Road Champs Chevrolet Step Van

You have to give credit for diecast manufacturers who come up with some interesting castings that also have play value.  Sure, a nicely done casting is great for collectors yet rather lame in features for kids whereas a vehicle with play value may look great but if it looks crude it will be lost in some kid’s toy chest.  Over time a few manufacturers managed to surprise by doing both detail and function and Road Champs is one of them who offered realistic trucks (in real scale by the way) with realistic tampos and offering some form of working parts on the trucks.  One of them that interested me was this Chevy Step Van.

What is a step van?  It is a custom commercial body that is designed to allow space for the driver to walk in the back and for more cargo, attached to a chassis that is based on an auto manufacturer’s one ton truck chassis.  In this case the Chevy Step Van starts with just a one ton truck frame that is then sent to an outside vendor to apply the van body style of choice, though in a rare few instances the buyer would want the complete setup and ask Chevrolet to complete the truck, as seen here.  Step vans not only have large rear doors to allow the driver to step up into the back but also sliding side doors to allow easier entry and exit without having a door wide open and get struck by another vehicle.  The powertrains can vary depending on what the manufacturer offers and come with either gas or diesel engines, so this one would likely have the 7.4L V8 and 5-speed manual combination to the dually rear wheels.  Today it is more common to see outside vendors applying their own body style to a chassis model, but every so often one from Chevrolet will come visible.

When I first saw this Road Champs casting in a catalog I loved the unique look and amount of details on this van; there is no hiding the fact that this is a Chevrolet Step Van.  Various stickers on a white van were offered, so my tester has the Cheetos brand across the sides.  The front has round headlights and signal lights just above that is part of the interior trim, along with the dual split grille that contains CHEVROLET letters across the center bar.  The windows have a nice split design on the front and sides with clearance lights on the roof and Step Van badges on the front fenders, while the sides show off a large length (about two 1:64 diecast cars in length) and the coolest feature: a driver’s side door that slides into the body unlike the Tomica Isuzu Elf High Roof that slides on the outside in gray doors; however, unlike the Tomica the Chevy Step Van does not have a passenger-sliding door.  At the rear is round taillights, more clearance lights up top, and narrow panel doors that open up to a cargo area that is nice and large; too bad the doors are too small to access the cargo area.

The chassis underneath shows off some drivetrain and exhaust details, while the wheels look rather weak for this type of truck (why Road Champs could not use a realistic wheel for their trucks is beyond me).  The interior has some nice details for a van where there is seating for two, a 3-spoke steering wheel, and a dashboard with detailed controls and proper layout for a Step Van and also includes a floor shifter, and boy have we come a long way from graphics as the old Cheetos design is on a clear sticker that can come off and looks rather dotted compared to today’s paint-applied graphics that are cleaner and smoother than the old labels.  While there are many step vans out there, with the classic ones like the Divco ones highly detailed by some diecast manufacturers, only this Road Champs Chevy Step Van offers a rare Step Van completely manufactured by an automaker.