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Draplin Design Co., North America
August 07, 2006
Little Van Goes...
Posted at 08:32 AM

little_van_goes_kit.jpg

Chuck and Kendra brought me the most amazing gift from the Pearce archives: A “Little Van Goes” van design kit. So amazing.

Now, as a youngster, I didn’t have one of these, but do remember playing with a friend’s kit. Their name escapes me, but, I can wager a solid bet on this fact: The night I spent the night at their house, well, at some point, I was forced to drink warm milk over dinner with their family. Gross.

It was my mom’s cooking or it was nothing. That one still rings true, you lactose-curdled shits.

Anyway, Chuck was generous enough to pass this treasure on to us, and, a couple kick-ass examples, still in pristine condition from his handiwork back in the early ’80s:

01. Six Wheels of Pure Bad Ass
02. The P-Team (Modeled after the A-Team, but with “Pearce” in mind.)

And of course, we had to climb under the hood and give one a shot, too:

03. DDC Fall Tour Team Rig

And one more, uh, “concept car” with the current energy crisis in mind:

04. DDC Hybrid Compact Rig

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“Gary played “hard to get” but then relented and “gave it up” to Lovejoy.”

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“Contour, I knew you were the one for me.”

There Are 6 Comments

I had a “Little Van Goes” kit when I was a kid in the 70’s…It rocked!..Oh man, with some scrap paper and a new pack of colored pencils or lowly old Crayola’s, Alot of fun could be had. The best part was coming up with some rad colors on your van and amazing all your friends. I remember pasting a van on a folder and a friend asked “Did you draw that”? …Why yes I did! LOL

Posted by: Butch on 07/03/08 at 10:57 PM

I had a “Little Van Goes” kit when I was a kid in the 70’s…It rocked!..Oh man, with some scrap paper and a new pack of colored pencils or lowly old Crayola’s, Alot of fun could be had. The best part was coming up with some rad colors on your van and amazing all your friends. I remember pasting a van on a folder and a friend asked “Did you draw that”? …Why yes I did! LOL

Posted by: Butch on 07/03/08 at 10:57 PM

I had one of these as a kid, and played with it til’ my fingers would cramp up. And now, after all these years, I’m wondering if they can still be found, because I’d love to get my hands on another one.

Posted by: Charle on 09/23/08 at 12:37 AM

Sweet! I remembered this toy for no reason at all this evening and was trying to explain it to my British husband. Thank you for writing about it! I loved my Little Van Goes as well as Fashion Plates.

Time to check eBay now…

Posted by: Jen on 11/23/08 at 12:38 PM

Hey Great to see this here. I was given this for Christmas before I even liked Conversion Vans so much. I think I was 6 or 7. I still have it- and just scanned some pic of it- and 1 I made from it on my-space. www.myspace.com/echdrum
Now in my 30’s (when did That happen!?) I am still trying to get my Van.
- Eric

Posted by: Eric on 02/01/09 at 5:05 AM

Great post, I loved this when I was a kid! Any chance you’d be willing to rub all the plates in black and post them? That would be epic, I could use them to make a free digital version using Scratch, a programing environment for kids. I’ve looked all over the internet but can only locate some of the plate images.

Posted by: Zac Ray on 04/20/15 at 8:24 AM
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