Off-Road Ice Cream 4×4 Chevy Van Disrespects Moab’s Hardest Trails
Unlike most other motorsports, off-roading attracts all kinds of people. There is a much lower barrier to entry than most racing events. All you need is a little bread to get your rig right, and some gusto and four-wheeling is yours for the taking. To my point, most folks tend to use solid axel Jeep Wranglers, Ford F-150s, and other such trucks and SUVs. However, these dudes just ran some of the toughest trails at Moab in an ’80s 4×4 Chevy van known for handing out ice cream and candy.
How did this off-road 4×4 van get tough enough for Moab?
Since its inaugural run in 1999, MotorTrend subsidiary, Four Wheeler, hosts the Ultimate Adventure. This event is comprised of 4×4 enthusiasts, invited readers, and staff takes to the trail for a week-long adventure covering 1,000 miles. The event location changes every year, and the drivers don’t know where they are going or what kind of terrain they will face.
This year, a built 80s 4×4 van driven by Travis Farmer showed up and brought the house down with its undeniably cool and cheerful essence. To be clear, vans are not good off-roaders as a rule. Even the 4×4 ones simply aren’t made to flex, bend, and crawl over massive rocks and craggy terrain.
Before we write off this 80s 4×4 Chevy van, we need to know what’s going on underneath. This van has been built and built well. Farmer has it sitting on massive 40-inch tires, one-ton solid axels, and more room inside than most rock crawlers even know exists.
This ice cream slinging van wasn’t in Moab alone
At this year’s Ultimate Adventure, the van came back for another round after stealing the show at the 2020 gathering. Outside of just kicking ass on the trail, this 4×4 80s Chevy van is known for carrying candy and ice cream of which it passes out freely. No wonder they keep getting invites!
Along with it stood a who’s who of badass off-road rigs. MotorTrend notes, picking the winner of the Ultimate Adventure 2021 was tough. There was a team pushing a 1970 International Scout 800 who proved the old dogs still got plenty of life if built right. There was also a pile of kitted-out Ford and Chevy pickups ready to take to their natural habitats.
Not even Moab could crush the 4×4 Chevy van
Moab is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It is also home to some of the gnarliest off-roading trails. There is a good reason why the Jeep Easter Safari haunts this chunk of desert every year to show off its newest and coolest experiments.
As we saw earlier this year with the Ford Bronco that climbed Hell’s Gate backward, Moab is the definitive place to flex your off-road prowess. It’s for all these reasons that this van crushing some of Moab’s toughest trails is so noteworthy.
There are plenty of 4×4 vans out there in the world that can handle intermediate trails and stretches of rough track, but few can do what this 80s Chevy van did. More photos of the event can be found here if you need any further reason to be impressed with the ice cream off-road Chevy van.
