1980 full-size vans (van, brakes, tires, engine)

[Tennesseestorm]

Upon request - here is a poll for the 1980 full-size vans. I am not a van person, but I would have to go with the Chevy. I wanted to go with older models, but 1980 was the only year I could find with each of them...

1980 Chevrolet Beauville Sportvan-
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=50400 &g2_serialNumber=2 (broken link)

1980 Ford Chateau- (sorry, this is the cargo van version)
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=41317 &g2_serialNumber=2 (broken link)

1980 Dodge Ram van-
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=10137 5&g2_serialNumber=2 (broken link)

[rlrl]

I stopped looking at cars as they all looked the same to me!! That was the year "New York New York" by Frank Sinatra came out

i remember in the movie Fame that year when the school dancers were dancing on the hood of a car(75 LTD) stopping traffic you could see a 71 Coronet taxi cab on the street. I was recently on that street and walked in front of the school that they filmed the movie. I can't believe that was 29 years ago

[synchro]

I'll go with the Ford.
I own a 1982 E250 LWB.
Chocolate brown, with brown and gold shag carpeting - including the
walls and ceiling. Two captains chairs up front and one and a couch/bed in the back.
Brown velour of course. 33 inch off road tires all around on turbine 16.5 alloys.
300ci 6cyl and a C6 automatic. 136,000 original miles. 10 mph ..........
Absolutely perfect for towing our 21ft sailboat to the lake on weekends -
it then becomes our home away from home in the campground.
A Great occasional use vehicle.

[dkf747]

Ford. I also had an 82 E250 Club Wagon XLT. That still is my all time favorite vehicle. It had the 460 V8 engine. I foolishly got rid of it in 1992 with over 160,000 miles on it and still running like new. I still kick myself for giving it up. I also had an 81 Chevy van (Beauville, I think) that was nice, but I liked the Ford better. I'd pick Chevy 2nd.

[Swampmonster]

I have to go with the Chevy as I've always had better luck with them.I'm not a van person either,but I do have fond memories of borrowing my Dad's raised roof Chevy custom van while in HS to use on dates...A ROLLING palace...More than one Dad turned me away at the end of the driveway tho'.

[RedNC]

You always seem to be stuck in the wrong decade. Vans were a big deal in the late 60's to mid 70's.
Check out this priceline commercial. That’s the kind of van to have.
YouTube - The Negotiator Travel-Napping

[rlrl]

did the dashboards and interiors of those vans change much within the past 7 or 8 years leading up to '80? upon seeing that 80 Ford van's dash I wondered if it was the same in 72 or 73, same thing for Dodge and Chevy

[Innovator831021]

Definitely my favorite styling era of vans... its a toss up between all three really, in the end I pick Chevy!

[Bazzwell]

Drove the passenger versions of the Ford and Dodge, never the Chevy though. The Ford just seemed to swim like a fish while the Dodge handled well enough for the job. That's with a full passenger load and at the time both were under 100k miles. The Ford did seem to have more confident brakes. I'll go with the Dodge but wouldn't turn down any of the three if a nice example came along, great for the wife's flea market junk.

[tande1n5]

Reminds me of when conversion vans were the way to travel in style. Let me get a Starcraft conversion on one of them and you wouldn't hear any complaints from me.