Hello, In our surfing travel adventures, the in-house, rolling, living quarters was a boon to saving money and having a safe place to stay for a week or so in most coastal communities. Even into the strange Baja, Mexico beaches, where the nearest city was miles away. We started out with VW empty vans, converted them with icebox, bed, table and closets for long term quarters. We even had a business going, but decided to just give away our drawn out, detailed plans for others to have the same builds in their vans. But, once we got going on our long trips, we noticed that the rear engine vans had a distinct disadvantage. The almost vertical motor created a hinderance to access from the rear doors. Yes, there was an opening, if one could call a two foot high shelf a rear opening access to the interior. Definitely, it was not full access from the rear doors. So, motorcycles could not be pushed inside with ease. Surfboards would fit inserted or up in the tall roof area, inside, but no direct push in motorcycles. The Corvair van had more horsepower and better empty hollow areas behind the bucket seats. So, one impediment was evident. The motor box was low enough to actually have a ramp attached to allow heavy stuff or a couple of motorcycles easily rolled into the big cave. The motor was under the floor for the flat Corvair motor. The hinderance was the low power motor created another problem. Jnaki As far as a daily driver to soccer games and dance practices, the Corvair was right up there with space for all activities. On flat community streets, 80 hp gave plenty of movement. But, with a load of kids or camping stuff, the hills are a big hinderance for progress forward, uphill. YRMV So, the Ford Econoline with more power and the motor mostly up front gave all of the good points from the other two earlier versions of our surf adventures to the desert actions, during our teenage years. YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
