In recent years, vans have enjoyed a bit of a resurgence in popularity thanks to the “van life” movement, in which folks convert those vehicles into mobile living spaces of sorts – oftentimes, ones that are off-road and off-the-grid capable to boot. At the same time, we’re starting to see more former law enforcement surveillance vans surfacing for sale, including this old school Ford E-Series and a 1999 E-450, both of which were once used by the FBI. Now, YouTuber Mav has spent some time in a different kind of ex-surveillance van, this time, one that was used by the New York Police Department (NYPD) that’s now for sale at Spectrum Wholesale in Mechanicville.
This particular build started life as a Ford E-350 that has been upgraded in a number of ways, including on the outside, where the van sports a rather tall Astro topper that allows one to stand up inside the cargo area, as well as a “sky capsule” that extends out of the top. With just 5,200 miles on the clock, it drives like a brand new van, however, and it’s certainly a cool and unique find to boot – not to mention one heck of a conversation piece.
That capsule lifts itself a solid 30 feet up in the air, giving one a pretty nice view of the surrounding area, which might have been useful for NYPD officers during large events with massive crowds. For our resident YouTuber, it’s more about providing a pretty slick aerial view of Lake George while he’s out camping, however.
According to the seller, the NYPD sunk a whopping $250,000 into this van to transform it for law enforcement use, which is obviously a ton of money. However, for a fraction of that cost, anybody can purchase this one second-hand, barely used, and have a pretty darn cool vehicle to ride around in – or even take camping, as our host does in this video.
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Comment
Love it, It’s a mobile deer blind and tree stand all in one.