I don't think I have seen this one before. It's owned by the trolley museum. They are getting it ready for the Sunfair parade this Saturday. I spoke to the old boy for a few minutes. He said it's a 68. I love the added "power bar" on the roof.
That's a *ahem* "Trolley pole." Pretty cool to see one of these Chevy longroofs; they didn't sell well, compared to Ford vans, and so the bad ones disappeared faster than the Fords did. BTW, I think this was the inspiration for the 'Mystery Machine' in "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?'
I've seen some old '60's vans with hood scoops on the roof, because they didn't have A/C, and the dash ventilation fan wasn't powerful enough to reach passengers in the second row, let alone the third. No roll-down windows, so on a hot summer day, it could get pretty uncomfortable back there....
Yeah. Our Club Wagon's Mark IV unit blew Arctic cold, so cold that mom would bitch about it and roll down the window, annoying Dad, but us kids would be from toasty (just behind the front seats), through friccassee (middle seat), to the broiler (back seat). And if we opened a window, Dad yelled at us to close it.
Made it to the parade on Saturday. And as promised the trolley van was there. It's equipped with a trolley bell and the driver, who is dressed as a conductor, would ring it from time to time. Was pretty neat.
That makes me smile. An inexpensive way to advertise the museum, get people interested in not just the museum, but the trolley itself, and keep it supported.
