Custom 1975 Ford Econoline Has Plenty Of Space For Your Special Friends

Meet Mertin Grundy, formerly known for having a weird name and being small change at the bank where he was employed. That all changed when Mertin made the questionable decision to purchase a custom van. Now Mertin has a customized 1975 Ford Econoline featuring plenty of space to do his own thing with his special friends.

If you needed another reminder of why custom vans are so weird, look no further than this vintage California Ford advertisement detailing the chronicles of Mertin Grundy and his rolling love shack Flamed Econoline. Trying to capitalize on the custom van craze, Ford dealers wanted you to believe you were one custom van away from all the blonde and attractive special friends you could ever desire. If Mertin Grundy could wow girls with a custom van, anyone could.

Telling customers a new car will make you more attractive to the opposite sex was already an tried and true method of advertising for car companies by the 1970s. Although we are generally skeptical of these kind of claims, something about the shag carpeting and stupid paint job on this custom van makes the idea of using it to attract interested members of the opposite sex even harder to believe.

Of course, if a car manufacturer had told us the key to attractive 70s girls was something a lot less lame than a custom van, say for instance a 1970 Dodge Charger, we would have wanted to believe it. Even if it wasn't true you would have ended up with a great reason to buy a 1970 Dodge Charger, a much more attractive proposition than a custom van—even if there is less space to do your own thing with your newfound special friends.