It was an ordinary day. Driving past the Marriott at Penn Square in center city Lancaster, PA when I saw a rather unusual site. Sitting in front of the Marriott was a big hot dog. Real Big! The size of a truck! The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, as it is called, was parked in front of the hotel waiting for people to stop and take photos. Of all days not to have my camera, or even my phone, I had to rely on my memory to tell you the tale of the huge hotdog. The Wienermobile is an Isuzu truck that forms the basis of the Wienermobile fleet. It uses a Chevrolet L96 6.0-liter gasoline engine that is an iron-block variant of the all-aluminum LS2 engine that originally debuted in the C6-generation Corvette. Found a place to park and headed back to take a better look. People were waving, honking and smiling as they passed the giant hotdog. The Wienermobile is driven by a "Hotdogger" which is the name of the driver of the Wienermobile. Carl Mayer, nephew of the company's namesake, created the first Oscar Mayer Wienermobile in 1936. In the years since, more than a dozen Wienermobiles have promoted the brand at stores and festivals. Carl approached his uncle with the idea to create a giant hot dog that would act as a marketing tool for the brand throughout Chicago. The very first Wienemobile rolled out not long after Carl received his go-ahead from Oscar. People that stopped in front of the Wienermobile got a chance to tour the van, take photos and receive a free "wiener whistle." The driver of the Wienermobile, known as the "Hotdogger" said that he has been driving the Wienermobile for the past nine months and has visited 24 states and will be heading to Charlottesville, North Carolina next week. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the Wienermobile is the total lack of frankfurters to be found on board. There is plenty of room with space for multiple seats, a TV and a hot dog-shaped holder with all the whistles, but there is no hotdog buns in sight. The entire vehicle is about the weight of 140,000 hot dogs. I would love to drive the huge automotive wonder, but might find it a bit hard to park. And, if I would have had the time, I might have enjoyed taking a ride in it. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - I was lucky to find a few photographs taken by others for my story today.
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| Looking toward the front of the vehicle |
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| Looking toward the rear of the vehicle |
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| Driver's seat |
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| Overall view of the vehicle. |
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