We spotted this emergency response-cum promotional vehicle recently at our favorite ice cream spot, which is also popular for their delicious cupcakes and other confectionaries. As a young boy in the late 1960s, I remember seeing VW Beetles around Atlanta, GA topped by fiberglas mortar & pestles promoting local Rexall Drug stores. Besides the Oscar-Meyer Wienermobile, what’s the most interesting/humorous promotional vehicle you’ve seen recently?
Imagine walking out of your Weight Watchers meeting and seeing this!
Cupcake Emergency: starring Randolph Sweettooth
good one!
This may be funny but the vehicle could be misused to make one’s way through traffic. I am surprised that it is allowed.
FWIW, the rural farming town where this resides is population 878.
Although “Cupcakes” is clearly displayed on the side, it can be easily mistaken for a real ambulance from afar with its blue emergency lights, blue paramedic logo, and striping. I don’t think it’s really appropriate to do this even though it may be technically legal to do so.
I’m sure that if they get pulled over that they have some donuts for bribe-related purposes.
Most of the time the red and/or blue lenses have to be changed to clear lenses on the emergency lights when they are taken out of emergency service. In Georgia anyway you have to have an emergency light decal on the windshield to have anything but clear lenses. Construction trucks and wreckers have an amber light sticker. Interesting on this ambulance, the side lights have been converted to clear lenses but the rear light bar still has red and blue. 2 of the lights on the side are emergency strobe lights and 2 are scene lights that are clear from the factory.
I’d guess that the blue lights are disabled and the red ones either are or act as brake/tail repeaters.
In my state Blue is only for the police and they are always broken out before the light bars that have been removed from the vehicle are sold. Just having a blue lens could get you in trouble in my state, let alone if you were to illuminate it. I don’t know of any laws that prohibit red from general public use and Orange certainly is fair game as both of my pickups were sold be their respective gov’t agencies with their orange lights still present and working.
Blue is police-only in CA and any front-facing red would have to be removed when taken out of service. However, we bought a former government Suburban that still had the front facing red inside the windshield, but the switch was removed.
In Australia all the lights and markings are removed when they’re taken out of service, just leaving a distinctively-shaped van body on an (usually) F-series truck chassis.
I Wonder what Kind Of Engine( Or Engines) They Are Using On Ambulance In USA?
This series of Ford chassis came about in 1992 and just recently was it killed off (although it may still be available as a cab/chassis). From ’92 to ’96 the gas engine in these was a 5.8 or 7.5 liter V8. The diesel was a 7.3 liter unit. Starting in ’97, the gas engine was a 5.4 liter V8 or a 6.8 liter V10; the diesel was initially the same 7.3 but it would vary in displacement through the 2000s.
For as cheap as these can be obtained (seriously, what use is an old ambulance, anyway) this makes a darn good use of an existing resource.
Looks like there’s a Diesel Fuel Only sticker over the fuel fill…
Every one of these I have ever seen outfitted as an ambulance came with the PowerStroke Diesel. Of course Ford had some bad diesel years from the engine that replaced the 7.3, so some newer ones may have switched to gas. But none of those gas ambulances seem to live near me.
I’m rather curious on how it’s determined when an ambulance’s service life is over, as well as how cheaply they can be bought. Considering the necessity of being in tip-top shape, I’d imagine used ones are still in pretty decent condition.
But even if the purchase price is very low (which would almost be a given), maintenance and upkeep seems like it would be rather pricey. Would it be possible to gut one and turn it into an RV?
Honestly, I can’t see where the enjoyment ‘fun’ factor would outweigh the costs. About the only use I can really see for an old ambulance (at least one that’s not ‘too’ old) is to cannibalize parts.
I’ve seen more than a few E-450 ambulances get sold at farm auctions, then used as mobile toolsheds.
Good call. Ambulances do seem a lot like the mobile tool trucks that supply Snap-On, Matco, and Mac tools, just with a lot of extra exterior lighting.
I think he is talking about mobile workshop and power source. Many ambulances have dual ~200a alternators so a perfect replacement for dragging out a generator and tools to fix that broken equipment out in the “back 40”.
Ambulances often lead long, long service lives. I’m a paramedic. The private company I worked for in AZ would keep their ambulances in service a minimum of ten years, many of them 15+. The older ones had 200-300k miles and were used for non-emergency transports or as back up reserves. But they were kept in very good condition. They would donate many of the ones being retired to Mexico. Probably worth more to them as a tax write off.
The big city fire department I currently work for likewise wrings as much life out of their fleet as possible. The ambulances get used hard and often. They get maintained, but not as meticulously as at my old company. They’ll keep good tires on them and fix what they need to mechanically, but they won’t fix body damage if it doesn’t interfere with function. Ambulances are kept for 250-300k miles, then typically the boxes are removed, refurbed and put on a new chassis. The department got some diesel Fords about 10 years ago, but had too many problems. All gas powered Chevys now.
Around here in Houston, there is a big market for used ambulances as there are about 300 private ambulance companies in the area. The higher end ones buy new units, but there are a lot of small, fly-by-night sort of operations that run vehicles that look barely road worthy.
I forgot to mention that the private company fleet was 100% diesel Ford.
1st life varies greatly on ambulances. There is a local auction house that regularly sells the trade ins that obviously have come from agencies with a 5-6yr/100k replacement period. Those have had their patient care box removed and put on the new vehicle. The regularly go for under $2k, a great deal if you want a V10 and trans for a project or I’ve seen a few that were turned into extended or regular cab flat beds.
On the other end the local county sells them whole and they will keep most to at least 200K and sometimes near 300K. Depending on the engine, condition and remaining tire life, they will sell from under $1k for a 6.0 powered one that needed work while one of the last of the 7.3s would top $3k. The V10s under 300K miles will usually bring ~$3k.
I’ve seen a number that have been converted into a RV or RV/toy hauler.
Another item to consider on these ambulances is cost and magnitude of repairs.
When I had my Galaxie overhauled, the shop that did it also had the contract for ambulance maintenance. It was a rural county (Lincoln County, Missouri) and the nearest hospital that was worthwhile was a good half-hour from the county seat.
He told me those ambulances in that application were tortured as the engines were either idling at a call or at wide open throttle when hauling a patient. At the time the county was transitioning to Chevrolet 4500 / 5500 chassis from the E-550.
It seems 200k in such use was about as good as it got as drivetrains were about shot at that point despite his valiant efforts to keep them going. And by that time updating the drivetrain was exceeding any residual value of the unit itself.
Some interesting comments on ambulance longevity. Seems like they go for at least 200k miles before they’re sold, either whole (maybe to see use as a rural, mobile repair vehicle) or minus the recycled box as cab/chassis for RV conversion.
It makes me wonder under what circumstances the feature vehicle was acquired and, more importantly, what shape the drivetrain might be in. OTOH, it probably doesn’t need too much attention since it’s unlikely it gets anywhere near the usage it did while employed as an actual ambulance. Now, it’s more likely just a static display or an occasional mobile billboard.
I’m also wondering about those ambulances that get resold as cab/chassis for RV conversion. How possible might it be for an unscrupulous RV manufacturer to use a used-up ambulance as the basis for an RV resale?
I don’t think there would be any money in stick building an RV on a retired Ambulance chassis. Motorhomes depreciate quickly and most don’t rack up very many miles per year. So the resulting vehicle would have 2, 3 or more miles than a vehicle of the same year that spent its entire life as an RV.
The conversions I’ve seen utilize the patient care box and are usually quite bare bones. Mainly I’ve seen them as toy hauler set ups with hammocks or fold down beds.
The ones sold minus patient care box that I see around have been converted in a cab and chassis by closing off the back in some form or another and then a flat bed is fitted. There is one I have run into at the Home Depot a few time has a surprisingly well done extended cab that seems to be fiberglass and a flat bed.
Thank you Jason.I Can Imagine All Of Those Engines are Probably Tough Enough To Handle All That Pressure.
Ford is still cranking out E-series by the thousands and doesn’t intend to stop anytime soon, though only cutaway and stripped chassis 350 and 450 versions. The engine choices no longer include a diesel and since the 5.4 line has finally came to a halt you are left with the base 6.8 V10 though the 6.2 V8 is available for additional cost of course.
A lot of old high-roof Chevy van type ambulances are doing retirement duty as ice cream trucks around here. The emergency lights are covered and the graphics aren’t as potentially confusing though. “Turkey in the Straw” instead of sirens. This sugar wagon should be in the parking lot of the Heart Attack Grill (http://www.heartattackgrill.com/) in Las Vegas.
I particularly like the “Cupcake and Cinnamon Roll Protection District” printed on the side. Definitely based on actual bureaucratic foundations.
We have a few vans done up to look like ambulances (though painted orange and white) for a company called Plumbing & Heating Paramedics.
I think there needs to be a Donut ambulance……
The original ‘Heart Attack Grille’ in Arizona rather sucks ~ it was good when first opened then no one bothered to care / do their job and the burgers are nasty .
Too bad .
-Nate
Here there are old ambulances painted black and orange for a plumbing business called “Drain Surgeons”
Paul or whoever has the keys to the code; the article above this one is a broken link. I can get the large “cover” image but not the article itself.
Should be fixed now. You may have to clear your cache for it to load.
Me too and it’s now 4:17.
I just verified it’s working on a different computer… clear your browser cache and it should load.
Ed, I’ll just note that pre-1960 trucks really seem to be in fashion as promotional vehicles, embodying “authenticity,” I reckon. I really should have bought a bunch of those a decade ago and stored them somewhere!
The “food truck” thing doesn’t seem to have gotten too much play on CC; anyone wanna guess whether the fad has peaked, or not?
One more for Ed: you took Wienermobiles out of the survey, but–being in Oscar Meyer territory–I just had to append an older one (1960-ish version):
The Moxie Mobile:
Moose Jaw Pizza, Wisconsin Dells. They have like 10 identical to this as delivery vehicles.
You can usually find a couple old ambulances in the Soldier Field tailgate lot for Bears games. We used to take an old bread truck to the games, not nearly as cool but probably a little more functional.
I’ll see your Chicago Bears ambulance and raise you an Indianapolis Colts fire truck, which is part of the Blue Crew down here in Indy. And of course they have a Blue Crew ambulance. Given the travails of the Colts of late, they’ll need that ambulance for all the broken hearted fans.
We caught up with this one in 2012 and featured it here. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1970-mack-cf-608-pumper-manning-up/
Good to see that it is still on the road, though it seems to be in better shape than its team these days.
Actually saw it and a school bus painted in Colts colors at a local Dave and Busters style place this summer. No ambulance though
In Clare MI, a group of police officers with both business sense & a sense of humor bought the downtown bakery.
They renamed it “Cops & Doughnuts”
It has been successful enough to add several branch “precincts”
Here’s one on a similar theme, Sydney, New South Wales Australia.
Another view…
Kids I know got a kick out of seeing one of the Red Bull Minis in person. They still won’t drink the stuff, fortunately, but they thought the car was fun.
Returning to promotional vehicles, there used to be a Las Palmas Mexican restaurant in Naperville, IL on Ogden Avenue that used a pastel (think coral pink and turquoise) painted 1960 Plymouth 4 door sedan as part of their decor. It was parked / mounted right up at the front of the restaurant. Sadly the restaurant closed and I don’t know the fate of that old Plymouth.
“We Dill-iver”. I used to see the VW pickle car all over Aspen Colorado. I don’t know if it’s still there or not.
I actually saw the Oscar-Meyer Wienermobile motoring east through Columbus, Ohio on I-70 earlier this week.