A pair of matching T3's might seem a little extravagant to some but when you know the background story it begins to seem a little more practical. 49-year-old Stephen Truelove from Norfolk originally bought the petrol-powered van (the one with the cross-spoke wheels!) brand new back in 1990 and made a few special requests relating to the specification. What he ordered was a 2.1 litre Caravelle GL but with the rear left seatless so the vehicle could be used as a part-time van. It did, however, come with all mod cons including power steering electric mirrors and even cruise control. If you've never driven a well spec'd 2.1 Caravelle you'll have no idea just how nice they are to use. They're surprisingly quick, too and with the quad, square headlights at the front, they really look the part as well.
Although a cabinet-maker by trade (which was a very handy skill when it came to refitting the insides of the vans!), Stephen currently tints car windows. This means that although no dirty, heavy or particularly bulky goods need to be moved around, a van is a very useful tool when visiting customers and working mobile. Incidentally, if you're looking for somebody to tint your vehicle windows, just take a look at the great job Stephen has done on his own van! The Caravelle served Stephen well but by 2002 it was beginning to show it's age. Stephen had no intention of parting with the van though so instead decided to seek out a cheap replacement (T3, of course!) to use as a work vehicle allowing him to put the petrol van into 'semi-retirement, if you like.
This was the point at which Stephen stumbled across the second T 3 you see here. He was initially drawn to the Pastel white minibus because it, like the Caravelle; was an unusual twin sliding door model. Closer inspection revealed that although scruffy, it was basically sound and the 1.7 litre Diesel engine had only recently been fully rebuilt. This seemed the perfect opportunity so he wasted no time and snapped up the new workhorse. Round about now things changed direction slightly as Stephen soon found he could just smarten up the new van and leave it alone. Instead, what was initially going to be a quick job turned into a full restoration and his latest acquisition was soon on it's way to becoming a very clean and straight piece of kit. Mechanically, the Diesel is now fitted with a gearbox from a 2.1 litre van for improved cruising ability and a stainless steel exhaust has been added to improve both the looks and performance. The suspension has been lowered using a set of H&R springs that give a 60mm drop while damping duties are now taken care of by Koni shocks on each corner. Those wild 5 spoke wheels are from R&H and measure a whopping 8.5x17" all round with a 35mm ET figure. Tyres are the now legendary Toyo Proxes Tl-S measuring 235/45 on all four comers.
This left just the bodywork to refinish and apart from a full repaint in the original white Stephen has added metallic black-detailing by painting the roof and lower panels for a real contrast Coupled with the dark tinted windows the look is awesome and really brings the van rght up to date The other obvious external modification is the fitment of a South African spec lower rear grille that extends to the full width of the front panel. When it came time to refit the Diesel, Stephen sourced many parts from a luxurious Carat model T3 This includes the front lights and, more importantly, the front cabin interior Now fitted with comfy Captain seats that swivel and feature dual armrests, the inside has really been transformed. He completed the refit by making up a loading tray that transforms into a bed and undertook the interior trimming himself.
So now Stephen had one superb daily driver and the van he'd planned to overhaul was looking very shabby in comparison. What else could he do but match up his original Caravelle to the new workhorse leaving only minor details to separate them! The Caravelle features the same suspension and another stainless exhaust but this time he chose Rondell cross-spoke wheels, albeit in the same sizes and even fitted with exactly the same tyres! When these pictures were taken, Stephen was still working on the inside of his trusty 2.1 but by the time you read this, it should be completed and looking every bit as good as the inside of the oil burner. The other external addition you may have noticed is the sun canopy fitted to the side that Provides both sun and rain cover when Stephen and his friends make their annual trips to Germany for the big T3 meetings. As with any project, Stephen plans a few modifications including a 115bhp TDi engine for the Diesel and a few more subtle mods for both vehicles.
If you're interested in Window Tinting call Stephen Truelove on 07776 145147 or look up www.1-2tint.com