Belonging to B.A. The Van made its debut appearance in The first regular season episode, "Children Of Jamestown" which aired on 30th January 1983 after the Super Bowl XVII (Washington Redskins vs. Miami Dolphins) match. The Van was a 5-door, half ton 1983 Chevrolet/GMC Vandura G-1500, built and furnished by GMC Trucks with a customizing job designed by George Barris Kuston Industries. It's a common error that the van is said to be all-black, where as in fact it had a dark three tone 'sandwhich' colour paint job, semi-gloss gun metal grey top section, a thin red strip runnig centrally around three sides from the bonnet to the far underside corner of the door window gradually expanding & inclinig upwards to a rear roof spoiler, the angle of the rear spoiler can also be seen to vary on different examples of the van within the series. The under section was then finished off in black semi-gloss.
The vans running gear* and accesories consisted externally of, eight rectangular front spotlights/indicator lamps, four infront of a sunroof situated slighty behind the front windscreen spoiler, although, some versions of the van, typically those used for stunts (and including the one displayed at Cars of the Stars Motor Museum, see below) do not. This on occasion led to continuity errors in some episodes, such as the third season's episode "The Bells of St. Mary's", in a scene where (the double of) Face jumps from a building onto the roof of the van. There is clearly no sunroof. However, a few moments later, in an interior (studio) shot, Face climbs in through the sunroof!
Another four spotlights where situated on a "cow catcher" style bumper, in later episodes the bumper had only 2 spots. Running on a 350 CID V8 engine with minor carburator and exhaust system modifications which branched off into eight square red tipped outlets which where split between both sides of the van and positioned directly in front of each rear wheel. Underneath the protruding side skirts and arches, the van sat pretty on red and black 15" Turbine style rims with boldy emphasized BF Goodrich 60 Series T/A radial tyres.
In early Episodes bold red GMC badges could be visably seen on the front grill and under the blacked-out window of the left rear door, as we progrees througt the seasons the logos seems to become less visable, by the time the 5th season arrives an unsupported rumor stats sponsorship by GMC ceased due to the production studios deliberate attempts to disguise/remove the GMC badges, but in the season opener "Dishpan Man" the logo is very cleary visable on the bottom of left rear door.
The lavish custom off-white interior with four matching Naugahyde™ type captain swivel chairs, thick pile carpet and 2 wall units housing various gizmos, printing press, surveillance equipment and disguise kits, with hand guns and riffles stored in a cabinet secured by a flimsy looking padlock directly behind the rear doors, the van made for a comfortable mobile base. Not to be cut off from the rest of the world the van had both a C.B. (Citizens Band) Radio located above the drivers seat and a Mobile Phone.
It's belived that there where six vans used during the shows history, two where owned by A-Team creator Stephen J. Cannell and where kept in perfect condition and used for close-up studio shots. In 1992 Mr. Cannell sold one of the vans to the automotive museum "Cars Of The Stars" in Cumbria (England), according to the website the van is still available for viewing if wish to visit then I would suggest that you contact them first:
Cars of the Stars Keswick
Standish Street, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 5LS, England.
Tel Museum: 017687 73757
Tel Office: 017687 72090
International: +44 17687 73757
Fax: 017687 72090
Website: http://members.aol.com/cotsmm/cots.html
E-Mail: cotsmm@aol.com
On the 24th March 2007 an anonymous buyer successfully bought a 1987 Chevrolet G20 A-Team Van at the Historic Motorsport Show in Stoneleigh Park, the famous A-Team van was sold for £9,200 (inc premium) when it was auctioned by Bonhams.
The van had Formerly formed part of the Barris Star Car Collection in Hollywood, California, the Van is believed to have been supplied unregistered directly to Universal Studios during the last year of production of The A-Team, George Barris was a well known builder of custom cars whose credits include The Beverly Hillbillies, The Munsters, Batman, The Dukes of Hazard, Knight Rider, Ghost Busters, The Love Bug and Jurassic Park.
The van has been fully rebuilt mechanically and incorporates a new, "crate fresh" 350cu in (5.7-litre) engine. Its rust-free California body boasts show-quality paintwork featuring eye-catching "A-Team" logos on the sides and rear. George Barris badges of authenticity adorn both front wings, while the dashboard is signed by George and carries a "Star Car" logo. The correct interior features four captain's chairs. A secondary deep-cell battery powers the sound system's 350-watt Kenwood amplifier in the rear and dash-mounted CD player. A bass bin is fitted beneath the rear seats to really "blow the doors off"; while rebuilt air conditioning helps keep the occupants cool. Original Barris-built vehicles are extremely rare and in demand by collectors. The van has been Restored over the past five years, this A-Team van represented a rare opportunity for a UK collector to acquire an original George Barris Kustom vehicle without the headache of importing and registering it in this country and was offered with current MoT/road fund licence and Swansea V5 (Lot Number: 321, Estimate: £9000-£11000, Chassis number: 1GCE625K8J7115753, Engine Number: G789995).
Vehicle registration plates: S967238 (Original), 2L83000 and 2E14859
* Some of these technical details are unsupported facts writen by Christopher Bender (The A-Team Files, Fanzine), All other information written & researched by the webmaster. |
