Photo: jlord8/instagram
If laying eyes on the van sitting on the screen made you think of the A-Team TV series of the 1980s, you should know you're not alone. After all, given the popularity the show enjoyed back in the day and the fact that its stars used to move around in a 1983 GMC Vandura, such a connection comes natural, despite the model we have here being the Chevy version of the machine.
Even in this era of eco-friendly powertrains, loads have to be hauled, so GM offers its current full-size van, the Express, with a monstrous range-topping gas engine, namely the 6.6-liter L8T V8 that was introduced for the 2021 model year. And if we look back at the third-generation van we have here, which was built between 1970 and 1996 (this example sports the final update introduced in 1992), we'll notice the machine received big-block firepower back in 1988, in the form of a 454 ci (7.4L) V8.
And while the automaker introduced plenty of shared bits between its full-size van and the C/K line of trucks, graphic designer Jim (a.k.a. jlord8) built on this by giving the van a 454 SS treatment in this rendering.
As die-hard enthusiasts will tell you, the go-fast approach is borrowed from the eponymous version of the 1990-1993 Chevrolet C1500, which explains the black-dominated exterior.
And, just like the caption (nearly) suggests, this van offers quite a bit of eye candy and does so thanks to the passion the gearhead has for contraptions that were born in the 80s and 90s—for one, he owns a 1986 Buick Regal T-type, but this is another story for another time.
In addition, the wheels should be backed by a sportier suspension, along with sharper steering that should ensure this once-a-workhorse isn't afraid of the twisty bits, so you can fearlessly cover some extra miles in that road trip you've been planning.
However, given the current performance standards of the industry, we can only hope that the motor delivers more than the 230 hp the 454 used to offer decades ago. For the sake of comparison, we'll mention the said L8T V8 produces 401 in the Express.
Now, some of you might be seeking a less massive machine of the sort and we might have just the thing for that since we recently discussed a rendering portraying a modern incarnation of the departed Chevy Astro van.
And while the automaker introduced plenty of shared bits between its full-size van and the C/K line of trucks, graphic designer Jim (a.k.a. jlord8) built on this by giving the van a 454 SS treatment in this rendering.
As die-hard enthusiasts will tell you, the go-fast approach is borrowed from the eponymous version of the 1990-1993 Chevrolet C1500, which explains the black-dominated exterior.
And, just like the caption (nearly) suggests, this van offers quite a bit of eye candy and does so thanks to the passion the gearhead has for contraptions that were born in the 80s and 90s—for one, he owns a 1986 Buick Regal T-type, but this is another story for another time.
In addition, the wheels should be backed by a sportier suspension, along with sharper steering that should ensure this once-a-workhorse isn't afraid of the twisty bits, so you can fearlessly cover some extra miles in that road trip you've been planning.
However, given the current performance standards of the industry, we can only hope that the motor delivers more than the 230 hp the 454 used to offer decades ago. For the sake of comparison, we'll mention the said L8T V8 produces 401 in the Express.
Now, some of you might be seeking a less massive machine of the sort and we might have just the thing for that since we recently discussed a rendering portraying a modern incarnation of the departed Chevy Astro van.
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