Anyone heard of a grinding van?

[ScottH]

I realize this is the wrong year for this, but thought maybe someone here might have some info on this one:

I came across an older gentleman with a custom made 48 Chevy van for his family business. It resembles an old school bus on a one ton frame. 45k original miles, been stored for the past 30 years, still has most of the grinding tools from the business.

This truck is complete, windows all around, wood floor, walls and ceiling all covered in sheet metal (except roof, tar paper used here). There is almost no rust, with the exception of the kick panels.

Does anyone have any idea of the value of something like this?
Any info is greatly appreciated.

[jku72]

Home made trucks have only the value to which you give them. How much would you pay for it? That is the value. There is no "standard" for non standard items.
I do know there is a niche market for Buses, I had a guy come up and buy one that was out back in a place I once lived. The guy travelled for miles, I had never advertised it, I dont know how the guy could have known about it.
Any way, the guy was the curator for a transportation museum, and he sure wanted it, and went through a lot of trouble to get is. It was a 1930 somthing fo*d product. Neat really.
So, value is relative in this case.
I would think that a nice bus that is more or less intact might be attractive to that type of guy.

[Lippyp]

I would guess that this vehicle has much more value as a piece of social history than monetary value. I would imagine that transportation or industrial museums would be interested in this kind of thing. We have a number of "living History" museums here in the UK such as Iron Bridge Gorge in Staffordshire and The Beamish Museum in the North East where they have recreated industrial communities from the past and have everything from houses that have been moved and reassembled brick by brick to schools and industrial buildings and all the associated transport that goes with them, with re-enactors in period costumes. I'm sure you must have similar museums in the US. Maybe worth approaching them. The only trouble is most museums tend not to have a great amount of money. Could make a good corporate show-piece for a company that makes grinding equipment, take a look at some of the machinery on board and see if any of the manufacturers are still in business and whether they would be interested in it.

IMO something like this should be preserved with it's contents, preferably driven and it would make a great show vehicle. It would be a crime for the original back to be stripped off and made into a "normal" truck. On a monetary front it's worth whatever $$ someone is prepared to pay for it, perhaps an auction (proper specialist classic car auction) would be the best way to sell it. You could always consider a new career in grinding stuff?