Zimmer Motor Vans a subsidiary of Zimmer Corporation
Zimmer Motor Vans of Cordele, Georgia made conversion vans on Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet or GMC chassis and sold through their respective dealers. At some point, customized pickup trucks were added to the mix as seen below.
Later, Windsor Motor Vans of Newton, Kansas became part of the Zimmer family of companies, focusing on these same conversion vans and customized pickup trucks for the western half of the USA.
We asked D.A. "Don" Johnson, designer of the QuickSilver, about these and he had this to say...
Later, Windsor Motor Vans of Newton, Kansas became part of the Zimmer family of companies, focusing on these same conversion vans and customized pickup trucks for the western half of the USA.
We asked D.A. "Don" Johnson, designer of the QuickSilver, about these and he had this to say...
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As for the 'Dooley', 'Ultima', 'Silhouette' and the 'Astron Executive Coach' they're all mine. Mr. Zimmer kept me very busy.
I was responsible for anything that moved; cars, van and truck conversions, motor homes and the 'Black Fin Yachts' - these were 26' to 36' Sport Fishing Yachts that sold for roughly $170K to $225K in '84-'87. Fun but very hectic years !! My van and truck conversion work was what lead Southeast Toyota Distributors to recruit me to design all their port-installed accessories for the cars, trucks and vans at just about the time Zimmer was filling for bankruptcy. Again, fun but hectic. This ended when parent company got wind that SE Toyota was 'robbing' them of potential profits and threatened to pull their franchise! Ah, the 'Good Old Days'! |
Little beyond that and what is seen in these Zimmer-produced sales brochures is known. Do you own one of these other Zimmer vehicles, or know more about them? Contact us!
James Plant, creator of the video shown below told us this...
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There's not much I can tell you about producing the Zimmer Vans video over 25 years ago. I produced the video for Zimmer when my business studio (Creative Services) was located in Americus. Since I've moved my studio twice in the last 20 years or so my files and paperwork and computer files has been corrupted and missing...Zimmer filed for Chapter 11 in 88...don't understand what happened, they made a great product and I enjoyed producing the video for them! Also, I don't recall placing the Zimmer Van video on YouTube, but I guess I did since it's on my YouTube channel!
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Zimmer Motor Vans "Dooley"
Zimmer Motor Vans "Ultima SE"
Zimmer Motor Vans "E-Z Rider"
It appears that these were made using the Chevrolet S-10 (seen in the brochure below), GMC S-15, Chevrolet Blazer and the Ford Ranger and Bronco trucks.
Do you own one of these Zimmer custom trucks or SUV's? Contact us!
Zimmer Motor Vans "Silhouette"
Astron/Zimmer Executive Coach
It's anyone's guess just how many of these were made, here is one and here is another that have popped up online that we've seen. Learn more about the RV version here...anyone have either one of these? Contact us!
