Black Listed

[Rockape]

Hi all.
Some info, thoughts, opinions on this van I have found would be much appreciated. Am confused by the plates but know it is not a genuine Sandy. Well I accept that it is not. Ok tags read -
HX 8W N 70
568 - 159970
18V trim
L31 M21 GV4
Seat Cap 2
GVM 1950

Van is in original condition, still black, GTS dash and wheel, full head lining with correct teeth, was factory windowless but now has windows. Has everything that I know to look for and chassis matches.

My confusion centres around the GVM and N combination. I'd really appreciate any light anyone can shed on this. It's no huge deal to me - van has virtually zero rust, everything looks to be where it should be, it has correct year block, runs after sitting for 15 years in a NQ shed and the clock even works, more just curious.

Have already put a lot of work into it and it goes into paint next week ( sorry if paint code is wrong but doing this on my phone and every time I look at photos I lose the site and have to begin again. It's def factory tuxedo ).

Cheers all
Pete

[wbute]

Passenger tyres on a Kingswood.
Will be a nice car.
Amazing how just one letter (N) in the model changed that van from a Sandman to a Kingswood. Tuxedo black is unreal though, especially with the 18V trim. Very black.

[Sandaro]

As WB said.

And the best mechanical configuration (in my opinion) as well. Nice one

[Vombil]

what a gem! forge on

[Valencia]

Hell yeah Black is beautiful

[mannavale]

Hey Pete - looking forward to seeing this one. My van has same paint and trim on the tags although at the moment is bronze.
Please post some photos for us all to drool over.

[Big Rob]

Factory black!
308/ 4 speed!
Sandman or not it's a keeper!
One of the blokes in my club has a HZ van, white, 308/4 speed/ LSD. Factory air and power steering, buckets and console, GTS dash and wheel and full headliner....
But it's got the "N"!
It's the most optioned van I've ever seen and is in every respect a Sandman, but it's not.

Doesn't matter! yours is a cool van! drive it and love it when it's done.

[playwme]

Xu4 Kingswood? Very cool. Someone obviously wanted full Sandman Spec but really really didn't want the decals. Would be interesting to hear the story behind this one.

[Rockape]

Edit - paint code is 568 15991
Sorry bout the wrong number in original post!

Thanks for the replies. I don't pretend to know everything about these things and really enjoy learning and reading!
A good mate of mine who loves these vans and is s bit older than me suggests that ordering a speced up kingswood to be basically a sandman or Monaro but without the badges and decals was not that uncommon back in the day. Availability was one reason he gives, cheaper insurance another.

I'd love to know how this van came to be. I know it's a Melbourne built van. An old fella in a pub told me that back in the day a company called Frawleys Signs in Melbourne had a fleet of 4 or so black Sandman vans so I might look them up to see if they still exist.

i don't know as much about these as many do but I share the sentiment that factory black on black and that factory driveline combined is pretty cool. I love this van like none I've had prior for these reasons alone!

I just bought a wb ute as donor. Got brand new front sus and brakes out of it plus a million other things including mint power window doors and very clean wb caprice front clip with genuine cut back gts guards. Am going to run this front first. Van had twin hlf on it which is in pretty poor nic so I'll source a good original front in the interim and old mate painter can do that too. Just think the caprice front in black will look amazing. As it's not a genuine sandy I'm taking some creative licence haha. Will stick with twin hlf when I put it back to original but must have gts guards for me - be any of that right or wrong it's how I feel ( can hear some of you spewing right now ).
Again thanks for your thoughts. I'll add more info if I think of it and some pics too maybe down the track!
Cheers. Rockape

[davegmh]

I can feel your excitement mate. Sounds pretty damn cool to me. Now that you've foreplayed us all to death, how about some pics please.