Vintage Bell Telephone Van

[Brian Austin]

An entertaining and informative video of a Ford Econoline that once served the West coast.  There's even a brief history of the graphic design elements.

 

[T-Ray]

Boy, I wish this video existed when I made a Bell van out of the Coke Econoline.

[Oldriginal86]

My dad drove a van just like that when with the C&P phone company. I started to build a model of it many years ago.

[BlackSheep214]

Yup.... they had those in the Northeast too. It's not just the west coast.

[stitchdup]

we got a guy on a motorbike with a sidecar until the mid 60s when they got moggy minor van or mini vans. The vans did have some differences from the general sales vans, a second seat was a special addition and they all had wire screens between the passenger compartment and load area. The post office used the same vans and not surprisingly most of the moggy and mini vans that survive were these vans because they got undersealed from new.

[TarheelRick]

Back in 1972, the first time I reenlisted in the USAF I was going to use my reenlistment bonus to buy a new vehicle.  At that time vans were just getting started as the "bomb". I went to the Chevrolet dealer and they didn't have any on the lot. Went down the road to the Ford dealer and they had four telephone vans that the customer refused delivery. Offered me a pretty good deal on them, but I just could not get used to the color and I knew a paint job would be more than my meager income would allow. So, I went back to the Chevrolet dealer and bought my first pick-up truck: hugger orange C10, 350, automatic, AM radio, and a rear step bumper.

[Keef]

My grandfather, who was a “repurposer “ bought an old South Central Bell van just like that one at an auction when I was maybe 6 years old. He turned it into a very cool looking van. From what I remember it was painted RootBeer with a LOT of flake, had a 6 inch wide lace pattern down the sides in gold. Tan interior with wood paneling and shag carpet. Installed a his/hers sunroof in the front with twin vents in the back. Chin spoiler and rear roof spoiler along with chromed side pipes. Had 15x10 rear and 15x8 front U.S. slot mags with some wide rubber. It was one of the coolest things I remember seeing at that age. I’d love to find a model of it and build one for nostalgia sake.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Sorry...not a van...but these are what I remember as "phone trucks" from my yoot.

Always intended to do one on a '53 Ford pickup, or same era Dodge, as that's what I seem to recall 'em as being.

[wrenchr]

Wow brings back memories!! My Dad owned an old michigan bell van. It had an old chair behind the driver seat and Crispy our family dog would hang out the window behind him. 

[slusher]

I remember a guy who had a 68 and70 ford stepsides and both was solid green..

[oldcarfan]

Since Mobius has done a lot of Ford trucks, maybe they can leverage the chassis and other parts to make an early 70s Econoline! I'd like some of those.

[doorsovdoon]

Used to buy these ex service vehicles for next to nothing at the auctions. I had a Bedford HA van in the 90's for my window cleaning round. It run great, but looked like it had been kicked about like a football! It was bright yellow inside with lots of shelving, hand painted navy blue outside with a silver A-Team style stripe on it, lol. I paid £50 for it, it even had a roof rack! It was a great little van. Good memories.

[leafsprings]

Here is the Dodge version for sale. Not mine.Marketplace - Scooby van | Facebook

Edited December 17, 2023 by leafsprings

[Brian Austin]

Has anyone even offered decals in scale?  Such an iconic livery.