The Easter long weekend for the vanning faithful means only one thing – the running of the Australian Panel Van Nationals in some great part of our country. This year for its 49th event, the beaut little town of Stanthorpe in the Southern Queensland Granite Belt played host. A highlight of the weekend is always the announcement of the Australia’s 10 best vans, and of course this time ‘round, Australia’s Top Van for 2024.

A shift in the scene in recent times has seen original and/or restored vans also eligible for the Top Ten, making for some stiff competition. 

The vans rounding out the Top 4 all performed well in other award categories, but it was ultimately seven-time Top Van winner Gary Scicluna and his blue Escort van ‘Skid Row’ that notched up an eighth win. Following closely in second spot was the exceptionally restored HX Sandman ‘Eloped’ of Jason and Jess Ackland, with Ritchie Brown’s ‘End of Days’ HJ Sandman and Ian Wood’s ‘La Catrina’ EH in third and fourth spots respectively. 

The remaining six places were an eclectic mix of new and older builds, however it was the seventh-placed XC Falcon of John Lilley, a crowd favourite with its clean – albeit wild – purple and green ‘The Joker’ theme, proving that traditional panel vanning and street machining styling cues both still have their place and can exist in harmony together.

1. SKID ROW – Gary Scicluna

2. ELOPED – Jason and Jess Ackland

3. END OF DAYS – Ritchie Brown

4. LA CATRINA – Ian Wood

5. WEAPAN – Wayne Turner

6. THE PLAYER – Rod and Jennifer Barnes

7. THE JOKER – John Lillie

8. NED – Susan Kelley

9. NZ EK – Clinton Wheeler

10. IRONMAN – Paul Murray