By Simran Rastogi
Legacy Classic Trucks has built the ultimate festival van for the ages, complete with ‘60s shag carpet, VCR and bangin’ sound system.
Forget neon body paint and beads, the best retro look at the next Coachella is definitely showing up in a custom van that reeks of authenticity, as much as it might of herbs. Legacy Classic Trucks has put together a 1977 Dodge B100 Tradesman restomod that gets the retro character just right. Mainly because, in all likelihood, it was originally a festival van back in its day.
Legacy Classic, based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is all about retro outside-modern inside. The company’s Dodge Power Wagon conversion is the stuff of a perfectionist’s dreams, and their latest Dodge Ram van restomod doesn’t disappoint either. There’s a cool story to how it came to be, but what’s cooler is the rebuilt V8, 18-speaker 2,000-watt audio system, beer cooler, shag carpet, and upgraded electrical system to power the air-conditioning for days on end. Legacy Classic van restomods start at $45,000; a small price to pay for the coolest rig at any festival’s car camping parking lot.
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This Dodge Tradesman Van Restomod Stays Retro
First, the story of how this first-gen Dodge B-series van restomod came to be. Legacy Classic Trucks’ owner Winslow Bent found the van parked on the side of the road in Chicago, on the day of his wedding no less. Inspecting the inside of the Dodge van, he found a bunch of “colorful” VHS tapes for the onboard VCR and TV. The clincher was the outlaw country cassette in the tape deck, and the Waylon tire cover at the rear.
Given the cool retro details on the running Dodge B100 van, he bought it on the spot — a sort of self-wedding gift if you may. The plan for the truck was to make it mechanically reliable, and capable of making long roadtrips. Specifically, the near-1,000 mile roadtrip from Legacy’s home base in Wyoming to Indio, California for the Coachella music festival.
Of course, in keeping with Legacy Classic Truck’s signature builds, this Tradesman van looks like it could’ve just rolled out the factory. Period-correct details include the vintage paint scheme, pin striping, classic wheels, side-exit exhausts, and the newly installed moon windows at the rear. The ‘W’ Waylong rear tire cover continues to keep the original truck’s spirit alive.
The orange shag carpet covering every inch of the rear half of the van goes a long way towards transporting passengers back to the ‘70s. This Legacy Tradesman van also packs an old-school portable TV and VCR (and a more modern flip-out screen in the roof), a high-power multi-speaker audio system, and an elevated deck for “hanging out” and other activities. It was also equipped with a modern, large-capacity lithium battery to power everything, and the two AC units, for up to days on a charge.
Notably, the Tradesman van came with a DIY customizing idea kit when new, which included illustrations and templates for paint, interiors, stereo systems, additional windows and more. The original’s brochure also proudly states automatic admission to the ‘Van clan’ owners’ association with every Tradesman. As far as festival vans go, this one’s more Woodstock than Coachella but that’s half the charm, really. The other half is under the hood.
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Stroked Out Chrysler V8 Powers The Ultimate Party Van
Like all other Legacy Classic Trucks’ builds, the Dodge B100 Tradesman has been given a thorough mechanical makeover. The original Tradesman was available with a standard 225 cubic inch six-cylinder or 318 cubic inch V8. Other larger capacity V8 engines were optional, including a 360 cubic inch V8, a 440 cube V8, and newly added for 1977, a 400 cubic inch V8. The B100 model only offered the 225 ‘Slant-Six’, and the 318 V8, which is what this particular example was originally rocking.
The van was running when it was found, but the Chrysler 5.2-liter V8 was then painstakingly rebuilt and stroked out for good measure. It’s now estimated to make over 450 pound feet of torque! Elsewhere, the stock brakes and suspension were replaced considering they were nearly four decades old. But that’s about the extent of the mechanical work. After all, with custom vans, the party was always on the inside, and not so much under the hood.
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History Of The Dodge B-Series Van, AKA The Ram Van
The Dodge B-Series full-size van was essentially mechanically unchanged through its production from 1971 to 2003, across three generations. The 32-year long production run for the Dodge B-Series van is worthy of the tag of one of the longest running platforms. Over the years, specifically for the 1997 model onwards, the changes were minor — slightly repositioned engine, seats, dashboard, doors etc, improved brakes and unibody construction — it all means even a last year 2003 Dodge van isn’t too far removed even in its appearance versus the original from the ‘70s.
As one era of American muscle car enthusiasts were forced to give up their passions in the early ‘70s thanks to the oil crisis, putting the car industry into the malaise-era, another sub-culture took off. The custom van craze. Big thirsty V8s were out, and more frugal engines were in, which explains the detuned V8 in this particular Dodge B100. To capitalize on the custom van trend, Dodge Tradesman vans from the ‘70s were offered with a factory customization package which turned them into the Street Van.
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Dodge B-Series Vans For Sale Vary Wildly In Value
The Dodge Street Van package turned out to not be very popular, which makes original Dodge Street Vans a rare find today, whilst examples like this Dodge B100 Tradesman are valued between $9,000 to nearly $25,000 depending on condition and mileage. Considering that, what Legacy Classic Trucks are asking for a Tradesman restomod job seems like pretty good value for a van that’s ready to rock all day and all night, and not get stuck with a dead battery. Especially since there’s no mistaking Legacy Classic’s custom Tradesman van for anything else. Even in a crowded Coachella parking lot filled with all types of cars and campers, a mint-condition Dodge Van would stand out.
