The FansVan began its life in 1988 as a Champion TransVan. It was manufactured by Champion Home Builders Inc. and is designed around a 1988 Ford E350 chassis. Under the hood is one of the best, most successful engines that Ford Motor Co. ever turned out... the 351 Windsor. The '88 model year for the 351 Windsor saw the innovative speed-density based EFI fuel injection. This thing runs great but, if something should give down the road, parts for the Windsor are still pretty much growing on trees.
Factory Equipment Includes:
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The Good: The real beauty of the FansVan is that it only takes up one parking spot and it's easy to drive. It's not much different than driving your average cargo van. Because it's built on an E350 chassis there's no need for a motorhome registration. It is legally registered as a Non-Comm vehicle, just like a regular pickup or van.
The Not So Good: In 1988 I don't know if the concept of fuel economy had even been born. Heck, at just over a buck per gallon who really cared about mileage? The 351 Windsor may be a great engine, but they sure as hell didn't have fuel economy in mind. At around 7 miles/gallon you can almost watch the fuel gauge move as you drive.
New for 2012: This year was a big year for upgrades with the addition of a 1750 watt onboard generator and an outside HD television. The generator took a bit of modification to make it fit and function efficiently. No big deal, just a bit of time and ingenuity to squeeze it into the generator bay and get it wired up. The new HD/LCD TV fit nicely behind the refrigerator service door out side the vehicle. Again, just a little time and ingenuity is all it took to install a plexiglass window behind the service door and mount the TV.
- Before
- During
- After
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This is what the FansVan looked like when it was merely a TransVan. Just click on the thumbnails for a better look.
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The TransVan becoming the FansVan. The first step was to remove the old stripes and factory graphics and prep it for the new paint. That was a lot of sanding!! Once the paint was done it was time to apply the new graphics. Thanks to George at Action Signs for hooking us up with a good deal on the vinyl and Sure Fit of Canton for doing a great job of reupholstering the seats. Again, click on the thumbnails to zoom in.
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This is the end result of all the work and expense. Trust me when I say it was a lot of both! Okay, do I really need to tell you what to do with the thumbnails?
The Story Behind The FansVan
We had been shopping for a good tailgating vehicle to replace the LeSharo, which was our first tailgating vehicle that had outlived itself by a few years (see the LeSharo story below). While driving south of Columbus to check out a different RV, there sitting in a field off of SR23, is this small RV surrounded by a bunch of horse and utility trailers. Turns out the place was a trailer dealership, but the shop was closed. So, taking down the phone number of the place a call was placed the next day. The guy on the phone said that the RV belonged to a friend of their mechanic and that it was for sale. He offered the guy's number and a time was arranged to go down and give it a thorough going over. The thing was in really good shape, so we asked the guy what he needed to have for it. When he said that he just wanted to pay off his loan and that he needed $3500 I couldn't get my checkbook out fast enough. I really hadn't planned on pulling the trigger that day, but when he said, "$3500"....well I couldn't pass it up. And the rest, as they say, is history!
The LeSharo...1986-2005 (R.I.P.)
The first dedicated tailgating vehicle that we ever had was a 1986 Winnebago LeSharo, may it Rust In Peace. What a piece of sh*t that thing was. But it served us well from 2000-2005. The last season that we used it the thing had no drive, no reverse
and NO BRAKES! The rear brakes were the first to go. The lines were so rusted that it just popped a hole from the pressure. They failed when preparing to stop to pick up our buddy Dave en route to the Muni Lot. Picture this....there's Dave standing in front of his house, cooler and chair in hand, with this bewildered look on his face as we go blazing past him with the brake pedal to the floor. When we finally got stopped and turned around the first words out of Dave's mouth as he climbed in were, "what the f*ck....did you guys forget where I live"? No dude, brakes went out. So, we made it to the game and back that day without incident using just the emergency brake. The next day I disconnect the rear line, plugged the master cylinder where that line resided and we had brakes.....at least until the front line blew. Well, you can't repeat that process. Once the second line goes your only option is to replace the brake lines. At this point I just said screw it, I'm not replacing the brake lines on this old goat. So for the last few games we would drive up to Cleveland in 2nd gear and use the emergency brake to stop. That four cylinder Renault engine was so whipped towards the end we literally had to get a running start from one end of The Pit just to make it up the hill. I ended up selling it to some guy for $900. He thought he was getting a deal and I was just glad to get some cash. We both walked away from that deal going, "what a sucker".
