The conversion van emerged in Southern California in the early 1960s, when crusty beach bohemians modified their Volkswagen and Ford Econoline vans, adding beds; gluing shag carpet to the floors, walls and sometimes even the steering wheel; and building in wooden consoles and tables.
Naturally, it being California, the inevitable exterior treatments included alloy wheels, wooden bumpers and murals of, say, the Malibu Pipeline.
Van conversion remained largely a cottage industry in California until the oil crisis of 1973. Buyers of recreational vehicles then began looking for smaller, more fuel-efficient alternatives that could take up the traveling and towing duties of their gas-hungry Winnebagos. Some makers of RVs, with supplier relationships, took the leap to van conversion.
But recently, the conversion industry has been shrinking. Sales of conversion vans fell 17 percent last year, and the industry has lost about three-quarters of its capacity in the last 10 years as many small, boutique operators have gone out of business, according to the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association, a trade group.
So van conversion companies have had to stay light on their feet.
Though conversions were traditionally done on midsize and full-size vans, the most popular conversion items these days are mini-vans, as well as sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks. Virtually no conversion pickups or sport-utilities were sold 10 years ago; last year, they accounted for one-third of the sales of conversion vehicles, or about 76,000.
“The van conversion industry has not had any exciting growth in the last 10 years,” said Charles Craig, the chairman and chief executive of Tiara Motorcoach Corp., a conversion company in Canton, Ohio. “That’s why converters are looking to diversify.”
This year, Chrysler Corp. is letting Glaval Corp. of Elkhart, Ind., convert Jeep Grand Cherokee sport-utility vehicles, Chrysler’s most popular vehicle.
Glaval will raise the roofs of the Grand Cherokees, creating space for a TV, a videocassette player, a Nintendo machine, a high-end stereo, indirect lighting, a cabinet and other trimmings of the conversion trade. The converted Grand Cherokees will join the Ford Explorer and Chevrolet Suburban and Blazer in the ranks of the sport-utilities turned limos.
But what can a converter add to a pickup? How about polished steel running boards, bed rails, bed liners, tonneau covers, bug shields, sliding windows, pearl-finish paint and fancy wheels?
Unfortunately for converters, when it comes to doling out popular vehicles such as the Grand Cherokee or Suburban, manufacturers generally satisfy the dealers first.
“The rule is, if it’s hot at the retail level, the converters have trouble getting them,” Craig said. “Take Suburbans. They are almost impossible to get. I’d be surprised if we get 150. We could sell 10 times that.
“The uncertainty of what you’re going to get controls this industry,” he added.
The Big Three automakers are squeezing the conversion industry in other ways. Factory-installed options include many features–heated leather seats, rear stereo systems with headphone jacks, wiring for cellular telephones, running boards and a slew of cupholders–once available only through a converter.
Also, sport-utility vehicles, trucks and even some mini-vans can handle the towing tasks that once drew people to conversion vans. And as the abilities and varieties of vehicles straight from the factory increase, dealers tend to take more of their showroom stock directly from the Big Three, bypassing converters.
Yet, some industry executives are upbeat.
“We will remain a key ingredient in the full-size van market,” said Larry Lincoln, the chief executive of Mark III Industries of Ocala, Fla. “We offer a unique, upscale image and content beyond what the factory can create.”
Besides, said Steve Kesler, vice president of Explorer Van Corp. in Warsaw, Ind., the buyer base remains relatively constant: middle-class consumers, most parents or grandparents, who have many children and travel often.
“Mother Nature is one of our best marketing tools,” Kesler said. “As long as people have kids, we’ll have customers.”
