The Ultimate in off grid Full size van 4x4 GMC G3500 Pathfinder Lynchburg, Va $27k

hartgreen

New member
The best part about this van is that the parts are all available at most any Napa store. 65k original miles and it was institutionally maintained for over 30 years then babied ever since. The history of this van is as follows....

1985 it was ordered by the City of Los Angeles
shipped directly with 0 miles from the factory to Pathfinder for 4x4 conversion. See Build sticker on hood of van
Lived in Los Angeles municipal fleet until 2009 then sold with 16k miles to the last owner.
Used to transport previous owners motorcycles and for light camping.
I purchased it about a year ago and built out the back to imitate my old VW Westy.


It runs and drives great but I really miss my old Westfalia. I want another one.

Here is my FB ad with links to videos. Ive done more with the buildout since the video so I should probably update the walkthrough but you get the idea.

5.7 Chevy motor with TH400 Trans and the hubs are manual so you need to stop and switch. As of January 2023 the transmission is freshly rebuilt.


"So this is a ZERO RUST 1985 GMC Vandura G3500 van purchased by the City of Los Angeles as an emergency communications vehicle. There were 3 made and only one other is still known to exist. They shipped it directly from the factory to Pathfinder for 4wd conversion (see sticker under hood) and then off to ENG for the generator (Onan Emerald I Genset) and the electronics. The genset runs off gasoline in the primary tank. Please see video walkaround for explanation. It was fleet maintained by the City of LA until 2009 or so then it was sold with only 16k miles to a dealership in Southern California where it was bought by a guy who took it to Aluminess to have the bumpers, ladder and nerf bars added. You cannot buy these for the older vans anymore. In fact Ive never seen these on this style van. I purchased it back in December and had the exhaust replaced and the NP205 transfer case completely rebuilt. It now has 64k+/- original miles on it. This is a true off grid beast and I can promise you will never find anything else like this other than the other one that might still exist. NEW WALKAROUND WITH INTERIOR!!! "

Van walkthrough:
Genset running:
 
Last edited:

hartgreen

New member
More pics!
 

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SDDiver5

Expedition Leader
So awesome. I had an old neighbor when I was growing up and he had one as his construction van. It was like a dull yellow color similar to yours but more dull. I remember being 10 or so and was so sad he sold it. Good luck selling.
 

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