Panel van
Encyclopedia
Chassis
A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...
of a family car
Family car
A family car is a car classification used in Europe to describe normally-sized cars. The name comes from the suitability of these cars to carry a whole family locally or on vacations. Most family cars are hatchbacks or saloons, although there are MPVs, estates and cabriolets with the same structure...
design.
In places where they are distinct from a "van" per se, they have less cargo space but better agility and maneuverability, making them particularly suited for cities with narrow streets and/or heavy traffic. Every major Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an car manufacturer has a panel van in their line-up; these models used to be modified versions of existing passenger cars, such as the Citroën Visa
Citroën Visa
The Citroën Visa is a supermini that was produced by the French car marque Citroën from 1978 to 1988.-Development History:The Citroën Prototype Y to replace the 2CV based Citroën Ami that dated back to 1960 in the early seventies, was originally developed in co-operation with Fiat...
-based Citroën C15
Citroën C15
The Citroën C15 was a panel van produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1984 until 2005. It was the successor the Citroën 2CV vans that pioneered the box van format from the 1950s to the 1980s....
or the SEAT Ibiza
SEAT Ibiza
The SEAT Ibiza is a car in the European supermini class, constructed by the Spanish car maker SEAT S.A., is SEAT's best-selling car and perhaps the most popular model in the Spanish firm's range....
-based SEAT Inca
SEAT Inca
The SEAT Inca is a panel van, manufactured between 1996 and 2003. It was designed and assembled in Spain by SEAT, and based upon the SEAT Ibiza Mk2....
. This format was pioneered from the 1950s by the Citroën 2CV
Citroën 2CV
The Citroën 2CV |tax horsepower]]”) was an economy car produced by the French automaker Citroën between 1948 and 1990. It was technologically advanced and innovative, but with uncompromisingly utilitarian unconventional looks, and deceptively simple Bauhaus inspired bodywork, that belied the sheer...
Camionette and the Morris Minor
Morris Minor
The Morris Minor was a British economy car that debuted at the Earls Court Motor Show, London, on 20 September 1948. Designed under the leadership of Alec Issigonis, more than 1.3 million were manufactured between 1948 and 1971...
. However, since the introduction of the Citroën Berlingo
Citroën Berlingo
The Citroën Berlingo is a panel van and leisure activity vehicle produced by the French manufacturer Citroën since 1996. It was based on the Citroën ZX/Peugeot 306 estate floorpan and mechanicals...
in 1996, it has become common for these vehicles to have a specific styling and structure, even if they may share chassis, powertrain or other components with passenger cars of the same brand. Examples of this new wave of panel vans are the Renault Kangoo
Renault Kangoo
The Renault Kangoo and Kangoo Express are panel van and leisure activity vehicle produced by French automaker Renault since 1997. The Kangoo is manufactured in the MCA plant in Maubeuge, France, and in Santa Isabel, Argentina. The version for the ASEAN markets was assembled by the Tan Chong Euro...
(1997), the Fiat Doblò
Fiat Doblò
The Fiat Doblò is a panel van and leisure activity vehicle produced by Italian automaker Fiat since 2000, it was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2000.-First generation :...
(2001), Opel Combo
Opel Combo
The second generation was launched in 2001. While most competitors severed their connections with their subcompact brethren, Opel decided to base the vehicle on the Corsa again. The use of subcompact Gamma platform constrained the overall width of the vehicle. While the general body shape was...
(2001), Ford Transit Connect
Ford Transit Connect
The Ford Transit Connect is a compact panel van developed by Ford Europe and designed by Peter Horbury, introduced in 2002 to replace the older Ford Escort and Fiesta-based Courier van ranges, which had ceased production in the same year....
(2003) or the Volkswagen Caddy
Volkswagen Caddy
Released in 1980, the first Volkswagen Caddy is a coupe utility, and van based on the Volkswagen Group A1 platform, shared with the small family car Volkswagen Golf Mk1.Volkswagen Typ is:*147 = LHD*148 = RHD-Caddy debuts internationally as a Rabbit:...
(2004). They are also purpose-designed to be utilitarian base model MPVs / people carriers, for a range of such vehicles.
Panel vans are widely used in many parts of the world for transporting cargo. Panel vans were also especially popular with younger car buyers in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
during the 1970s.
Australia
Coupé utility
The coupé utility automobile body style, also known colloquially as the ute in Australia and New Zealand, combines a two-door "coupé" cabin with an integral cargo bed behind the cabin—using a light-duty passenger vehicle-derived platform....
" (a variety of pickup
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...
also based on a car chassis). By the late 1980s, they began to slowly disappear from Australian roads as demand fell and major manufacturers slowly ceased building them.
Most utes usually had an option of metal, then later rigid plastic, shells that would fit over the back of the tray of the ute, thereby extending the vertical space drivers could store in the tray, usually to just above the existing roofline of the passenger cab. Later shells offered plastic windows for ventilation along the sides and even pop-out or swing-out windows at the rear to aid the driver's rear vision. These were eventually integrated into the body of the ute itself to form a hybrid vehicle that, while based on a ute body, offered more rear space than a conventional station wagon with its rear seats folded down. These became known to the Australian public essentially as panel vans.
Initial models were fitted at the rear with swing-down and -up doors (like utes), but later models came equipped with "barn-door" configurations that opened out to the sides of the vehicle, rather than down, aiding the loading of bulky freight into the vehicle without (as badly) damaging the body. Passengers could climb from the interior passenger cab into the cargo bay behind them easily. Later the installation of safety cages which segregated passengers from the cargo area became popular to prevent freight from the back sliding into the passenger cab (and potentially injuring the driver).
The first panel vans were manufactured by Holden
Holden
GM Holden Ltd is an automaker that operates in Australia, based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, before becoming a subsidiary of the U.S.-based General Motors in 1931...
and Ford
Ford Australia
Ford Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Ford Motor Company and was founded in Geelong, Victoria, in 1925 as an outpost of Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited. At that time, Ford Canada was a separate company from Ford USA...
in the late 1950s, but did not become popular until the mid-1960s. By the early 1970s, usually when based on the Holden/Belmont or Holden Kingswood
Holden Kingswood
The Holden Kingswood is a full-size car that was manufactured by General Motors-Holden's, the Australian subsidiary of General Motors , from the beginning of the HK series in 1968 through to the conclusion of the WB series in 1984...
and Ford Falcon
Ford Falcon (Australia)
The Ford Falcon is a full-size car which has been manufactured by Ford Australia since 1960. Each model from the XA series of 1972 onward has been designed, developed and built in Australia and/or New Zealand, following the phasing out of the American Falcon of 1960–71 which had been re-engineered...
model of the time, panel vans had become Australian cultural icons. The Holden Sandman is probably the best-remembered of these: for example, one of the vehicles driven by Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
in the 1979 movie Mad Max
Mad Max
Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and revised by Miller and Byron Kennedy over the original script by James McCausland. The film stars Mel Gibson, who was unknown at the time. Its narrative based around the traditional western genre, Mad Max tells a story...
was thought to be either a Holden Sandman or a customised Holden panel van (apparently a 1975 HJ model in both cases). Ford panel vans (known briefly as Sundowners) were also popular, to a lesser degree. Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
also came to the party in 1976, offering a CL model Valiant
Chrysler Valiant
The Chrysler Valiant is a passenger car which was introduced by Chrysler Australia in 1962 with production ceasing in 1981. Initially a rebadged locally assembled Plymouth Valiant from the U.S., the Valiant range was sold throughout Australia and New Zealand, as well as South Africa...
panel van dubbed the Chrysler Drifter
Chrysler Drifter
The Chrysler Drifter is an automobile which was produced by Chrysler Australia from 1977 to 1978. It was offered in panel van and coupé utility body styles....
, but these could not compete with the popularity of Ford and particularly Holden, and were axed in 1978.
Younger drivers were especially attracted to panel vans, for reasons such as the ease with which a mattress could be installed within the cargo bay. Consequently, panel vans also attracted nicknames such as "sin bins," "shaggin' wagons," "mobile virgin conversion units", "screw canoes," "Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo is an American media franchise based around several animated television series and related works produced from 1969 to the present day. The original series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears in 1969...
mobiles" after the Mystery Machine of the Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
animated cartoons, and "fuck trucks." This kind of activity was frequently carried out at the local Drive-in theater
Drive-in theater
A drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor screen, a projection booth, a concession stand and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movies from the privacy and comfort of their cars.The screen can be as simple as a...
During the 1970s it also became fashionable to decorate the exterior sides with murals painted with intricate detail. As well as the Kombi VW, these were very popular with surfers (or wanna-be's), as it was convenient to carry boards etc. in the back.
Australian police forces also purchased fleets of panel vans to use in a black maria, or paddywagon, role. These were known formally as Divisional Vans and in slang as Divvy Vans.
Painters, electricians, and general labourers also found panel vans ideal for their trades, as the cargo bay offering extended capacity otherwise wasted in passenger space, and a highly customisable interior, without the bulk or extended dimensions of other longer-base vans.
The final production of Holden's Sandman in the HZ series, featured a choice of V8 engines only, along with a four-headlight grille and under bumper front spoiler. According to a GMH Price List dated 25 January 1979, a basic HZ Holden panel van was priced at A$6,076, with the Sandman option package an additional A$1,700. The further optional components also included 5.0 litre V8 engine and a limited slip differential. If a buyer selected every Sandman extra, they would get a bonus velvet mattress with Holden logo embroidered. The price would be more than 150% of the cost of the basic HZ model. By the end of 1979, the Sandman had largely lost its place in the contemporary Australian youth culture - order figures were down and many of the vehicles were now being sold with the stripes and tailgate logos deleted. The Sandman ute was phased out of production prior to the van, the last of which was manufactured in October 1979.
The popularity of panel vans waned in the 1980s. Holden's last release was their WB
Holden WB
The Holden WB series is an automobile which was produced by General Motors-Holden's in Australia from 1980 to 1984. It is a facelifted version of the Holden HZ series, which it replaced. Unlike the HZ and every other full size Holden series before it, the Holden WB was only offered in commercial...
model. Subsequently, Ford became the sole manufacturer of them until 1997, when the XH model was released. This was to prove the last entry in the history of the Australian panelvan. In 2003, Holden released a new Sandman, based on their Holden VU Ute of the time. This Sandman was a show car and were never released, and while they were identified (and marketed) as panel vans, they still retained the rear window and firewall of the ute they were originally based on, preventing movement between the cargo bay and the passenger cab, as offered by traditional panel vans.
Shazam Bodies have re-released the Panel Van for the Ford Falcon. They have one model in production plus a new model on the way and due for production in mid April 2007.
See also
- Car body styleCar body styleAutomobiles' body styles are highly variable. Some body styles remain in production, while others become less common or obsolete. They may or may not correlate to a car's price, size or intended market classification. The same car model might be available in multiple body styles comprising a...
- Light commercial vehicleLight commercial vehicleLight commercial vehicles is a commercial carrier vehicles with a Gross vehicle weight of up to 3.5 tonnes. The formal term within the European Union is Light commercial vehicles. Vehicles which qualify in this category are pickup trucks, vans and 3 wheelers all commercially based goods or...
- Panel truckPanel truckA panel truck is a windowless cargo van built on a truck chassis.Similar in function to its smaller cousin, the sedan delivery; which is a station wagon with no backseat, and no side windows aft of the front doors...
- Sedan deliverySedan deliveryA sedan delivery, commonly called a delivery in American English and a car derived van in British English, is a two-door station wagon with a driver or driver and front passenger seats, and steel sheet-metal panels in place of rear side windows...
- Pickup truckPickup truckA pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...