VanDeSculpture

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Lil' Pick-em-up Truck

My Ram50 after being brutally rammed from behind.

I was really happy with my 1989 Dodge Ram 50. It was the mightiest little-est pick-em-up truck that I ever did see. It was able to haul so much in it's 4 cylinder Mitsubishi engine. I've seen many a big truck wasting gas by hauling just one vain person around around. I'd have mine overloaded with sculpture. This past March it got hit from the rear-ended as it sat in front of my apartment. They hit it so hard that we found it up on the yard. This was just too much trauma for the old-boy.  What, at first, looked like a cosmetic-only damage, ended up messing up the motor's already old gasket-head.  A few drives later and it was dead, unable to even start.

When one door closes another opens.

I found the van in Craigslist: 1987 Dodge Ram 150. It's a UNCW service van with 40k, a ladder rack, cool blue paint, and plywood-lined floor. The engine is a Slant 6, an engine so reliable that they stopped making them because they never died. It rides like a boat and I mean that in a good way, like you know how it feels good to ride on a boat? Relaxing? That's this van.  

I needed a vehicle I could haul sculptures across state lines with. This has enough space to fit multiple large-ish sculptures in it. I built this loft in it that is removable and able to be strapped to the roof rack. I built the bottom space big enough that Revolvedogasana (see last blog post) fits in it and still have the loft to put another sculpture of the same size! This not only enables me to take twice as many sculptures, but I can sleep in there too. It's about a double-sized mattress.  This is important because gas is around $3.80 a gallon right now and this gets about 15mpg. That was another good thing about the lil truck was that it was good on gas.  

Mario enjoying a grape soda.

Stud showing off the "love-loft".  

Andy with his Dream Machine. 

The guy I bought this from said that he bought it for his son, who didn't want it because it looked too creepy. There is no way to make this van not look like the worst-type-of-van you can think of. I don't care, ya'll can have your cool and mascalating trucks, but when it rains, my tools and load will be dry as a bone and secure from bandits.

I need a name for the van. Do you have any suggestions? 

Dream Machine

Mystery Machine

Van Morrison

Van Lear Rose

Rip Van Wrinkle

Sculpture Van

Vandistan?

Thanks for your time.