Don't Come Knockin' - Sightings: July 2010

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Med Van

Saw this on Haight street in the spring 2010.

Rolling Rooms

My friend Mike made a rad mixtape of sorts... inspired by, what else?

Vans on Facebook

Well...Lamebook. hahah. Thanks to my friend Lisa for sending me this. Good one!

Blue Sunshine

My friend Mike Desert's new (used) van, "Blue Sunshine". Look for an interview with him on DON'T COME KNOCKIN' about this big blue baby soon!

Dirty Donny's Van O' the Week

Check out my friend Dirty Donny's blog for wacky stuff and of course, a van of the week. Every week. And stuff like this pic of him as a pee wee with with his dad's Ford van in the 70's.

Friday, July 23, 2010

There I Fixed It!

Thanks to my friend Lisa Foster for sending me the hilarious link to There I Fixed It! How awesome are these tiny wheels on the back end o' this van?? AHhahaa.

Unidentified International Van

Seen in Oakland or somewheres around the East Bay. Thanks again to my friend Miguel Ashby for this one!

Vanpocalypse... NOW!

As seen at the Concourse d' LeMons @ Sears Pointless by my friend Miguel Ashby. Thanks Miguel!

The Golden Nugget

A letter from a reader (January 2009, yes I am laggin'... but better late than never!) of DON'T COME KNOCKIN':

Hi guys ,

Just found your site and it's way cool !

Here are a few pics of my van that I found in the classifieds and purchased for $ 1300.00 !

It was in storage in a guys garage for 12 yr.s up on cement blocks ! It was purchased new by the owner in 1981 and he then had it painted by Dez custom paint here in Ottawa ( $ 3500.00 worth in 1981 ) . The underneath of the van has zero rust and the body is rust free ! WooooHoo !

The interior had a bed and bar plus lots of crushed velvet all over the dash which took me 2 weeks of careful scraping to remove all the contact cement residue .

The bed and bar were taken out because the van was going to be used to haul rock band equipment . It smelled pretty stale when I first went to look at it and it has burnt orange shag rug still in it !

I get thumbs-up everywhere I go and people always take the time to look it over and talk to me about their " van days " back in their youth .

The back doors have an airbrushed prospector with his donkey , the front engine hood has " Golden Nugget " airbrushed on it and on the other side of the van is a large airbrushed mural of a Klondike town in the 1800's with a saloon , jail and a bank which is being held-up !

I have plans to add headers , duals this summer and fix a few items ( interior trim ) .

Thanks for your site and keep those vans rockin' !

Cheers,

Joe Ovington,

Ottawa, Ontario

Cargo Van-Go

Sighted in SF. I think Van Car-Go mighta been a cooler name.

Someone's Smokin' Something

Woah! It's a hippy-raver-stoner van! Sighted in SF.

Something Fishy

Sighted in the Mission in SF. Underwater themed van.

May the force...

These pics were sent to me via email by a vanner who has a 1977 Dodge Tradesman 200 and doesn't know what to do with the faded Darth Vader murals on the sides. He’s not a Star Wars fan. But I bet any Star Wars fan would cream their pants over this thing! And they’d probably also shit themselves if they knew he was thinking of covering the damn things up. Remember... Rust sucks!!! You can see on this poor thing that the cancer has begun.

IRON ONS....

Enter at your own risk!

NOOOOOO!

01/06 From my friend Mike Desert: “I just saw this Honda commercial on the golf channel. It started with a video collage of 70s custom vans! One with a fountain in back, a boat steering wheel, a “Jaws” van, etc... a whole bunch... the whole while “Slow Ride” by Foghat was playing. Then it cuts to the new Honda van. It's big, ugly, and practical... I wonder if I bought one it would look good if I airbrushed wizards and vikings to the side?"
NO MIKE, it wouldn’t!!!

His -n- Hers

Kirk and Toni Griffin from Oregon and their rockin' rides: his is “Old Yeller” and hers is "Slowride."

Ask the Experts

Custom vans covered in the San Francisco Chronicle. Don't Come Knockin’ puts our two cents in!

Tony Van Danza

Thanks to Jeff for sending me a link to his van, Tony Van Danza. Wow. This thing is a real labor of love. These midwestern boys know how to remodel! Mirrors on the ceiling, carpeted walls... where’s the waterbed, black lights and a bong hits?! Check the whole shebang -- from every possible angle -- on the Tony Van Danza web site.