Easy DOES IT

PETER ROBINSON RESURRECTS A CLASSIC PIECE OF 1970s AUSTRALIANA TO ONCE AGAIN PROWL THE STREETS IN STYLE. SAY HELLO TO THE REBORN COCA-COLA 3XY EASY ROLLER!

- SIMON MAJOR

AHH, the 1970s in Australia: a time when radio was king and your favourite station might just give away something as cool as a custom van!

Our story begins in 1976, when Coca-Cola commissioned a bunch of pre-release Valiant panel vans - each dubbed the Denimachine - to be porned out with mags, sidepipes and flames, along with a denim-stitched interior. In cahoots with radio stations around the country, these vans were given away as competition prizes, setting the airwaves buzzing while boosting Coke's already whopping market share.

The van scene was big back then - no, huge - so the competitions were a great success - hot enough for Coca-Cola Bottlers in Melbourne and its Victorian radio partner, 3XY, to give it another Victoria-only lash in 1977.

THE 70s HEYDAY WHEN RADIO 3XY RULED MELBOURNE'S AIRWAVES WAS A GREAT ERA OF MUSIC AND SUCH A POIGNANT TIME OF MY FORMATIVE TEENAGE YEARS

The brief for the giveaway van this time was to allow total freedom and creativity and truly make it a ‘vanner's van'.

The new build was dubbed the Coca-Cola 3XY Freedom Machine, based around a CF Bedford van and built in the workshops of John Evans (Legends, SM, Oct '11) from Vanmakers Australia.

John grafted Manta rear flares to those big Bedford quarter panels and added XC Fairmont headlights with a custom grille to give it a unique identity. A white base was then laid down; black, yellow, orange and red stripes were added; and a Garrett turbo on the 202 and a set of wide Sunraysia rims got the van hopping and handling better.