From Totaled Van to SEMA Star: How One Family’s Ford Transit Overcame Setbacks to Become Adventure-Ready

It’s Been A Long Road—Yet the Adventure Is Only Beginning

“It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” A quote often repeated by travelers, and would-be travelers, from American philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

In the last few decades, this mantra has shaped the way people travel: The final destination becomes less important, but everything leading up to it takes precedence. It has helped travelers appreciate being in the moment rather than always looking forward to what’s next. This very line of thought has now permeated all walks of life—not just travel.

In terms of rig builds, most look forward to that final destination: the finished build. Very rarely the journey of the actual build-out itself. John Pangilinan’s 2022 AWD Ford Transit build was an exercise in that thought completely.

It was a build fraught with delays, setbacks, major setbacks, a shifting of timelines, and everything in between. But after all the dust cleared, what he was left with was a van that he could take out and use to enjoy the outdoors, as a family of four, pretty much anywhere their hearts desire.

The Concept

John envisioned the Ford Transit to become his family’s home away from home. He always had a soft spot for vans as they provided convenience while traveling, a place to be comfortable, a space to be inside and escape the cold or other elements… and, well, he always thought they looked cool. The van was planned to be more of a weekender than an overland-specific build.

The Ford Transit has the potential become the perfect vehicle for a campervan. Its AWD drivetrain is great for moderate off-road trails, and it also drives incredibly smooth on-road.

It is well equipped with the current technology and creature comforts, making it a great platform for those not looking to get too far out off-grid, but just far enough before the going gets extra-tough.

In 2021, John got a call from Ford that his Ford Transit concept was chosen. It would debut at the SEMA show in the Toyo Tires booth that year. Ford provided the Transit.

But it was 2021, and demand for just about everything skyrocketed in the post-Covid world, making it incredibly difficult to even source a van. The SEMA deadline was quickly approaching, but there was still no van.

Fortunately, Ford was able to secure one at a dealership. Someone had backed out of an order the same day Ford called said dealership to check on their inventory. The dealer agreed to let it go.

John took delivery of the van and had it shipped directly to Sacramento to CATuned Off Road to start the build process. There, they added their signature front bumper, a Warn winch, added windows to the sides, did suspension work, and they even built a custom roof rack and rear tire carrier.

Unfortunately, the van was completely totaled as it was being transported to Southern California after all that work was done in Sacramento. Thankfully no one was hurt, but most of the newly fitted parts were not salvageable.

A New Plan

Fast forward to a year later; the team at Ford helped John with another Ford Transit to build for SEMA 2022. John’s two kids, Layla and Cruz, affectionately named the new van “Vangilinan” in a play on the family’s last name.

He had three months upon delivery to finish the build before its grand debut in the Toyo Tires booth at SEMA.

This time around, John avoided transporting the vehicle altogether and decided to build it in Southern California.

He spoke with a few shops and brand partners to let them know about the tight deadline. His first stop was Front Runner to have them install their just-released Slim Pro roof rack.

The van then went to Tiny Rig Co in Orange County to get wired for electricity. Then it was on to Lost Hiway in Hesperia, California, to complete most of the rest of the build for SEMA.

Lost Hiway installed the Van Compass Stage 4 suspension kit, Van Compass skid plate and Rocker Guard. They also installed an original CA Tuned Off Road front bumper with a Warn winch and CaTuned Off Road rear tire carrier, along with AMA windows and Flarespace flares, Rigid lights, and the GFC rooftop tent.

They also put together an interior that is a collection of their own fender boxes with bed planks, a pedestal galley, and overhead cabinets. They installed the rear bench seat using a Smart Floor system and swapped out the driver and passenger seats for Recaro Ergomed seats.

A Maxx Air deluxe fan was paired with a portable Zero Breeze Mark II air conditioner. The interior was then reupholstered with a combination of materials, including matching Recaro material from the front seats, fabric, and 2Tec2 flooring from Perfect Fit in Portland.

John was able to visit Perfect Fit in person on a trip to Oregon. There, Katie helped with the final interior fabric decisions.

Final touches before SEMA included the wrap designed by @The.Overland.Design. John’s wife, Danielle, added her own personal interior touches to make it feel more like home. This included custom display frames and bedding.

Ivan from BP Autosound helped with some of the electronics. John also had the Tourig storage bags and the dual-zone Dometic CFX3 75 (a kid’s favorite since it holds ice cream) installed.

Finally, he had a set of 16x6 Black Rhino Arsenal AT wheels wrapped in 245/75R16 Toyo Tires Open Country A/T III tires.

Built To Be Used

After all that work in such a short amount of time, the van finally made its SEMA debut. Many SEMA builds are destined to just be to be shown at the show and nothing more. Never to be driven, never to be used.

Their fate lies in collecting dust or to be crushed or scrapped. John’s Transit would be the rare exception. It would be used very frequently and would be put through the paces. To have dirt between the treads and kids’ snacks strewn about the inside.

And when a build gets used, the build’s kinks reveal themselves. John wanted to make the cargo space as functional and versatile as possible.

He had Lost Hiway install a sliding system and BP Autosound install an OVS Cargo Box kitchen with a slide-out cooking area. A custom-made Roam Rest mattress was also put in.

The electrical system needed some fine-tuning, so he called Al Catalos, better known as @SponsoredbyWifey, and he helped install the complete Redarc system, including Manager 30, TVMS Rogue, and 2000W inverter.

Al also built a custom shelving unit so it looked pretty when the van made its circuit to various outdoor shows throughout the country. Al also helped install the SureCall Fusion2Go OTR cell signal booster.

And the electrical system was completed with a Sunflare Xplor solar panels, which were installed by their recommended installer, GTFO Overland, on top of the GFC rooftop tent.

An old friend of John’s, Gary Castillo, custom-fabricated a roof mount for the pair of Pelican Cargo BX90 cases on the roof rack.

A New Saga Begins

Finally, a few of the finishing touches were done by RPM Off-Road Garage. Steve and his team helped to fix a few nagging issues with the van and installed the Dometic 9500 electric awning.

John’s build was plagued by delays, setbacks, major setbacks, a shifting of timelines, and everything in between. But in the end, he persevered. He was able to debut his build at SEMA, took it camping for the first time not long after, and was able to finally be rewarded with the sounds of his kids laughing and running around the van at camp. Nothing beats watching movies with your son in a rooftop tent and waking up smiling the next morning.

The journey of the build proved to be a hard one. But, in the end, the destination of the finished campervan proved itself to be worth every single battle leading up to it.

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This article originally appeared in OVR Issue 11. For more informative articles like this, consider subscribing to OVR Magazine in print or digital versions here. You can also find the print edition of OVR at your local newsstand by using our Magazine Finder.