The Schryver's 1978 Dodge Conversion Van

1978 Dodge 3/4 ton conversion van

In 1986 we decided that we really enjoyed camping, but with three children, towing a pop-up camper behind a Datsun sub-compact station wagon just wasn't cutting it. That was the summer that we spent a week in the Albany area camping, while David did a seminar at the IBM corporate offices there. That was in July, and the next month, we bought this van from Uncle Steve and Aunt Lana.

Steve had converted it. It had custom windows in the back, a roof rack and ladder to the roof and roof vents, as some of the pictures show. It was powered by a 318 CID V8. The interior had captain's chairs up front and a bench seat in the middle. It was carpeted from top to bottom, had a built in cooler and electrical hook-up.

This vehicle marked the beginning of our life as a 3 car family ... or perhaps it would be more accurate to say ... a more than 2 car family. We used it to tow the Starcraft pop-up and later, the 1976 Prowler, 20 foot trailer. When we bought the 1986 Suburban in 1989, we sold the van to a neighbor, who drove it for a number of years.