a collection of food-shaped vehicles

July 11, 2021 1:55 PM

Paul F. Tompkins says: This is the place to let me know if any other food-shaped vehicles that you know of
posted by cortex (18 comments total)

I have been fascinated by the Weinermobile since I first saw a couple of them around in the 1990s but I have not seen any in person since then and I think that's why I always feel that I have a constant yearning in my life. I have a small but growing collection of Weinermobile models and memorabilia and expect that one day I'll be known far and wide as "The Weinermobile Guy."

Thank you for posting this. I had no idea there were so many food-shaped cars in the world. I also appreciate that PFT seems to have strict rules as to what constitutes a food-shaped car.
posted by bondcliff at 2:18 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]

Locally, there’s a chicken car (actually there’s been several). Google “Freeport chicken car”.
posted by coldhotel at 2:41 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Any vehicle is a food-shaped vehicle if you're hungry enough.
posted by delfin at 5:00 PM on July 11, 2021 [15 favorites]

The Big Banana Car
posted by clavdivs at 5:36 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Do cement trucks painted to look like strawberries and watermelons count?
posted by porpoise at 5:45 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

I was going to ask if anyone remembered when the Big Baloney was Blue, but that might be too niche
posted by jazon at 6:41 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

A few years ago, I was in Santa Monica for work. While I was there, the Weinermobile was often parked in the hotel parking lot. It seems odd to think that the Weinermobile team was checking their work schedule, ordering breakfast in the restaurant, and submitting their expense claims, just as I was. Except I got to drive a rented compact domestic car, and they got to drive the Weinermobile.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 6:49 PM on July 11, 2021 [6 favorites]

I was going to ask if anyone remembered when the Big Baloney was Blue, but that might be too niche

An actual Kids From C.A.P.E.R. reference in the wild. My night is made.
posted by MrVisible at 6:58 PM on July 11, 2021 [5 favorites]

Not long ago, I laughed myself sick at this simple tweet
posted by Countess Elena at 7:10 PM on July 11, 2021 [11 favorites]

Saw the weiner mobile twice when I lived in Chicago. Once, at the Lincoln Park Zoo. They were handing out little trinkets of some kind. But the thrill to me was watching the 5 year old kids just staring and pointing at it all while giggling or talking excitedly.

The other time was a week later. I was in a surprise traffic jam on Clark Street. Horns honking, nobody moving. Turns out that the weiner mobile was at a light and all the other drivers were honking and trying to get a picture. It was right near the weiner circle too so that added a level of serendipity.
posted by AugustWest at 7:28 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Those are some of the worst things I've ever seen.

Except for PEA. PEA is easily one of the best.
posted by turbid dahlia at 7:42 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

One of my very favorite Bay Area food people partially attributes the lasting success of his business to the exposure he received in its early days, when someone stole his chicken truck.
posted by la glaneuse at 7:47 PM on July 11, 2021 [2 favorites]

I've seen the Outspan orange Mini on two separate visits to the same museum. We first went when my sister and I were kids, and it was more or less the only car we both remembered when we went back again as adults.
posted by terretu at 1:07 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]

We have a chicken car, too.

If a chicken is not already food, it's food to be. Unless it's laying eggs which will be food.
posted by bertran at 2:38 AM on July 12, 2021 [2 favorites]

I’ve seen the/a Weinermobile many times in my life. So often, it’s like, “Hey, there it is again….” The weirdest location was at a mountain pass in Montana. Like, one of those treacherous highway passes with constant negotiation with trucks hauling freight. We crest and overtake a goddamn Weinermobile barreling down the other side. Passing, I glanced over at a middle-aged, white knuckled, Weinermodriver, and sent a silent mental prayer for him.
posted by amanda at 7:19 AM on July 12, 2021 [3 favorites]

The Weinermobiles are headquartered in Madison WI (although that's up in the air now since KraftHeinzExxonLockheedChipotle has closed the Oscar Meyer plant there), but I've been lucky enough to see multiple Weinermobiles caravanning north on I-90 back to their winter storage. And, um, that's all I had to share.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:22 AM on July 12, 2021 [5 favorites]

I've seen the Wienermobile a couple of times, last time empty and undefended in a hotel parking lot, and have the silly pictures to prove it.

As food cars go, the Red Bull Suzuki Samurai (I think they have upgraded to a mini-cooper) with a big can of red bull on the back of it is pretty cool.
posted by The_Vegetables at 9:53 AM on July 12, 2021

I'm not sure those vehicles are really safe. But, I can't deny that I like them.

Anyone remember the name of the tiny, four-stool, food-shaped, hamburger restaurant in a parking lot in Los Angeles that closed in the 1990s, run by an irascible older Basque guy? I figured it would be easy to find, but it seems to have been just a bit too early or too obscure for the internet.
posted by eotvos at 10:10 AM on July 12, 2021