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If your college was anything like mine, a day didn’t go by without some company giving out free samples in wacky cars. The Red Bull car even had its own parking space down the street from the dorms. (Trying to resist the temptation when walking past a giant can of Red Bull before an early class is absolute torture.) Here are seven examples of even weirder promotional vehicles.
1. The Zippo Car
Built in 1947 for $25,000, the Zippo Car was a Chrysler Saratoga with two gigantic lighters sporting neon flames. The Zippo Car was used for fairs, expos and parades between 1948 and 1949, but mysteriously disappeared sometime in the 1950’s when it was left at a Pittsburgh dealership for reconstruction and never returned. In 1996, Zippo commissioned a replica of the original Zippo car, and in 1998 the second Chrysler Saratoga—New Yorker was unveiled at the Zippo/Case Visitors Center.
2. Chock Full o’ Nuts Truck
The Chock Full o’ Nuts novelty truck first appeared publicly in the late 1930s shortly after the coffee company originated in New York City. The vehicle was designed to resemble a comfortable cabin with a screened in porch—just the kind of place where you’d want to enjoy your morning java. The Chock Full o’ Nuts brand has been owned by dessert queen Sara Lee since the year 2000. Image via JAMD.
3. The Children’s Shoemaker Car
This shoe may look a little like something out of a nursery rhyme, but it is actually a promotional vehicle created for Daniel Neal, The Children’s Shoemaker, a business that originated in 1837 in London. The shoe was built on a 1921 Ford Model T with coachwork done by Riverside Motor Works. Presumably the message on the wheels is a brand of shoes.
4. Oscar Mayer Weinermobile
Invented in 1936 by Carl G. Mayer (nephew of namesake Oscar), the Weinermobile has evolved over the years and the massive hot dog can currently be seen atop many different vehicles. Gas rationing kept the promotional car off the road during World War II, but in the 1950s, Oscar Mayer and the Gerstenslager Company created several new vehicles using Dodge and Jeep chassis. These vehicle were driven by “Little Oscar” who would frequent festivals and parades as well as visiting schools and children’s hospitals. In 1988, Oscar Mayer launched its Hotdogger program, where recent college graduates were hired to drive the Wienermobile through various parts of the nation and abroad. There are currently six Wienermobiles in existence.
5. The Voxmobile
In 1967, Warren Hampton of the musical equipment manufacturer Vox approached famous car customizer George Barris to build a Voxmobile guitar auto. His idea was to fabricate a custom roadster that would function both as a car and as a mobile amplifier, designed to be used for promotional purposes. The Voxmobile, released in 1968, features a Vox guitar silhouette that serves as a functioning amp capable of supporting up to 32 guitars as well as featuring a working Vox organ in the rear deck. In all, there are two main drive speakers mounted atop the intake manifold, five 12-inch speakers, one 18-inch bass speaker and four tweeters. The entire vehicle is worth $30,000 and is drivable.
6. The Spammobile
This giant blue trolley drives all over the country giving out free samples of delicious Spam products. Inside, the vehicle only seats two passengers to accommodate mass quantities of canned ham and the electric griddle necessary for cooking Spamburgers. The license plate of the Spammobile reads “Spam37,” the number 37 being a reference to 1937, the year Spam was invented.
7. The Peepster
Much like the Spammobile, Just Born, the company responsible for marshmallow Peeps as well as Mike and Ikes and Peanut Chews, has a large bus that tours the nation. However, the Bethlehem, Pa-based candy company also has a smaller promotional vehicle—the Peepster. A bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle with a five-foot tall yellow marshmallow chick on top, the car can often be seen cruising around the tri-state area.
Phat Feet.
Brilliant!
posted by Maple on 8-6-2008 at 12:40 pm
I love that the wheels on #3 say PHAT FEET!!! hehehe
posted by Christian on 8-6-2008 at 12:45 pm
Phat PHEET…duhh =)
posted by Christian on 8-6-2008 at 12:46 pm
I like in the tri-state area and I’ve never seen the Peep-ster. I feel so deprived.
posted by beth on 8-6-2008 at 1:19 pm
The weinermobile is driven by recent college graduates? If they just graduated college, shouldn’t they be starting a job in whatever field they got a degree in instead of parading around in a giant hot dog?
posted by Melissa on 8-6-2008 at 1:24 pm
Just FYI, it’s Volkswagen, not Volkswagon!
posted by dave taylor on 8-6-2008 at 1:38 pm
I thought the Red Bull mobile should have been on this list. Maybe not, but I always get a chuckle when I see that Bull flying down the highway.
posted by Michelle on 8-6-2008 at 2:06 pm
One time, I was on a road trip with my friends, and we were all kind of bored, since we were driving across central Wyoming. All of a sudden, one pipes up, “Hey, guys, check it out — it’s the Wienermobile!”
I didn’t believe him at first, but lo and behold, there was a Wienermobile, driving full steam ahead in the other direction, bound for Utah. I have no idea which of the six Wienermobiles it was, but it sure brightened up my day.
posted by Mary on 8-6-2008 at 2:08 pm
This list is great…I will have to be on the look out for the PeepMobile, I live in Western PA. The oddest car I’ve ever seen a race car which was sponsored by a funeral home…
posted by Elizabeth on 8-6-2008 at 2:28 pm
After the weinermobile, my favorite is the sea world beetle with water squirting from the blow hole!
posted by Lisa on 8-6-2008 at 3:16 pm
In Davis, CA a man drives a GIANT Radio Flyer wagon car…it’s pretty sweet and pretty red
posted by Rachel on 8-6-2008 at 4:00 pm
One of my friends has spent the past year doing his time on the Wienermobile. From what I understand, a lot of the drivers are marketing students, and after they’re done with their driving days, they’re guranteed a pretty good spot on the marketing staff.
So to answer Melissa’s question… they are.
posted by Kevin on 8-6-2008 at 4:46 pm
Did your friend get a parking ticket in Chicago while driving it?
posted by Ryan on 8-6-2008 at 4:49 pm
The weinner mobile was at Comic Con, I was so excited, I took pictures of it. It looks very sleek now
posted by Jill Harness on 8-6-2008 at 5:56 pm
Earlier this summer, there were at least 2 Weinermobiles in St. Paul, in the parking lot of the Embassy Suites in downtown St. Paul. One looked more like the picture here, but the other was built on top of a Mini Cooper.
posted by Andy on 8-6-2008 at 9:17 pm
An Ikea recently opened up here in SLC, and for about a month before the opening of the store, there were fully furnished, see through rooms being pulled around by a truck.. Ikea trailers?
That has really stuck with me as a very clever marketing device.
posted by Lindsey Casper on 8-6-2008 at 9:25 pm
The local Food City has an enormous grocery cart that they drive in parades. It’s so huge that the driver sits in one corner of the child seat. It makes me wonder why we can’t have self-propelled grocery carts.
posted by Leslie on 8-7-2008 at 7:47 am
There was an exterminating company that had drivers running around in a VW Beetle that looked like a mouse. I used to see them all over Virgina, but haven’t seen them in a while.
posted by Karen on 8-7-2008 at 9:03 am
Does anyone from the Midwest remember the Ducky Love Chicken car?
posted by Val on 8-7-2008 at 11:22 am
One day in Manhattan the weinermobile pulled up at a red light as I was crossing the street. The driver gave us pedestrians little plastic wienermobile whistles!
posted by Max on 8-7-2008 at 4:01 pm
Where did that picture of the Peepster come from? Is it real?
posted by Anna on 8-8-2008 at 12:34 pm
@ Anna: I’m not entirely sure where the picture came from. I’m guessing a Google Image search.
But I can assure you that the Peepster is very real. I wrote an article for Philadelphia Weekly about the Peeps factory last Easter and got to see the Peepster up close and personal after my tour!
posted by Erica on 8-8-2008 at 1:55 pm
Melissa: “The weinermobile is driven by recent college graduates? If they just graduated college, shouldn’t they be starting a job in whatever field they got a degree in instead of parading around in a giant hot dog?”
In this mess of an economy, they should be happy to find ANY job! Just last month alone, Bush & Co. were responsible for America losing 51,000 jobs.
posted by RedWhite&Brooklyn on 8-10-2008 at 2:16 pm