Pixie Pantry VW food truck (edit - sad outcome!!!)

[patrick66]

New guy here. I am trying to see if anyone knows of or has a VW bus conversion that my father owned. It is a 1960 VW van that was professionally converted by a US company to a food vendor truck. I believe this was done when the van was new, or less than a year old.

I'll be as descriptive as I can, as I have no pics of the van readily available, and I'm seeing if family members may have at least one tucked away. It is a food truck that has a raised roof from the back of the front doors all the way back. The roof was tall enough to where a man 6'2" or less could stand upright. My Dad bought this food truck, called a Pixie Pantry, in 1972 in western Colorado. The van was lime green with a white top and black side panels on the upper rear quarters. He used it for vending at the local roundy-round track, auctions, and snowmobile races, just to mention a few places we went with it. It had the 36-hp engine with a four-speed transmission. Dad bought it with less than 7,000 miles, and sold it with maybe 8K on it, as most of the places we took it were less than 15 miles from home.

Outside, it had vending windows on both sides, and small shelves at the bottom of both windows. It had white painted bumpers with overriders, white wheels and white VW caps. Across the front, above the upper front window, were the words "Pixie Pantry".

Inside, the bus was well-equipped. It had a three-tap Coke post-mix dispenser where the passenger seat would've been. Also, a stainless refrigerator, freezer, bun warmer, gas grill, and bun storage. Also a small stainless sink with a three-gallon hot water tank, and a 20-gallon fresh water holding tank. In the rear storage area above the engine compartment was the soda pre-mix tanks, CO2 bottle, propane tank, and an Onan generator! This beast was stuffed full of equipment, and not a square inch was unused!

Loaded with food, supplies, two people and fuel, it weighed nearly three tons! Zero to sixty was never achieved. Top end was 55 mph with a good, stiff tailwind, and a downhill run. Acceleration could best be described as leisurely!

My Dad sold the rig in 1974 or 1975, I forget which. We had built a concession stand at the racetrack, and he did not need the bus anymore, so he sold it. We never saw it again.

Last place we know where it was was Delta, Colorado; a small town southeast of Grand Junction and NNW of Montrose. Dad had mentioned there was another bus in either Utah or Colorado at that time, but we've seen neither since '74 or so.

I don't know what company actually built the food truck, but it was a professionally-built unit and definitely NOT a home-built hack job. As soon as I can find pics of it, I'll definitely post them up. I've searched the search engines seven ways to Sunday and can not find any mention of it, no pics, no nothing! I'd have to think that a distinctive and ultra-slow Bus like this has to still exist, and not been scrapped or left rotting way in a pasture or barn in western Colorado somewhere!

Hopefully, you have a good mental pic of what I am trying to describe. I'd like to find Dad's old food truck! A couple of friends recommended the Samba forums, so that is why I'm here. If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it. Reply in the thread, or PM me, either way. Thanks!

[Spitty1974]

Sounds like a cool bus. I will be following this thread. Any chance you have any old paper work, maybe a vin number?.....That might help some others figure out if what they have was once your dads.....You will find that this community will probably have some info for you......It always amazes me when this community figures out where the bus is these days or the last known owner.

[patrick66]

No such info, unfortunately. Both of my parents passed away this past year, and a lot of their old papers and such get shredded before they both got too ill. I didn't think about the bus during that time, and when I did come to mind, it was too late, unfortunately. I remember riding to events with my Dad driving, and me standing up in the back, since there were no passenger seats at all!

[Cuñado Wear]

Great story.
Hope you find it. If it is possible to find it you came to the right spot.
Most VW people on here are very helpful. And it always amazes me the things people do and find on this site.
Good luck.
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[Z]

[hubCapT]

This food bus is in a museum in Paulson Montana, still had the 36er in it

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"I have always thought that stereotypes were a real time saver." cdennisg

[Z]

Was it similar to either of these?

[Colorado Bulli]

I am from Montrose and i will definitely keep an eye out for this bus....sounds awesome. I sure hope that it did not come to some horrible demise.....VW's in general have bever been seen to have much value around here.
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1956 Standard
1964 Beetle

[OG67westy]

cool story! I really hope this one turns up somewhere, hopefully intact and still bearing it's logos...I'm sure you've gotten the attention of every bushunter in the southwest with this post!

[patrick66]

Thanks for the good words, folks!

The yellow one (front) in the middle pic is probably the closest, but no over-cab extension. The portion over the cab was stock height to the back of the doors, then angled up about 80* or so. It had a long, flat window there, along with the "Pixie Pantry" wordage.. The sides did not flip out like that. They were stationary, and had a serving window with screens, along with a small serving area that stuck out maybe six inches or so.

Now, with that said, the third pic is more how the back looked, but not so boxy. The height is right. The sides followed the shape of a normal Bus, and were not so upright as the green/white Bus. No mid-doors at all. Dad's had a shorter wheelbase, like the yellow and white Bus in pic #2. The serving windows were more like the example in Montana that is pictured.

So, picture the above elements in one Bus! The colors were lime green (the majority of the body), white roof, and black from where the serving windows are back to the point where the sides curve around, and from the mid-point of the body up to the roof gutters, on both sides of the Bus.

That yellow and white Bus in Belgium is gorgeous! It's like some weird quest now to see if it's even still in existence! Hopefully, it has not suffered the cruel death of crushing by the hands of some rabid scrapper getting that $500 it would've drawn during the height of the scrapping frenzy a few years ago.

[AndrewM]

Did it look anything like this bus? http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=495874

[patrick66]

Andrew, that is SOOOO close!!! Same overall shape, pretty much. The raised front was flatter and had a flat window there. No cargo-style doors. Same cab windows. The sides taper more, but this is the closest one yet.

It had the same two rear doors, but no rear window. There was no separation wall from the cab to the vending area.

Keep 'em coming!

[Clara]

This was custom made. Probably by some small shop in Alaska. Odds are your pa's bus was also custom modified by a small shop somewhere.

[patrick66]

There was a manufacturer's data plate on the rear cargo deck, just inside and to the left of the upper door latch mechanism, IIRC. It was a commercial build, not a backyard cobble or a "small shop", it was definitely a professionally-built unit by a conversion company or a coach-builder of some sort. The Alaska truck is the closest in resemblance is all.

[patrick66]

Found the picture!!!!! Woohoo!

Here she is, the Pixie Pantry food truck! It's parked next to our house. This was right after we moved there, as Dad purchased the truck about a month after we arrived. The lower body is lime green, the roof is white, and the menu panel is black. I forgot about the "cat whiskers" on the front of the Bus. As you can see, this was loaded with equipment!!! In fact, I still have these very license plates in my collection. When my sister sent me the picture, I actually got a little teary-eyed, thinking about the times and events we went to in this Bus.

Now, my mission is to find this. I'm betting one of two things - it's still in western Colorado, stashed away in someone's barn or garage; or it's gone...crushed and shredded to become a part of 40 KIA sedans. I hope it is the former...!

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1036454

[Culito]

Cool!
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'64 standard w/2.0L type 4
'62 bug

[patrick66]

Thanks!!!

[type241]

That rear suspension looks maxed out.

[patrick66]

It certainly was that! When we got the Bus, it had, in addition to the equipment I mentioned above, a soft-serve ice cream machine! This truck was absolutely loaded to the hilt. Dad removed the ice cream machine and a couple of other unused items in order to shed some weight. This would still go damn near anywhere, despite the heavy load. The racetrack where we spent every Friday night from late April through early October, was a pretty cool set-up. It was a 1/4-mile high-banked dirt track that ran sprints and late-models (then '55 - '66 Chevys, Fords, and the occasional Mopar). It sat at the base of a mesa, and the spectator seating was carved into the side of the mesa - think Phoenix Motor Speedway - and the parking was on top of the mesa. We parked at the edge, directly overlooking the announcer's stand. The road going up there was more like a Jeep 4x4 trail - narrow, treachorous, and slick as hell if wet. Dad would get a running start at the approach, which was a 12% grade. The Bus went up without a problem, every time. Other cars and trucks would have a problem, sometimes!

[patrick66]

Two more pics:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1036471

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=1036470