Grumman Corporation’s “Long Life Vehicle,” or LLV

ChuangTzu · 12-31-2018, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Until the 1980s, when postal officials looked to buy new vehicles for the service, they combed through existing models for one that best fit their needs. That decade, when the time came to select a new vehicle for the nation’s city letter carriers, officials decided to do things differently. They created a set of criteria for the perfect letter carrier vehicle. Armed with this list of needs, they challenged commercial vehicle industries to create the perfect vehicle from scratch. Officials believed that this method would assure the creation of a vehicle that could last more than twenty years on the road.

https://postalmuseum.si.edu/collecti...light/llv.html

Okie · 01-30-2019, 03:52 AM

someday i want to buy a Grumman step van and convert it in to a camper and go live in the deserts of the southwest

yeah, those are some awesome vehicles

JWJones · 01-30-2019, 06:02 AM

Cool info, thanks for posting this. I've wondered where those vehicles came from, now I know.

And Okie, that sounds like a GREAT plan!

rtmistler · 01-30-2019, 11:20 AM

I'd just like something like that to be my everyday car. I don't prefer the hauling capacity and the stepvan characteristics, I'm fine with it being a car. But can't the auto industry build and sell LLVs to consumers?

Well, "no", they want a sustainable industry.

What do we expect? Didn't Grumman build the L.E.M.? Lunar Excursion Module, course I only know about that from the movie Apollo 13.

ondoho · 01-30-2019, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okie

someday i want to buy a Grumman step van and convert it in to a camper and go live in the deserts of the southwest

i used to own a UPS van, built on top of a Mercedes 508, but it looks kinda similar: weird front lights, aluminium chassis. no rust. like this one.
anyhow, i did live in it. was my 3rd, last & best mobile home. solar panels on the roof, woodburner inside... sigh... oh, the nostalgia, i can't bear it!

Okie · 02-01-2019, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

i used to own a UPS van, built on top of a Mercedes 508, but it looks kinda similar: weird front lights, aluminium chassis. no rust. like this one.
anyhow, i did live in it. was my 3rd, last & best mobile home. solar panels on the roof, woodburner inside... sigh... oh, the nostalgia, i can't bear it!

thats exactly what i want to find, a medium sized step van between 12 and 16 feet long, like that UPS van you got there, i would have to paint it white because any other color would get too hot parked in the desert, it will have to be white even if i have to use a paint roller and brushes, i love those things

ChuangTzu · 02-01-2019, 05:04 PM

Lots of videos on youtube about converting vans, box trucks, school buses etc... to live in.

ondoho · 02-02-2019, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okie

i would have to paint it white because any other color would get too hot parked in the desert, it will have to be white even if i have to use a paint roller and brushes, i love those things

mine was red and i rather had the opposite problem - in winter that is - hence the woodstove.
but you should definitely get photovoltaic solar panels on the roof!

PS:
btw i made a mistake in my last post, the chassis (that's basically two long iron rods carrying the wheels & engine) was NOT made form aluminium, the car body was.
while it isn't lighter than normal steel (because it needs to be thicker) it does not rust, which is an important factor in a 20+ year old car!