Minneapolis Street Sighting: GMC Vandura 2500 Tiara Diamond Executive

Some vehicles just appeal to me--for reasons unknown. Lately, I have gone on a spree of finding out everything having to do with conversion vans; I like the GM versions more than their Ford and Dodge equivalents too, and I'm not talking about the puny little Astro and Safari, either. As a little boy, I always liked the GM big vans for some reason; everything from the business-like, instantly recognizable front fascia, to the odd small-window/big metal styling that seems to make this duo appear bigger than the competition. And like their Ford and Dodge competition, these, too, have a bevy of engine choices under the hood. From a turbo-diesel 454 back down to the generic 350, these vans had a choice of adequate power all the way up to ungodly torque. But speed demons these things are not. At all.
Who cares? A conversion van was supposed to be about style, luxury, traveling en mass in comfort. Hauling up to 8 people, plus luggage is what these American staples were all about-- then the SUV came about. And the conversion van legacy was soon squashed to a bloody and rusty pulp. What once were $40,000 vans are today's $1500 beaters--and it shows. Every single conversion van I see that isn't new looks like this. Caked with rust, peeling paint, and el-cheapo hubcaps, all the class that they once had is stripped away. And it shows; this horribly-beaten rustbucket represents the bulk of all the surviving conversions, some twenty years after their introduction.









As I said up top, I realize this is not quite the mint specimen I would like to shoot. This is, for all intents and purposes, the average conversion van in the cities. Yes, there is rust abound, and yes, I do know that the hubcaps are not factory and that they suck. But, all the wrongs aside, I would gladly drive this. I've loved these since childhood, and any surviving 1985-1995 GM fullsize van is fine by me. I've always liked conversion vans, and despite this horrid example missing half of it luxurious features, I still like it.
Would I change anything about this particular one before I took the wheels? Honestly, probably not. It's got a scary serial killer/evil charm to it that I actually sort of dig; it's the van I expect to be the scene of a gory crime. What's more evil that this thing parked outside a school? Probably nothing. Oh wait. It still has windows. Never mind.
I'd still drive this, though, as it represents a part of my childhood I never got to experience; while many childhood friends of mine had conversion vans in the family garage, we never did. And I feel like I missed out on American staple.