Originally posted by MarkJerling That is the ugliest thing I've seen in years.
Why do they build these things from scratch? There's many RHD vans on the market that could do the job nicely. (Probably at a fraction of the cost)
It is ugly, I grant you that, but it is essentially a box on wheels and a box carries the most cargo in a closed truck body.
In Canada we have a number of purpose designed, large Grumman vans used as postal vans, that I believe use proprietary engines/transmissions like the old Chevy 4.3 V6 or Ford 4.9 liter, inline six. These mechanicals are tough as nails, provide good torque to move the truck in stop and go in urban areas.
Pretty sure that was the current large mail van also used in the USA. They were made to last 24 years of day in, day out hard use in weather extremes of North America.
Think they came out in the '90's and up here I still see them doing the job, no rust, still running.
In the past few years the Canuck mail got some new Econolines and I thought why on earth for...the bodies/chassis will not have the durability...or the capacity of the larger Grumman vans, in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong , I put on many 100's of thousands of miles driving delivery on both Ford Econoline (E300/E 350) and Chevy full size, 1 tonner vans and while they (bodies, chassis) are tough, I do not believe they are as tough as these purpose made vans....when it comes to 25 years of daily delivery.
BTW, two best Ford, or any engines in my book are the 460 cube -385 series V8 and 300 inline six, both no longer made, but boy were they tough, durable engines. But to return to the subject .
In the end, it's all guess work, except when I look at these 25 year old Grummans and 25 year vs Ford/GM full size commercial vans...the Grumman bodies (all aluminum, I believe) show no sign of rust, while the Ford/GM commercial vans at that age do have rust.
Talking about rust, the most rust prone commercial vans for rust I've seen, are the older Mercedes and Dodge Sprinter vans.
Rust will kill a commercial vehicle, that is why I think real long term, needs aluminum, rather than steel.
On the other hand, maybe the key is to buy a cheaper regular production van, like a Ford or GM, run it for 15 years, then replace it with the same. Because although a body maybe durable and work for 25 years...what about the heating/air conditioning/ seats, etc...will they be still working well at a quarter of a century or just blowing warm, rather than hot air into the cab at -30. So, from that standpoint, maybe replace every 15 years, to ensure better driver comfort, working conditions.
Anyways, just my opinion and as we all know on this forum...what the heck do I know .