VAN SLAM

Gary Villeggiante . February 21, 2023 . All Feature Vehicles

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Transforming a flower delivery van into one perfect pavement dragger

I first saw the shell of what would become VANSLAM at someone’s home while I was looking at a used set of whitewall tires for another vehicle.

I asked the guy what the deal was with the old Ford Econoline that was parked out front. He told me it was his wife’s family’s van. They owned a flower store and originally they would use the van to deliver flowers during the week, taking the backseat out for deliveries, then putting the seat back in to use it as a family vehicle.

I already had a different van at a fabricator’s house that I was going to start the build within a week. This guy’s van also happened to be a Falcon Club Wagon model and it had all the bells and whistles including all the fancy trim and cool interior. It had everything there, it just didn’t run because the engine was partly taken out.

After I made the deal on the whitewall tires I asked if they would sell the van. He told me he would sell it for $2,000. I didn’t really want to buy another van but as I was driving home I send him a text and said I would take it off his hands for $1,000. He told me to come back and get it. I went back, called a tow truck, and took it home a couple of days later. I took it to the fabricator’s house and swapped it out for the other van I was going to use. That’s how I ended up with the van I have now.

The van went through some very extensive fabrication work to get it down on the ground. The body sits completely down on the pavement. I mounted a 4.8 L Chevy LS engine with a six-speed automatic transmission.

After all the heavy fabrication work was done I took it home and finished all the small stuff myself: including wiring, fuel system, etc. to make it run and drive.

The van went through some very extensive Fabrication work to get it down on the ground.

I had the van on the road for a couple of months when a good friend of mine named Tyler Pullen sent me a text message saying, “ I want to paint your van.” Tyler’s extremely talented as you can see. I said “Absolutely.”

He took the van and over the next 15 months he transformed, inside and outside, every detail of the paint to the way it looks now.

After the paint was complete I took the van to Acme auto interior in Pleasanton, California. They stitched up the Lowrider-style biscuit tuck interior.