Special Use Vehicles

Beyond the traditional purposes of moving people, goods, raw materials, and mail from place to place lies a world of unconventional uses of motor vehicles.
Rolling grocery stores, churches, classrooms and health clinics have taken traditionally stationary services directly to those who need them. Companies have built vehicles in the shapes of their products (the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile being just one famous example) from the early years of automobiles. This lively history gives a fascinating overview of the many special purposes vehicles have served.
The unconventional uses of motor vehicles stretch one’s imagination. The author here divides them into eight types based on their purposes and uses. Sales vehicles support a successful sales volume; advertising vehicles retain present customers and attract new ones; education and training vehicles provide skills updates for employees; charity vehicles are used to serve various populations of the needy, suffering, and distressed; religious vehicles promote a particular faith; functional vehicles perform an on-the-spot function normally done by a fixed-base facility; multimodal vehicles have the ability to traverse land, water, and air; and government vehicles provide a host of services to constituencies. Examples are provided for each type of vehicle and examples from other nations besides the United States are included as well.

A World War II veteran of the Army Air Corps, the late George W. Green was a retired automotive industry executive and university instructor as well as a transportation historian, lecturer and freelance photo journalist. He lived in Illinois.

George W. Green
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 248
Bibliographic Info: 153 photos, appendix, glossary, index
Copyright Date: 2006 [2003]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2911-0
Imprint: McFarland

Introduction<     1

1 Sales Vehicles     3

2 Advertising Vehicles     37

3 Training Vehicles     75

4 Charity and Public Service Vehicles     94

5 Religious Vehicles     117

6 Functional Vehicles     156

7 Multimodal Vehicles     175

8 Government Vehicles     198

9 The Future of Special Use Vehicles     222

Appendix: List of Productmobiles     223

Glossary     225

Index     229

“comprehensive…mind boggling…a testimonial to human ingenuity”—SAH Journal; “recommended”—E-Streams; “detail[ed]”—Vintage Truck; “a compendium of the practical and the strange…many interesting period photos…nicely detailed index”—The Flying Lady; “an elusive blend of neat information and humor”—SIA; “well worth a look”—ADCnaften.