The History of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile

Image via Complex Original

Oscar Mayer's nephew Karl G. Mayer was the one to come up with the concept of getting in the giant wiener and driving it around. It was 13 feet and $5,000 of faux-beef, and it quickly found its way onto America's streets and into Americans' hearts. Drivers of Wienermobiles, who are known as hotdoggers, hand out toy whistles shaped as mini replicas of the Wienermobile, affectionately called Wienerwhistles.

Gas rationing kept the Wienermobile off the road during World War II, so Oscar Mayer and the Gerstenslager Company came up with a solution. They built several new vehicles based on a downsized Dodge or Willys Jeep chassis. They not only looked cooler, but the new models were rockin' and rollin' with high-fidelity sound systems. One of only five created during this bygone era can be visited at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI at the Wienermobile Cafe. These Wienermobiles were driven by "Little Oscar," who often visited stores, schools, orphanages, and children's hospitals; and participated in parades and festivals.

Industrial designer Brooks Stevens, the man behind the redesign of the 1962 Gran Turismo Hawks and some Harley-Davidsons motorcycles, created "The Wiener of the Future" in 1958. His main contribution, as he put it, "was to put the wiener in the bun." The master designer gave the Wienermobile a major makeover, establishing the signature look with a 27-foot, full-color hotdog-in-bun body and bubble-nose cockpit. In the words of Stevens himself, "there's nothing more aerodynamic than a wiener."

Two Wienermobile vehicles were designed and built by Oscar Mayer's very own mechanics at the headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. The new Wienermobiles were built on a Chevy motorhome chassis with T-Bird taillights. One of these specific models was the first Wienermobile to go international, traveling to various other countries.

In '76 the '69 design was replicated by Plastic Products Inc. of Milwaukee and was built of fiberglass and styrofoam. This update also on a Chevy motorhome chassis.

In the late '80s Oscar Mayer launched the Hotdogger program, in which recent college grads were hired to drive the Wienermobile around various cities and abroad. The Stevens Automotive Corporation of Milwaukee (as in, the original Brooks Stevens from the later '50s) created the world's first ten-frank fleet, built using a converted Chevy van chassis to equip the new team of hot-doggers. Sounds like quite the summer job. Imagine...riding shotbun in this funky frank.

After the 'mobile's brief downsize, world-renowned automobile designer Harry Bradley brought the Wienermobile up to date, constructing the new design using computer-aided design imaging tools. The '90s baby Wienermobile grew once again to 27 feet long and 11 feet high and weighed a whopping 10,500 pounds! There was even a Hot Wheel model created in the late '90s honoring the immortal meat made of metal.

By the turn of the century, the Wienermobile finally got futuristic, as it was loaded with all the trimmings. Its GMC W-series chassis and 5700 Vortec engine made it the most powerful Wienermobile vehicle of the fleet. It measured 55 hot dogs long, 18 hot dogs wide and 25 hot dogs high (that's 27-ft. x 8-ft. x 11-ft.).

A few years later, the Wienermobile that we all know ad love was updated to include a voice activated GPS, an audio center with a wireless microphone, and a horn that plays the Wiener Jingle in 21 different genres from Cajun to rap to Bossa Nova. There was also an awesome contest announced, for which customers could win a chance to to drive the Wienermobile for a day. Within a month the contest received over 15,000 entries.

A more nimble wiener was created out of a Mini Cooper. We like to think of this more of the cute cocktail variety. We're sure it's a little easier to find parking as well. 

There are eight active Wienermobiles in existence today. The current full-sized Wienermobile sports fourth-generation Pontiac Firebird taillights. These frank fanatics even have a pretty entertaining "hotdogger blog" that documents all of these Wienermobiles' exciting travels. So, keep your eyes peeled and favorite condiments ready for that special time when the Wienermobile comes rolling through your hood.