I've owned four Ford Vans....my 1995 E-150 with 4.9 straight 6 engine and E-4OD transmission ran for 415,000 miles before I retired it! My favorite vehicle!
PS: I have a passenger side, front door window glass (for manual mechanism) for sale reasonable. It will fit any of the mid 90 Econoline Vans. Very good condition... I'm in South Amboy NJ, so just send me a message if interested...
This is a treasure chest for me as I began working on the Econoline in the fall of 1960 and never leaving this product until I retired in 1999. Thanks for the memories!
In the Navy we had some of the early 60s Econolines and the equivalent Dodge vans and pickups. Of course painted Navy gray, with 3 speed manual transmissions and 6 cylinder engines. To obtain a license to drive overseas I remember having to learn to drive in one of the Dodge ones. I had difficulty getting accustomed to the steering column that was vertical, but I finally did. On my ship for a while I was the only crew member that had an overseas military license. My ship was USS GRASP (ARS-24) . We worked out of Danang doing repair and salvage work.
Great video clip! I'm a major van nut too! I always liked the original cab-forward vans of the 60's. The third gen vans had the same gauge cluster, and the same body lines as the F-trucks. A pickup bed thrown on a 74-79 van cutaway cab would have it body lines match up! There was a minor face lift in 1997. That's when Ford put an oval ring in the grille, and changed the dash panel to a more rounded look to accommodate a passenger airbag. Then, in 2004, they went to the squareish grill.
I got a 1970 econoline van. My dad drove the van alot. It towed cars, trucks, and vans. Its been sitting for over 17 years not that much rust! The 1970's van were the best at size, space, and driving. (MY OPINION)
My family used to own 2 econolines. One was a '96 E-150 Club Wagon with a 302 Windsor V8 and the other was an '03 E-350 Super Duty with a 6.8 Triton V10. Both of those things held up EXTREMELY well to over 100,000 or so miles, and they survived numerous road trips. The only real downside was fuel consumption, but hey, they're vans, they're supposed to carry people. It really sucks that ford is discontinuing the E-Series after 45 or so years, but I am interested to see how the Transit will do here in the states.
Van's kick ass, full size and the current (not so mini) minivans rock. Forget being jammed into a sedan, I can roll out with 6 or 7 in comfort for a whole day of driving.
i have a 1980 (4.9L 300 L6 with a manual 4sp on the floor), and all i can think is...'THAT'S the best picture of a 1980 you could find??' so many other cool ones out there!!
I've a 1981 E150 Super Van 300CI 6L It's a very reliable truck and also very powerfull I love them as you do. Congratulations for your videos about Eco from Argentina! C_u
Great video. I used to be a ups mech. and worked on hundreds of them over a 36 year period. They all use to have 240 and later 300 cid engines in them. All you had to do when you got a new was take out the fiber timing gear and put in a racing gear. They would run for over 300 thousands miles if you had a good driver. Very well build vehicle.
Had a 69 we took out the 240 and put in a new 300 inch with a two barrel on it. I made a three speed floor shifter for it. I miss that ride we had a lot of fun together. It had no side windows and Vega high back bucket seats.
There isn't a 68, Ford skipped that year, guess it was retooling, there is a drastic change between the early and mid body, I just bought a 73, love that bodystyle.
man im almost certain the first redesign was 1968. but 5 stars for vans (or any vehicle for me except the low, cheap impractical thing called the car), 5 stars for the song, and 5 stars for e-series especially. nice job man.
5 stars for this awasome video!!! i really like the 1969-1974 (1974 is the best of that series to me), 1988 looks very good, 1992-1995 and the 2005,, if I had to choose, would opt for any of these models, any of them would be great!!!! i want one of those vans so badly!!!
that particular 1996 you showed was mint! but most of them were great, like 1982 was nice too. but most were, and the few i didn't like was the van itself, nice video man!
ever looked under the hood of a second generation (engine forward) Econonline? In order to install the master cylinder under such a short hood, they placed it at a right angle, and then engineered an ingenious lever system to transmit the pedal movement to it!
loved it dude! 2013 the econoline is done! stupid fullsize transit replacing it, gm will now out sell fords fullsize van maybe for the first time since 1980
My very first vehicle That I have ever driven was my father's 1971 Ford Econoline 100 those were the good old days. The van had 3 on the tree and a 6 cylinder 240ci engine.
@frayed100 yep...but i love them all...1961-2013.(i think they will be discontinued then and man i dont like it but they will be replaced apparently with a global next generation ford transit. maybe it will be a nice van. i hope.)
Where did you find the pic of the van at 1:47 that says lovelady vol. fire department? That is where I will be volunteering next year and I am pretty sure the department I am going to has that EXACT van
I heard the Transit was going to replace the Econoline by '13 or '14. A lot of traditional American models are pretty much dead now converting over to foreign style which sucks.
@Maples01 Yes you are right, there is no 68, but ford took left over 67's and called them 68's they are very rare and were still 67's. Do a google search and you will see ther is even ads for a 68 econoline.
+vandriver85 when I looked at the description you said your van is the 1985,it's really dirty,did you bring it off road,if you did then your an awesome Van offroader
vandriver85 you like offroading too? Well your like me,when I grow up,I'm gonna go drive in some small mud puddles with my dad's car when he gives it to me,well just small ones
@alyr315 Yes. Keep the econline alive. I agree 100%. IT's going to be replaced by a Euro-engineered vehicle with 1/3rd of the power. By-By highway performance, and towing capacity.
5 stars for the vans, 0 stars for the noise (whatever it is, sorry -- just not my style of music). Mine is the 1990 Ford Econoline e150, The original owner had it customized with a wheelchair lift, so it's got extra head clearance. 82K miles on the odometer. I'm currently looking for a Haynes DIY service manual.
the 1985 is your machine? nice van. then again, most of them are nice. well, all of them that dont have freakish mods are nice. love the third generation, though.
Pretty sure the second body style was '68-75 with the change to the later style happening mid-year '75. But the '68s were the second body style. But of course I could be FOS - I had a '74 E300 one-ton BEAST (no power steering or brakes - 3 on the tree) which was the last full year of that style. Cheers.
Like the history of ford and then international harvester now known as navistar over the history of diesels starting at the 6.9 and ending after problems with the 6L power-stroke forced the relationship to end after the 6.4 power-stroke as those took a look at the history of the econoline when for a short time in the 1960's there was an econoline pickup when in '10 ford started phasing out the econoline for an euro styled van to be named the transit.
