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Re: Engine covers in cabs
The very earliest of cabover style vans in north America (not panel vans) actually had the engine entirely within the interior layout, and the front wall of the cab extended around it. The engine was covered with a "box" which doubled as a console/island within the interior. Due to its resemblance, the cover was colloquially called the "dog house." The name stuck even as the engines moved more forward in the 1960s, and the engine cover went from a complete box to simply a panel to cover the rear of the opening.
That applied to Chevy/GMC, Ford, Dodge, Kaiser/Willys, International, Olson, and other manufacturers models.
That's also one of the distinctions between a true van and a "minivan" on a car chassis.
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