Tat Tuesday.

I have a confession. I have always loved vans. That may not sound bad but you have to remember that vans have become synonymous with a certain type of person. You have your Serial Killers, Rapist, Child Molesters, and Guys who live in Vans down by the River. Which means that Vans get a bad rap. Even with that I still love them. Especially when they have awesome murals on the side. Which is what this post is about. Check after the jump for some really cool pics.

A Van Mural of Custom Vans. It's like looking into forever.

From what little information I have been able to find the custom Van and by extension the Van Mural came to prominence in the 1970s. After the Muscle Car era ran its course, probably thanks to gas prices soaring, vans became more popular. A lot of these Vans had after market additions. Such as beds, TVs, spoilers, and CB radios. My favorite addition, and the reason for this post, were the kickass paint jobs. The majority of these murals fell into one of four categories; Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comic Book, and Nature.

A Wizard.

In the Fantasy category the most popular subjects were Wizards, Dragons, Lord of the Rings, and generic fantasy scenes. 

I can't be sure but I think this is a Conan mural.

Land Before Time.

There is nothing girlier than Mermaids and Dolphins.

Another Wizard.

The only thing girlier than Mermaids and Dolphins is a Unicorn.

See, a generic Fantasy scene. I didn't lie.

Dragons on one side.

And more Dragons on the other.

To be honest I just threw this one into the Fantasy category because of the blue swirls.

I love this woman. I don't who she is but I love her.

More generic Fantasy Scenes.

Dazzler the Disco singing X-Man.

After Fantasy comes Comic Books. Since the craze came from the 70's it makes sense that a lot of the characters featured would also come from the 70's.

Man Wolf probably the most obscure character to ever grace a van.

The Silver Surfer on a silver van. It makes sense.

Even in comics Kung Fu was huge in the 70's.

I take it back. Rom is the most obscure character to ever grace a fan.

Ghost Rider pre- Nicholas Cage.

Another Wizard. Actually the nerd in me forces me to admit that Dr. Strange is actually a sorcerer.

I'm cheating with this one. It's a hyper modified Japaneses van. But it was too cool to leave out.

See Above.

You have no idea how hard it is to find non Marvel character Van Murals.

A desert scene.

You know what else the 70s had? Hippies. There were still a few left over from the 1960s and they had vans. Which means we got awesome Nature Van Murals. A lot of which are based on Native American scenes.

Something about this makes me think of Moccasins.

Technically this is a bus but I like it so it gets to stay.

Another Native American/South Western theme.

Jungle cats are always cool.

This may be my favorite piece. It's so simple.

I don't think Cobra's are native to the US but wolves are.

Purple sky and yellow trees. Fantasy? No, just how a drugged up Hippie sees things.

This might be a "Close Encounter of the Third Kind" reference.

 Now we have the last genre of Van Art. You know what else was big in the 70s? Sci-Fi. You had Battle Star Galactica, Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek. Even with all those choices Star Wars one out as the source material of choice.

Star Wars.

Awesome Generic Sci-Fi Scene.

This may be the only Star Wars van that features the Prequels.

The browns and yellows say Native American but the Picture has Space in it.

Another, and if you ask me the best, Star Wars van.

What can I say? If these pictures haven't made you rethink Vans and the people who like them then there is nothing I can say. Oh. Wait. There is one thing. Ron White had a van. So there.

If you're interested in seeing a few more examples of Van Art check the links below.

The Selvedge Yard
Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool
Cyclopeatron