Jay Leno and his YouTube channel, Jay Leno’s Garage, is back with yet another celebrity guest and his rather unusual ride.
Comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is a fairly well-known gearhead and has appeared in other episodes of the show with rather eclectic vehicles like a Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon. But this video is all about a Ford Econoline Cruising Van, which Dunham restored, to match his Pinto, of course. Here go all the fun and funny details…
That ‘70s Van Culture
The video starts with the factory-restored Ford Econoline Cruising Van roaring down a stretch of the highway, and then the camera pans to Dunham and Leno sitting inside. Leno is driving, of course, as the two exclaim over the car, “who knew this thing could do over a 100 [mph]?”
To give you a refresh, the Ford Econoline Cruising Van was one of a pair of factory custom vehicles that Ford offered to its consumers, back in the ‘70s. The other one was the Ford Pinto Cruising Wagon. Considering this was the decade of the vans and flower power, they sold well.
Both the vans bore bold, colorful stripes on a silver body, and had panel sides and porthole windows, all belonging to the van culture of the decade. Ford was smart enough to customize the vans for the buyers, making these a big hit.
Leno called it a “psychiatric van” given all the padding inside, replete with the shag carpeting.
The 1976 Ford Econoline Cruising Van With The Chateau Package
The video above showcases the restoration of the Econoline, to match Dunham’s “moronic buy,” the Pinto Cruising Wagon.
Leno sounds nearly wistful as he introduced the van, claiming that funny guy Jeff Dunham truly has all the cars from his childhood, all the ones that meant something to him.
Dunham has some fun cars in his collection, the Lost In Space chariot, and a couple of Batmobiles, and the duo talks about how most of Dunham’s kids do not get his cars or his love for them. But Dunham admits, one of his six-year-old boys, does have the gearhead gene, along with the red hair, white skin, and Irish temperament.
Dunham also admits he took liberties with the striped colors of his van, over the more yellow-orange scheme of the factory custom, and we have to admit, Dunham’s version looks more appealing.
As the two later take the van out for a cruise, you can see the appeal of one of those and why they were the “shag wagons,” enough for a whole host of movies written around them.
Source: Jay Leno’s Garage