Village Squire, 1978-08, Page 23t II
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no use designing a $3000 job for someone if
they only plan on spending $1000, he says.
After that it's a case of drawing pictures
of what the customer wants to visualize
things. To simplify the process manufact-
ured Ted has prepared floor plans of the
most common vans and can provide one to
the customer so that he can decide what
things he wants where. One of the most
popular van interiors is four high -back
chairs at the front that can swivel to face
forward when travelling or turn to be
grouped around a table when stopped. The
rear of the van then has a dinette.
The customer next looks at carpet and
material sample books. The one area that
customers are generally decided on when
they come in the front door is colour, Ted
says, other than that they don't know what
alternatives they have. So choosing the
carpet and upholstery is a big decision.
Sometimes it can also be expensive
because if they are too choosy about
getting a particular colour that is only
available say in expensive carpeting, it can
add considerably to the final cost of the job.
One customer paid $22 a square yard for
carpeting just to get the right colour. The
most economical job can be done with
medium quality goods. Ted says.
Another area where cost of customizing
can quickly soar is in the fancy little
gadgets that can be added to your van. the
"bolt -ons" Ted calls them. It's quite easy
to bolt -on $S000 to your van with fancy
chrome -plated exhaust stacks and fancy
wheels and any number of other gadgets.
Another area that can swell the budget is
the sound system which can mount up
quickly. In general though the price of
custom work on vans at Vanscaping runs
from about $1800 to $2400.
The most fun for Ted, however, comes
when someone wants a show van, a very
special van that will stand out from all the
rest. Often the customer will tell him how
much he can afford to spend and leave the
rest to Ted. It's like doing his own van all
over again, Ted says. It's a lot of fun letting
the imagination run wild, trying to come up
with little things that will make this van
different without adding to the cost. "They
come out of here looking like a million,"
Ted says.
About the biggest project he's tackled so
far has been an old school bus which was
to be outfitted with eight bunk beds and a
lounge area at the back with many other
little details. Thoughts of customizing the
huge highway buses as is sometimes done
for big musical stars in the U.S, are enough
to make Ted's eyes light up.
There seems to be no end in sight for the
van boom, Ted says. Vans are just starting
to boom in Canada and in the U.S., where
the craze has been going on much longer,
no one is even predicting that the end is in
sight yet. The reason is that vans are more
than a fad. They provide a good economical
means of transportation, Ted says. They
are about as economical as anything else
but are more practical because of all the
room and all the possible uses. They're a
cross between a station wagon and the old
panel truck. A lot of people who would
normally have driven station wagons are
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VILLAGE SQUIRE/AUGUST 1978. PC. 21.