What if GM had done a VW Kombi?
What do you think? Does this make you puke or do you likey?
What if GM had done a VW Kombi?
What do you think? Does this make you puke or do you likey?
You mean like a Corvair truck that they did build? Or does this need to be an "extended cab"?
Crewcab. Like this only GM and modern.
Are you looking for the Chevy Avalanche?
In reply to Ram50Ron :
I think the unspoken assumption is "forward control" or failing that, a van form factor. The avalanche is more of a burly el camino successor than a combi equivalent to my eyes
needs 3 rows of doors ;)
If they made it drive like a minivan and gave it sliding rear doors I'd be in.
In reply to Ram50Ron :
I know this seems weird but Avalanche's DO make me puke. But for some reason I like the shape of the grüVan. The bed on the fantasy truck is probably 4" shorter than a stock short bed - so let's say it's almost 6ft. To me that's useable whereas I never got the point of trying to make the back of a Tahoe into a pickup bed like the Avalanche.
Just buy one of these, get a used box, slap it on, done. 
How about this?
You know, stuart's suggestion isn't a bad one. Make or have a flatbed made like what are commonly done on pickups. Isn't a crewcab setup though as previously requested.
I also shudder when I see an Avalanche although I know they have their fans.
Want.
Sparkydog said:What if GM had done a VW Kombi?
What do you think? Does this make you puke or do you likey?
This absolutely makes me want to puke. What is good about that? But then again, I drive an Avalanche
. And we have loved it since we drove it off the lot new in 2002. Has done everything from kid duty, house building, road trips, to horse hauling extremely well. And it's Suburban-based, not Tahoe. Tons of room.
Can we do a crew cab turbo Caravan instead?
Since this is a fantasy build and I have an active imagination I have also spent a couple of commutes thinking about some of the details. Since the Astro is a unibody then one scenario is to create the Kombi look by 1st stretching with a chunck of a 2nd van and then creating the interior of the pickup bed from scratch or a 3rd donor something.
Another tactic is to use a donor C1500 (which is what I cropped in my photos) and adapt the bed sheet metal into the unibody of the van. The last 3 or so inches of the rear of the pickup cab might also come into play... hmmm.
Both scenarios require a lot of work and have hidden issues.
I'd also try to use the upper half of the Astro hatch, but have a pickup bed forward wall and a pickup tailgate. There's a chance that Astro's had a tailgate option - but I think most had Dutch or cargo doors.
is the idea for a crew cab van pickup
or a crew cab van car hauler ?
for a car hauler use a 4WD van and just use the front drive ,
Front wheel drive car haulers/ tow trucks are pretty common in Europe
So you want a centurion van?
Dave said:
How about this?
I dig this. Get the AWD version with the 4.3, , chop the back, throw some hop-up parts at it (Churbo?), and enjoy!
In reply to Sparkydog :
Fairly sure the Astro is a body on frame. As it shares some architecture with the S10 pick-up, I'd imagine it wouldn't be terribly difficult to shorten the body enough to fit a standard S10 bed on the back. Some frame lengthening may be required if two rows of seating is a requirement. You'd want to make sure you got a van with swing-out side doors rather than a slider.
In reply to Ian F :
Nope, Astros are unibody and share almost nothing with the S10. The front suspension subframe is closest to a Caprice B body and the S10 is a narrowed G body. Astros are also about a foot wider. Astros even use the B body/2wd 1500 truck 5x5" bolt pattern wheels (or 6-lug) and not the 5x4.75" S10 bolt pattern.
OK. I drove an Astro for work once in awhile, but it was over 25 years ago. I mainly remember it being an absolutely horrible vehicle, but it hauled boxes of comics around well enough and was good for getting into tight spaces near show venues.
Agree that Astro is unibody. I've owned 2.
More details. I want the bulkhead to look like this - Astro hatch still functional but dutch doors replaced by bed forward wall.
And with tailgate closed:
There is/was conversions done for this for towing. Companies specializing in these throughout the years.
I saw one of those Cabriolet conversions (or extremely similar) on craigslist within the last month if you're seriously interested in buying something. I can't find it again, but iirc it was in good shape & being advertised as a tow vehicle. Probably somewhere between Colorado & California
* Ford E350 based Centurion- "Super Rare 1984 E350 Centurion 6.9 idi Turbo Project (4x4 ready) - $4200"
https://bend.craigslist.org/cto/d/super-rare-1984-e350/6636144393.html
Seems like someone could put a bed where the rear seats are & have a small semi sleeper cab if they like to camp at tracks. $4,200 obo for a 95k diesel truck seems like a good deal if, "Affidavit in Lieu of Title" can be sorted out.
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