the term Club Cab for vans, just pickups, and used the term Crew Cab for vans.

Yup, you're right I was typing Club Van and added the cab for some reason, crew cab was for the 4 door pick-ups.

One last revision Ford Club Wagon not Club Van.

 

[MazeVX]

Hi community,

Just saw the book "Vanlife diaries" today. The rig shown on the cover looks awesome. Does anybody here know what make/ type this is exactly? Looks like one of these Sportsmobiles but an older one maybe?

Thanks,
Bjoern

There's a guy in a European Facebook group "overlanding nomads" who drives a 4x4 Ford van, I believe he's from Germany or Austria, at least speaking German... But I can't remember his name.

 

[El-Dracho]

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The Ford vans are great candidates for converting to 4x4 because of their front suspension and the ease of converting, whereas a lot of conversion companies don't like to convert GMC/Chevy vans because of their IFS (Independent Front Suspension) so they just don't do them. I'm hoping to convert my diesel GMC to 4wd at some point.

There's an outfit in Kamloops British Columbia, Sportsman Light Truck/Clydesdale (not to be confused with sportsmobile at all), that has great luck with GMC/Chevy vans and converts them to 4wd with all stock parts, making it far easier to repair/replace parts anywhere. Many other conversion outfits use specialized or custom parts that can be hard to get if in a rush to repair/replace.

The advantage the GMC/Chevy long wheelbase vans have over the long wheelbase Ford vans of the same vintage is that they have a longer wheelbase, not just a longer body on the same shorter wheelbase as the regular vans. This makes backcountry travel and trails easier for departure angle, where the Fords and Dodges have too much sticking out the back past the axle (like in the cover) and will get hung up easier. If you're not going to be going over serious trails, not as big a deal.

Good luck with whatever type of vehicle you choose!

View attachment 132420

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Roaddude - On the Road In North America - ROADDUDE

Roaddude - Traveling Photographer/Writer/Artist On the Road In North America. Gear, reviews, people, places, and culture.

roaddude.com

There's a guy in a European Facebook group "overlanding nomads" who drives a 4x4 Ford van, I believe he's from Germany or Austria, at least speaking German... But I can't remember his name.

Hi,
Maybe the same who is or was active in a german offroad and overlanding forum?! With a Ford E350 7.3 Powerstroke if I remember right. But that is a newer one... I was just curious to know the model which is on the cover of the book, because it has this vintage look
Anyway, a 4x4 van is already to big for overlanding in my opinion and based on my experiences... will stay with the Landy, 300,000kms and still going strong - but that´s a different story
Cheers, Bjoern

 

[M Rose]

It’s a dent side ford, so mid 70’s