Rick had fitted a Falcon wagon rear bumper
later in his ownership, which Danny removed
and returned to a rolled rear pan, as well
as frenching the existing Valiant tail-lights.
A colour change to GM Burgundy along
with murals highlighted the exterior revamp,
and the fitment of Chevy Bowtie-embossed
bubble windows, tinted headlamp covers and
’glass-packed side pipes sealed the deal.
Danny enjoyed plenty of show success with
The Judge, amassing in excess of 50 trophies,
and was the owner most responsible for
nurturing and cementing the van’s identity.
The Judge was treated to a frontal roof
chop to mimic what was hot in the States
at the time, and if you look closely you’ll
notice a lack of visible windscreen wipers (it
does have them) and that the bottom of the
windscreen disappears under the bonnet.
This is because the chopped roofline was
actually achieved by cutting and sectioning
the firewall to drop it lower, with the gullwing
doors cut to suit. The van had already been
resprayed and re-muralled, and a black
vinyl roof was added to further freshen the
Bedford’s look.
In the late 80s Danny sold The Judge to a
Carlton car yard. Vanning historian and one-
time Judge owner James Ellis (Jade, SM, Jun
’15), remembers it well: “I wanted to buy it
but I had too much on the go at the time,” he
says. “The next few years of its whereabouts
are a mystery but it was believed to have
lived around Swan Hill for a while beforeresurfacing in a Campbellfield car yard in the
mid 90s.”
The Judge’s current custodian, Chris Brown,
has owned the van since 2000 and has
researched its history during this blank period.
“The van was for sale in a Preston car yard
minus the engine and ’box, and apparently
the car yard struggled to shift it as a roller,”
Chris explains. “The Judge was then said
to be sold to a wrecking yard and facing a
very bleak future. A young guy supposedly
knew the van and felt compelled to save it,
so forked out $3000 with another engine
and stored it in his garage for a rainy day.
The Bedford did see some action – shed
skids with his mates was the order of the
day – before it reappeared as mentioned at
Campbellfield for a matching $3K.”
Its days in the wrecking yard and as a skid
pig left The Judge looking worse for wear,
but custom van aficionado Brett Birch (The
Beast, SM, Jul ’17) snapped it up from
Campbellfield before selling it a couple of
years later to a fellow Diamond Valley Vanner
who then soon sold it on to James Ellis.
“It had been stored out of harm’s way since
it reappeared, but needed heaps of work,”
James says. “The body was a mess, so I
repaired it all and had it carefully resprayed
around the murals, before selling it to Chris.”
“I missed out on buying it once before so
wasn’t going to let that happen twice!” Chris
laughs. “I displayed it at the Victorian Hot
Rod Show between 2000 and 2004, and atthe 2009 Geelong Van Nats with two other
legend Bedfords, The Beast and Mystic
Fantasy. In the past few years I’ve attempted
to touch up the murals and did pretty well for
someone with pretty limited artistic skills! I
also replaced the Chevrolet light across the
rear with new Perspex and a laser-cut fascia.”
Chris is keen to revamp and upgrade parts
of the van and it’s next in line after he finishes
his long-term T-bucket project.
“It’s on McDonald Brothers chassis #7,
which should give you a hint as to what I mean
by long-term,” he laughs. “But it’s nearly there
and I’ve given myself a deadline of January
2018 to finish it, then it’ll be full steam ahead
on The Judge.
“It desperately needs a brake upgrade to
make it safer, and new tyres are a must – you
can’t buy fat 14s like this anymore, so I may
have to go for something bigger – and I want
to rebuild the engine and transmission too.
“Exterior-wise I’m keen to change one mural
and add a few more, but at the end of the day
it’s a 40-year-old show van that has survived
the ravages of time, so any changes will be
appropriate to that era.”
And then there’s the chrome.
“It’s a typical 70s build so there is chromed
parts absolutely everywhere. I know what I’m
in for and it will be a polishing nightmare – I
think I need to strengthen my arms and start
stockpiling Autosol now! It’ll be totally worth
it though; I love this thing to bits.” sABOVE: The devil’s in the detail: Nick Venardis
of Ariel Customs carried out the pre-roof chop
and suicide/gullwing door conversion for Danny
Woodham. Even 36 years later, Nick still has all the
tech drawings used during the build. The quality of
his research and workmanship is evident in the fact
that the doors still function flawlessly today
RIGHT: Many Bedford vans copped all manner of
body mods at the height of the custom craze, but
the frontal treatment applied to The Judge was one
of the first – and best. A one-off grille and bonnet
scoops tie in nicely with the handcrafted front spoiler
and huge steel flares. Special surrounds were made
to house the XC Fairmont headlights
ABOVEThd il’i thdtilNikV di