Steely

Tatum and I bought a 1995 Chevy G30 about six months into dating and spent the next six months turning it into a place to sleep.

The reasoning was not deep. We wanted to go to the beach a lot and hotels cost money. A van seemed like the cheaper version of that, which is true right up until you start buying plywood.

His name is Steely, after Steely Dan, because we both love the band and it sounded right for a white van. Everything below is in order. Click any photo to get the story on it.

Facebook Marketplace, completely spontaneous. We found him at night, met the guy that same night, then met him again a few days later to take it to a mechanic before we actually handed over money. That was the only responsible part of the whole thing.

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Tatum's dad, a rotating group of friends, and the two of us. Insulation and the floor were the worst parts by a mile. Everything else was fine once you accepted that nothing in a 1995 van is square.

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Tape out a square, drill the corners, then put a jigsaw through the roof of a van you just paid for. That one is for the fan, and there is no undo on it.

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First real drive out and we hit snow on the way, which is not what you picture when you build a surf van. Woke up the next morning parked at the water with the back doors open, so it worked out.

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Carlsbad, Encinitas, San Diego, Newport, Costa Mesa, LA, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria. Mostly it is eggs on a camp stove in a parking lot with the ocean right there, which is the entire reason we did this.

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Never broken down once.

For a thirty year old van that gets driven across a desert to go surf, that is a better record than it has any business having. He still runs, we still take him out, and there is no plan to stop.

Unless somebody has twelve grand lying around, in which case we can talk.