zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
Buying This Motocross Haulin' 1974 Custom Dodge Tradesman Van Would Be A Stone Groove
Buying This Motocross Haulin' 1974 Custom Dodge Tradesman Van Would Be A Stone Groove-April 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:12:35

Image for article titled Buying This Motocross Haulin' 1974 Custom Dodge Tradesman Van Would Be A Stone Groove

Every so often, I come across a van that looks on the outside how I feel on the inside. This 1974 Dodge Van Tradesman is such a van, and it can be yours if you act quickly on its listing.

Friend of the site and editorial director Jason Marker brought this perfect motorized expression of feel-good vibes to my attention as we were kvetching about the woes of our vanless modern lives. If only we could go back to a simpler time of bad weed and great neon artwork. Marker did a bit of digging into the groovy customizer and semi-pro motocross racer who once called this van his own:

Most shaggin’ wagons were custom-made passion projects, however, not mass-produced cash-ins designed by a bunch of crew-cut, tie-wearing squares in a Dearborn boardroom. They were the fruit of some wild-eyed, feathered-haired customizer with a thing for half-naked barbarian ladies and a knack for wrenching. Customizers like the Late John Simpatico of Rochester, NY.

Once upon a time, it seems that Mr. Simpatico was a local semi-pro motocross racer—with a handful of sponsors and dealership support—who campaigned one of Husqvarna’s legendary CR360s. He was also, apparently, a vannin’ man if his extremely rad bike hauler is anything to go by. Friends, meet Factory.

This gorgeous piece of Detroit iron started out life as a 1974 B100 Tradesman half-ton cargo van. It’s powered by a trusty Dodge 318 V8 mated to a Chrysler A-727 Torqueflite three-speed automatic transmission, and when it came off the line at Windsor it developed a pretty respectable 230 horsepower and 340 lb.-ft. of torque. It was a perfect base upon which to build a vehicle to haul Simpatico’s bikes, his tools, and very likely as many ladies as he could carry in shag-carpeted comfort.

Simpatico even gave his van a name: Factory. I believe because it was the kind of machine that could mass-produce good times and solid tunes. Simpatico’s van and his racing 1975 Husqvarna CR 360 sat in storage after he retired in 1981. Simpatico’s friend Butch, who took ownership of the two vehicles following his death last year of cancer, is selling the old girl on eBay. He told RideApart that he found quite a collection of ’70s memorabilia inside.

“All the original paperwork for both the van and bike were passed on along with photos and trophies,” Butch told me via eBay messenger. “While cleaning the van I found some riding gear, a few cards from a past love, 1975 stag party tickets, roaches in the ashtray, a pipe, a 35mm film container (weed), and a salt shaker for tequila. The 1970’s where wild and carefree.”

They sure sound like it. If you feel like adding this time machine to your fleet, the van apparently runs very well and is currently at $3,550, with four days . That’s a small price to pay for van perfection.

Image for article titled Buying This Motocross Haulin' 1974 Custom Dodge Tradesman Van Would Be A Stone Groove

Image for article titled Buying This Motocross Haulin' 1974 Custom Dodge Tradesman Van Would Be A Stone Groove

Image for article titled Buying This Motocross Haulin' 1974 Custom Dodge Tradesman Van Would Be A Stone Groove

Image for article titled Buying This Motocross Haulin' 1974 Custom Dodge Tradesman Van Would Be A Stone Groove

Image for article titled Buying This Motocross Haulin' 1974 Custom Dodge Tradesman Van Would Be A Stone Groove

Image for article titled Buying This Motocross Haulin' 1974 Custom Dodge Tradesman Van Would Be A Stone Groove

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
Putting Up the Roof on the $274,500 Porsche 911 Speedster Is Surprisingly Involved
Putting Up the Roof on the $274,500 Porsche 911 Speedster Is Surprisingly Involved
The production was finally revealed last month as a -powered Porsche 911 with a custom topless body style referencing the classic of the 1950s. That’s a pretty solid recipe for a good car. But one of the coolest parts of the new Speedster is just how involved the process...
Apr 3, 2026
Customers Being Wrongly Detained for 'Stolen' Rental Cars Is Apparently a Thing
Customers Being Wrongly Detained for 'Stolen' Rental Cars Is Apparently a Thing
Quite a few of you probably have plans to travel and rent cars this summer, so listen up: There have been various cases where rental car companies like Hertz have mistakenly reported their cars as missing and then getting unsuspecting customers arrested. A customer named Dina Johnson told that...
Apr 3, 2026
How Best to Air Down Your Tires When You're Off-Road
How Best to Air Down Your Tires When You're Off-Road
We generally think of underinflated tires as a bad thing, as it can wear out your tires more quickly on pavement and cost you fuel mileage. Off-road, it’s a whole different story, and in many, if not all, situations you’ll want some measure of underinflation. Just how much depends on...
Apr 3, 2026
Why China Is Full of American Cars
Why China Is Full of American Cars
My plane had only touched down an hour or two earlier and I was quick to get out of my hotel—to find some breakfast, to see the city and to see all of the interesting Chinese cars that I’d only ever read about. And just as I rounded a...
Apr 3, 2026
Cut Copy -- 'Take Me Over'
Cut Copy -- 'Take Me Over'
Traffic sucks, so why not start your morning off with some music? You provide the toast and we’ll provide the jams. This was stuck in my head this morning so now it is your Traffic Jam. Enjoy! ...
Apr 3, 2026
Honda Recalls 120,000 CR-Vs Because the Airbag Could Randomly Go Off in Your Face
Honda Recalls 120,000 CR-Vs Because the Airbag Could Randomly Go Off in Your Face
There’s a new airbag-related recall in the U.S. government’s system, but it isn’t a one—which , despite . This new recall, instead, is for the 2019 Honda CR-V, which could potentially pop an airbag open on its driver at any moment. You’re just driving along in your new Honda...
Apr 3, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved