Mr. Peanut's Wild Rides

Mr. Peanut's Hot Rod (a.k.a. the Planter's Nutmobile) has been mentioned on this blog a few times due to both its eye catching design and its seemingly schizophrenic naming convention...is it a Hot Rod or a Nutmobile?

The 23-feet, 6-inches long, 12-feet, 6-inch tall vehicle was originally created to tour the country, promoting nuts and NASCAR. Today it usually only makes an annual appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade along with the Ronald McDonald Shoe Car.

It was created by Prototype Source and you can see from their design sketches that they initially had a clear vision.

And they refined it to become the racing wonder we know today.

Being a man of the world however, Mr. Peanut has multiple means of transportation.

  This peanut themed SUV and trailer hold the means for Mr. Peanut to conquer the skies in a larger than life manner befitting the advertising icon.

Behold the Mr. Peanut Hot Air Balloon!

  At over 130 feet tall (13 1/2 stories) it's twice as big as the average hot air balloon.

Check out the video below for a "Peanut's Eye View" of the world as a reporter from the Chatham Daily News takes a sky high ride with Mr. Peanut.

The first three pictures are courtesy of Prototype Source:



http://www.prototypesource.com



The second two pictures are courtesy of Planters:



http://www.planters.com

Wishing For World Peas

The concept of wacky cars in weird shapes seems to be universal as we've discovered another product mobile from across the pond. From England, the Birds Eye Pea Car packs quite a bit of peculiarity into one small package.

And it's always good to see a promotional vehicle being put to use. It's not uncommon to see the Wienermobile show up in an Oscar Mayer commercial but the glow of the spotlight that comes from national television commercials falls far too infrequently on all the other product mobiles.

When's the last time you saw the Spammobile featured in a TV commercial for Spam? Has the Kellogg's Tonymobile ever shared the screen with its animated inspiration?

However, this little Pea is front and center in Birds Eye's televised ad campaigns. And that's the way it should be.

Let that be a lesson to the rest of the product mobiles. Get ready for your close up.

Dunkin Donuts Truck

Let's face it, the shape of some objects just don't lend themselves to easy auto transformations. A doughnut for example, with its round shape and central hole, just doesn't seem to be the kind of thing you can slap wheels on and drive around town.

But that's just the kind of challenge the people at Turtle Transit live for. With a little creative thinking and some elbow grease, the Dunkin Donuts Truck was able to hit the road. 

For once, thinking "inside the box" solved the logistical problems of unwieldy shape. So not only can the truck show off a dozen of Dunkin's finest but also a cup of their famous "Joe" as well. 
In the interest of a varied menu, the 11 foot tall coffee cup that makes up the cab of the vehicle also comes in the "Iced Coffee" variety. 
This is one of many eye-catching cruisers that Turtle Transit has released on the highways. To see more check out their website:

 http://www.turtletransit.com

These pictures are property of Turtle Transit.

Wienermobile Crashes into House

The Associated Press is reporting that the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile crashed into a Wisconsin home on Friday.

Thankfully no one was hurt. Here's a link to the news story.

The Making of the Tonymobile

Prototype Source gives some insight into the making of the Kellogg's Tonymobile on their website.

You can see from the design sketch above that the original idea was fairly similar to the finished product.

And you can see how the Tonymobile was constructed in the video below.

You can get a lot more information about the process on Prototype Source's website:

http://www.prototypesource.com/

Insulated and Motivated

The Thermos Bottle Vehicle from the American Thermos Bottle Company first appeared around 1913 proudly proclaiming the company's slogans like, "Keeps Hot - Keeps Cold" and "It's a Thermos or Just a Vacuum Bottle."

In 2008 a 1925 Thermos Bottle Vehicle, since redubbed the "Thermosmobile," was on display at The Golden Age of Trucking Museum in Middlebury, CT.

The vehicle's current whereabouts are unknown but wherever a hot beverage needs to stay hot or a cold beverage needs to be kept cold, you can bet the Thermosmobile will be there.

Separated at Birth? The V-8 Juice Roadster and the Stroh's Beer Can Car

The enigmatic V-8 Juice Roadster seems to have a long lost brother: The Stroh's Beer Can Car.

We recently learned that the V-8 Roadster was a George Barris design so now it looks like it might not have been the only product mobile he created.

There are several differences but they clearly seem to be very similar in design. It makes you wonder just how many other "can cars" there are out there.

TMZ: Mayer Requests No Wienermobile at Funeral

With the recent death of Oscar Mayer (grandson of the original Oscar Mayer and former chairman of the company), TMZ is reporting that the Wienermobile will not be a part of the funeral procession at Mayer's request.

You can see the article on TMZ's website:

Oscar Mayer's Funeral Wish -- No Wienermobile

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Pep-O-Mint Lifer Savers Car

The Pep-O-Mint Lifer Savers car (or possibly truck?) has been around longer than almost all of the other product mobiles and yet I've always had a hard time finding information on it.

This is a famous vintage picture of the vehicle but I am always on the lookout for more details.

Prototype Source Debuts Redesigned Website

Prototype Source, the makers of the Wienermobile, Kissmobile, Tonymobile, Goldfish Mobile and many others, have redesigned their website from top to bottom and added a truckload of new content.

New product mobile pictures, design sketches and video illustrate the wonderfully wacky work they do.

See for yourself:

http://www.prototypesource.com/

"Not a Product Mobile" Part 2: The Onstar Batmobile

The next entry in our "NAPM" series is on the coolest superhero ride in history. Back before Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale reinvented the Dark Knight for the big screen, the previous incarnation had a car equipped with Onstar to aid in various crime fighting capacities.

Onstar took the Batmobile on the road to car shows to advertise the service and give people an up close and personal look at the many bat-gadgets that came standard with the suped-up super car.

Once the promotion was over the Batmobile went wherever it is that movie cars go. If you're luck you may still see one from this era from time to time at one of the better custom auto shows .

For now, YouTube will have to suffice when it comes to seeing the Onstar aided Batmobile busting the bad guys.

The Hershey's Kissmobile on Ace of Cakes

Everybody's favorite chocolate themed product mobile made an appearance on everybody's favorite cake decorating show.

The Charm City Bakery was making a giant Hershey bar cake and the chocolate was delivered in style by the Kissmobile.

Here are some images from the episode.

You can see more of the show on the Food Network website.

These images are property of Food Network and Authentic Entertainment Inc.

Trade Your Wienermobile for a Church

If you are in the market for a 19th century church and would like a price break, then you could always trade in your Wienermobile.

An auction popped up recently on eBay for an "Amazing Stone Church Building" located in Mt.Carmel, Pennsylvania. The asking price is $249,000 but according to the information contained in the listing, the sellers are willing to go down to $125,000 if you can also trade them a genuine Wienermobile.

You can check out the actual auction HERE. Happy bidding!

Personally, I think I'd rather have the Wienermobile.