Dave Capps is in the business of renting vans. In order for him to stay in that business, he needs to buy new vans – 1,000 of them, to be precise. And although he's been a GMAC customer for 20 years, remains in good standing, and gets much of his current inventory financing from GMAC, he can't get the credit he needs to buy the new vans. So Capps rented a billboard in Dallas to be an appeal to anyone willing to lend him the money.

GMAC hasn't discussed why it won't give Capps the necessary credit. According to Capps, "GMAC said that they don't do vehicle loans and their new GMAC bank is prohibited from loaning money for vehicles. I have to take their word that they can't do that." We're not sure how that conversation went down, but if Capps really was told that newly minted bank holding company GMAC can't loan money for vehicles, well, we have a lot of questions.

After GMAC received a $5 billion loan from the government, it said it would open up dealer financing. A short time later, dealers said they didn't notice any opening and kept getting their credit applications rejected. While Capps isn't a dealer, he does share the need to purchase GM products to keep his business going. We don't know what GMAC's reasons are for keeping the vault locked, but we hope they're pretty good if it means turning down a guy who wants a thousand vans. Hat tip to Rick!

[Source: DFW Stangs]

The only time you'd normally put a Ford Transit Connect van together with Piloti racing shoes is if the van in question were delivering them, or there were a 1-make van racing series... which sounds kind of cool now that we think about it. But take those two, add H&R Springs and what you've got is a SEMA-specific combination.



H&R did its usual, dropping the Transit Connect over a set of 19-inch wheels, and then Piloti finished the interior in a steel and microsuede wonderland topped off by a wooden shift knob and two creepy baby shoes hanging from the rearview mirror. You can check out the press release after the jump, and that wild speaker setup in the gallery of high-res images below.

The new Ford Fiesta isn't just good for going fast and looking good – apparently you can also make a panel van out of it. Details are scant before its supposed appearance at the Paris Motor Show, but this little guy is aimed at small businesses that might want something even more economical than the Ford Transit. The passenger compartment is separated from the cargo by a bulkhead and the latter can hold 1,000 liters, which quadruples the storage space of the 5-seater car. As long as buyers aren't hauling lead, they should be all right -- the car is supposed to get motors ranging from 60 to 90 horsepower. We'll bring more details and pics from the Paris show, as all we know right now is that the Ford Feista Panel Van will start at €11,070 in Germany.


[Source: Autoblog Spanish]

Among the larger vehicles offered up at the Nissan 360 event that weren't the large commercial offerings from yesterday were the Japanese and "General Overseas Market" Elgrand Van and the Euro- and Japanese-market Qashqai.

The Elgrand wasn't a bad piece of kit for a great big honking van. While massive, the 3.5-liter V6 with 241 hp gets the thing up and going -- even uphill -- with an alacrity that feels almost driftworthy... for a great big honking van. The instrument panel is good looking and nice feeling, the three rows of seats can be moved every which way but loose, and the platoon-hauling mover weighs only 4,431 pounds. Nissan calls it "a first-class minivan fulfilling the dreams and aspirations of consumers for a relaxing experience." We call it a pretty good van.

You can check out the Nissan 360 event site for more details on the vehicles and Nissan company stats. In the mean time, be sure to check out the gallery of hi-res photos below.



Our travel and lodging for this media event was provided by the manufacturer.

It's been a period of big changes for Fiat's commercial truck division recently. First the brand gained independent incorporation in the restructuring of the Fiat Group, and now the division is getting a new name and image. What was incorporated just a few months ago as Fiat Light Commercial Vehicles is now being re-named Fiat Professional.

Along with the more serious moniker, Fiat Professional is getting a new badge. The logo pictured above is based on the Fiat badge revealed on the new Bravo, spruced up for the commercial division by Robilant Associati, the same marketing consultants that collaborated with the Italian industrial giant on the creation of the new Fiat logo revealed last October.

The name change and new logo aren't likely to change anything concrete for Fiat's light truck and van division, aside from giving it a more professional image with which to stand up to the competition. Nor is the image shift expected to have any implications for Iveco, Fiat's more heavy-duty truck subsidiary.

[Source: Just Autos]

click above image to vew high-res pics of the 2008 Ford E-Series van in various configurations

You may have a grown up in a family that used a conversion van for daily transport like I did. If so, perhaps you share my strange appreciation for these haulers of human and commercial cargo. They rarely ever receive redesigns, just updates year after year that evolve them into something resembling modern transports.

The Ford E-Series dominates the van segment, holding court with 49.5% market share. The Blue Oval has given the old Econoline a new face for 2008 that draws heavily on the bold grille design of its Super Duty trucks, which isn't a bad connection to make when many of your customers work at construction sites or warehouses instead of cubicle-bedecked office spaces. All the sheetmetal ahead of the A-pillar is new, and that brick wall of a grille actually improves airflow to the engine, as well. Much of the van was kept the same, however, in deference to the large number of upfitters who take an E-Series and make something else out of it. If Ford were to come out with an all-new van, that entire industry would have to reinvest in tooling, equipment and machinery to work with the new design.

Check out additional impressions of the 2008 E-Series and Ford's official press release after the jump, and view the enw van from all angles in our high-resolution gallery.

[Source: Ford]

Click to enlarge

Known best here for their bodykits that've aimed to turn a couple of Nissans into Aston Martins, DAMD is actually a prolific manufacturer of styling kits for just about every Japanese automaker. We have to say that their new accessory package for Honda's Vamos, Hobio and Acty vans takes the cake, though.

Once the OE parts are switched out for the DAMD pieces, the little kei-class vans are transformed into miniaturized Dodge A100s. DAMD calls the kit "Locoboy." Honda's Vamos family of microvans certainly lends itself to retro-fication. You may recall the Vamos we featured back in August, which was kitted to look like a 1972 Honda Step Life van.

The Step Life clone was cool, but the Locoboy operates on an entirely different plane. We'd roll in this all day.

[Source: DAMD]