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Van Converted To Sleeper Pickup
"It comes in handy and was relatively easy to do," says Norman Foellmi, Sparta, Wis., who converted a 1985 Winnebago Centauri van into a "sleeper pickup" with a cargo box on back.
Foellmi collects Oliver garden tractors and often takes them to shows. The truck has a 6-ft. bed that's big enough to haul one ga
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Van Converted To Sleeper Pickup FARM HOME Cars 32-1-20 "It comes in handy and was relatively easy to do," says Norman Foellmi, Sparta, Wis., who converted a 1985 Winnebago Centauri van into a "sleeper pickup" with a cargo box on back.
Foellmi collects Oliver garden tractors and often takes them to shows. The truck has a 6-ft. bed that's big enough to haul one garden tractor at a time. The cab is big enough to have a bench seat (located behind the van's two front bucket seats) that folds down into a bed, and a small vanity with a water pump for washing up. Both the folding seat and vanity were already part of the van. There are two big darkened windows on the sides of the van and one on back. A homemade tailgate doubles as a loading ramp.
Foellmi already had the diesel-powered Centauri van, which had high mileage but was still in good shape. It has a wheelbase of 158 inches and is 20 ft. long from bumper to bumper.
He cut a 6-ft. long section out of the back of the van and then moved the rear panel forward, with windows intact, and fastened it back in place. He removed an air stream cap from the back end of the van and remounted it. He added the tailgate on back and also screwed stainless steel rails along both sides of the bed. The rig still has its original taillights.
"I had been using a pickup and trailer, but it's much easier to get around without having a trailer on back," says Foellmi. "It gets a lot of second looks wherever I take it. When I stop at our local coffee shop people often walk over to look at it. If someone says they've never seen one of these before, I tell them that's because there aren't too many of them around.
"Most people are familiar with the old Winnebago Lashero and Phaser motorhomes, but many don't know that Winnebago ever made a van. In fact, when I applied to the state for a van license, instead they mistakenly gave me a motorhome license. I couldn't convince the authorities that my Winnebago Centauri is a van, not a motorhome."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Norman Foellmi, 10929 Co. Hwy. B, Sparta, Wis. 54656 (ph 608 269-3028).
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