THE LIFE
BA58 June 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com
A / From left:
Boudreault, friend
Paje Victoria, Phelps,
and Weigner hang
outside the vans.
“Dave knows all the
wicked spots. When
that stress level in
the shop gets to
that point you start
feeling it for a week
or two, we’ll peel
out for a two- or
three-day trip,” says
Boudreault.
B / Around the shop
there are reminders
of the adventures
the team has had in
these vans. Including
the years Phelps
spent driving his vanaround the country.
“We are all super
passionate about
these things, we
seriously love this
stuff,” says Phelps.
“I think these vans
are going to be
like the VW bus
in 20 years,” adds
Boudreault. And in
the meantime, the
team is sharing their
love with others. “My
family spends a lot of
time driving around
and camping. Lola is
my five-year-old. She
was two months old
when she went on
a 1,000-mile trip,”
says Weigner.out front were for, well, it wasn’t long before he was working both jobs.
The three will set you up with everything you need to camp,
vacation, and get that perfect photo anywhere in California—a
dependable ride, linens, cooking equipment, even guidance on where
to go. Anyone can hop off a plane and into their #vanlife dreams.
The vans are rugged, but they’re also old—they’ve all had about
30 years on the road. Which means things can, and do, go wrong.
A lot of things. Every morning, Boudreault and Phelps go over the
day’s rentals. They throw them on the lift, check the fluids, the tires,
look at every system. This morning a radio isn’t working. They crack
open the dash and find a loose connection. Fixed.
When the mechanical check is done, the team cleans the vans’
interiors and cookware, changes the linens, washes the outside,
hands over the keys, and watches as customers gleefully drive away.
Then they move to their bigger projects. Today, it’s replacing tent
panels on a van they’re flipping. “When we start tackling all the proj-
ects, that’s when it gets fun. It’s a good time,” says Boudreault. “Dave
is the smartest mechanic I’ve ever met,” adds Weigner.
And yet they all still love the vans. They even relax by wrenching on
their own. Weigner has four vans, Boudreault has four, and along with
the fleet Phelps has his special project: the most perfect van he can
think to make. “It’s a totally different feel. A project like this, it’s your
baby.” And when they get tired of wrenching, they do what got them
into this in the first place. They get out from under a van and hop in.