Cargo Van

And here is where I found my thrill. The second van of my eight conversions was, in fact, a cargo van that I converted into livable, or at least "campable" quarters. The lack of windows in the driver side wall and the back half of the passenger side even determined The Moose's classification as a "truck" by the Massachusetts RMV (they call it the Registry of Motor Vehicles up thataway), and I was required to place commercial tags on him.

The previous owner had taken the very large steps of putting a plywood floor and plywood walls in the van, then, for whatever reason, abandoned the project and sold him to me for $1000.

For me, the floor and walls were the exact head start that I needed. I already had all the furnishings; I pulled them out of the Roadhouse when that breathed its last, and dropped them into the identically-sized Moose. I didn't even do a ceiling. I just stapled a 9-foot-by-5-foot American flag up there and declared it complete.

I put indoor/outdoor carpeting on the floor and walls, and I had a big, old, red metal Coleman 48-quart cooler that was my kitchen, but that was as far as the "livability" went. A few weeks at a time, sure. But long term, dun tink so.

But the whole blank canvas seed was planted.

With an empty box, everything was up to me. If I wanted a refrigerator, I could have one. If I wanted cabinets, I could build them. If I wanted electricity, I could do solar power. If I wanted windows, I could install them mys...e...l....f.

Really? Could I? Could I do any of that myself?

Of course I could. Plenty of people do it, and at least as smart as plenty of people, right?

I didn't have any tools. But I could buy some. How hard can it be to use a jigsaw, hmm? I had almost no experience with carpentry, electricity, plumbing, but I wanted to do everything myself, so i guess I'd just have to learn.

The used cargo vans that I looked at were consistently priced way lower than their converted cousins, like maybe half the price. And rightfully so. All that interior stuff is worth $$, and sometimes $$$$. A big, hollow, rattling metal box should cost a lot less. I could get any old cargo van for pennies on the nickel, but "any old cargo van" would not do.

It would need to be tall enough to stand in and big enough to walk around in. It would have to be a "room" not just a van. One way or another, there would be a bed, a desk and chair in there, and that would be (barely) adequate. The luxuries of the previous paragraph would make daily life a whole lot easier, and that easiness translates to "livability".

The "Big 3" -- ProMasters (RAM), Sprinters (Mercedes) and Transit (Ford) -- had been catching my eye for a few years, notable mostly for their height. When this notion washed over me, I started to look into them, and very much liked what I saw and read. The notion became a

Cool, decision made.

Now, all there was to do was find one and make it home.