It may be the colour, the low stance, the porthole window, the whitewalls, or a combination of all four, but this was pulled off pretty well. Blank out the glass on the sliding rear door, and it’s almost perfect.
Some have flow, and some have too many contradictions between round and square. Overall, I prefer the artist renderings and concept vehicles from the fifties, where the future had rocketships, rather than seeing what someone thinks a 1970 Roadrunner would look like today had someone the ambition and finances to pull it off. That being said, the big three haven’t done it too badly. The Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang, and Chevy Camaro all look modern but with enough retro mixed in to be instantly identifiable. There are a few companies that make fibreglass components to make a 2000’s Corvette look like a 1950’s Corvette, but the shape of the windshield and door always ruin the illusion for me. One of my favourites is the real dreamers, the people with a few cans of spray foam, some sheet metal screws, and a dream (nightmare).
We’ve all seen the pictures online of the old pickup cab butchered into the middle of the old Pontiac Grand Am. It’s a disaster. I once saw a Ford Taurus at a wrecker with the front sheet metal of a fifties Ford shoebox screwed onto it, right over most of the original Taurus bits. Looking back on it, it was totally functional, incredibly tasteless, and would have made a great daily driver. The van in the picture here is also totally functional but incredibly tasteful.
The learning curve on Japanese automobiles is a steep one, especially with a language barrier and a different alphabet. Still, from what I can tell, this Dodge A100 tribute started life as a Toyota HiAce. At first, I thought it was unique, but I’ve seen three others, leading me to believe someone over there is doing these conversions. This one is my favourite, mostly because of the period-perfect porthole window. Vans are a big deal in Japan, and there are way more older American full-size units than one might think, with all the awesome interior treatments that one would expect to see. This conversion makes for a nice middle-ground for those who don’t want to deal with the hassle of old van issues or imports. I’ve also seen a few HiAce Volkswagen conversions, but they don’t flow the same. They’re not as bad as a 1950’s Ford Taurus shoebox, but they’re not nearly as good at the HiAce A100.
Have a question or comment for Kelly? Post it at lmtimes.ca/kirk
