1962 CHEVY VINTAGE CLASSIC ICE CREAM FOOD TRUCK VAN: 3K MILES, METRO DIVCO STYLE

Description for Chevrolet Other 1962

1962 CHEVROLET FACTORY BUILT TASTEE FREEZ VAN
This van is a rare time capsule of Americana. It was purpose built from the factory, pecifically for tastee-freez. Tastee-freez is a national franchisee that sells food and soft serve. It was founded in 1950 and introduced a new soft serve pump that was said to be revolutionary. Similar to dairy queen, astee-freez brings back fond memories for many, nd the name was immortalized in the John Cougar Mellencamp song " jack and diane". The tastee-freez restaurants normally served quality fast food also, s well as the icecream treats. The company is still in business today. This truck is in exceptional condition for a 1962 model. It's as nice as you'll ever besides a fully restored van. This truck reads 3382 miles which I completely believe to be original. I base that on the condition of the vehicle, nd my experience with classic autos. This food truck has the unique body style with spaceship style wrap around windshieldss. It is similar international metro, rumman, lson, ivco, nd dodge route vans. I personally like this style chevy stepvan the best. This van runs and drives and most of the restaurant equipment works. It has a quality built full stainless kitchen with fryer, rill, ven, oft serve machine, nd more. I'll detail all of the equipment below. This van has the optional higher roof, nd I believe it's the highest one you could get in this year. I have MANY MORE PICS I CAN SEND. Only 24 fit on here but I have a file I can send with 100 pictures. I have shipped several vehicles of this size and can help with the shipping process. If your looking for a cool looking vintage food or icecream truck, his is it. It's a classic that will increase in value, nd already has the hard/expensive equipment work done. Here are all the details. Reminder: I have 100 pictures and video of it driving. Thanks
EQUIPMENT DETAILS
This van was purpose built, o be a food/icecream truck. The restaurant equipment is all stainless and high quality. The floors in the kitchen area are aluminum diamond plate. Here is a list of the equipment: The cooking grille has the flat grill on one side, nd bbq type grill on the other side. They have separate controls and they work great. It is a wilson brand. The tags and btu information are on all the equipment. The grille has an oven/warmer below it, hich works, ut the oven drawer is gone. I'm not a cook so I'm not sure if it's a warmer or oven, ut the burner feels hot enough that you could bake something. I'm sure a restaurant equipment guy could find you the drawer, ossibly find one on ebay, r a metal guy could fabricate one easily. There is a large deep fryer and warmer on the other side of the van. There is a counter on the side of the fryer, bove the warmer, nd it also has racks for fry's. The fryer is a keating brand instant recovery fryer. This also has a propane powered machine that warms cone dips. That does work also. There are two exhaust fans that work and two interior flourescent lights that work. This has a large cooler/freezer in it that does work. The tastee-freeze soft serve machine works but I do not know how to fully operate it so I just turned it on and then off. The soft serve has it's own refrigeration unit which I did not know how to turn on. It most likely works, ecause the other one works. This van was setup and wired with a generator in the rear, ut the generator was taken. It needs a new generator and minor wiring to get everything up and working. The wiring is not burnt or anything, t will just take an electrician a couple hours to hook it back up. Then you will know it is safe, nd get everything functioning properly. The generator area was factory built to have a generator and therefore has a fuel tank built into the body, etal fuel line is still there, nd exhaust port. There is a large water tank that you pressurize with air, o feed the sinks. There is also a hot water heater. Underneath the van is a grey water holding tank. There is a compartment on the van, hat will hold two large propane tanks that should run the cooking equipment for quite awhile. It holds the tanks that are BBQ size tanks in diameter, ut you can use the taller ones which hold more and are still portable. The top of the cooler/freezer is also a large stainless cooking/prep area. There are some stainless storage areas. The passenger side serving area has a dropped floor which will be nice for the servers. The drivers side has serving windows also but the cone dip warmer would need to be moved (easy), r removed if you don't plan to use it. There is a fold down counter also between the grill and fryer. The van has a milk shake maker that works, nd stainless cone holders. There is also a stainless topping holder with multiple pumps. There is one stainless icebox/compartment above the sinks. There is a counter that folds down between the fryer and grille. The driving compartment has a door that securely closes separating the areas for safety I suppose when driving and could be good if you need to use the phone or something, o get out of the kitchen area. There is probably something I am forgetting about the equipment, ut I think I got the majority of the details. This van was built to be a fully self-contained kitchen, o it has a lot. I can send the other pics and you can take a look, s it shows everything. The electrical, ater tank, enerator, efrigeration units, nd hot water heater are in the mechanical room. This is the rear area, hat you access from the large rear doors. It has an exhaust port for a generator, nd fresh air vents on the sides. Overall, he kitchen facilities will need a little work to be fully functional but it is basic maintenance mostly, nd minor electrical.
MECHANICAL
This van has what I believe is the original 235 six cylinder engine. I have not checked the numbers on the engine, ut I am very familiar with this vintage of chevrolet and it appears completely original and un-modified. The engine runs nice. The drivetrain has no major mechanical problems but needs a little maintenance from not being used for years. The engine runs nice and does not smoke, ick, nock, r have any crankcase blowby. The choke cable does not work and the van will not idle unless you warm it up for a long period. It needs a new choke cable and the carburator checked out and cleaned. The exhaust sounds fine. All gauges work with exception of the temperature gauge. I did not drive this van at highway speeds. I drove it fast enough to check all the gears. The tires are very heavy duty and would probably be fine for low speed in-town use, ut they are old and weather cracked and should be changed if your going to drive it much. They are most likely bias-ply also, hich did not drive well when new. They are somewhat rare factory 19.5 8-lug wheels with original chevrolet hubcaps. If you prefer, will switch the steel wheels with aluminum aftermarket 16" wheels. Ten-ply 16" e-rated tires would be sufficient for this van, nd they are cheaper to buy than 19.5 tires. I personally like the original wheels myself, nd would like to keep them but I understand if you want to keep it original. Aluminum rims might bring more attention to it though for a business. If you would want the aluminum wheels, 'd have to check first and make sure they clear the brake drums. The brakes on the van do work but I can tell that they should be checked out and adjusted. This van has no power steering or brakes. It is fairly easy to have a mechanic convert to it to power steering and brakes if needed but it's not hard to drive. The clutch and transmission work great. The odometer on this van reads 3k miles. I have no documentation, ut completely believe that to be original ( the speedometer does work also). This van came from a small montana town and probably logged very low mileage. The condition of the body, nterior, ood equipment, nd mechanical parts lead me to believe that the mileage is accurate. I took one wheel off the van and it looked like the lug nuts had never been off it. The wheel studs still had paint on them. It is very unlikely that someone took the lug nuts off and then repainted the wheel studs, efore putting the hubcap back on. It just doesn't happen, specially on a purpose built vehicle like this. It actually appeared the hubcap had never been taken off. The tires look original, nd appear to be era correct. They are possibly usable for low speed in town driving, ut are weather cracked. This truck has a separate fuel tank in the rear for the generator. Lights and turns signals work but need several bulbs replaced. Headlight bulbs are original t-3 models, ut do need replaced. Windshield wipers need new arms. They are probably available easily online and are most likely the same as other chevy models. All fluids should be changed because I don't know when the last time was. Oil looks fine though. Overall, he truck is very good mechanically. It will need some maintenance, ut needs no major mechanical work.
BODY
This van has an exceptional body for a 1962. I do not believe there are any dents. No sign of any filler that I can see anywhere. It looks like the white area was painted at some point, nd if there was filler it would be showing. The paint is not great but looks ok. The orange I believe is original and looks better than the white. The rear outer corners each have one small spot of pinhole type rust. They are barely noticeable, asy to repair if you choose, nd not structural. The frame, loors, tc. etc. are rust free. This truck is very dry. The doors all open and close properly. One windshield is cracked. I've been told these are available new but I see them in salvage yards regularly. The cracked windshield is completely usable though. The roof is in nice shape and doesn't leak. There are three vent ports on the top, or the kitchen area. There are grille inlets on the sides in the rear for fresh air to get into where the generator/mechanical room is. Overall, t is nearly impossible to find a stepvan/food van this old, n this condition. Especially when looking at the interior, ou can tell this van was used lightly and taken care of.
Thanks for looking and feel free to ask questions. This van is for sale locally so I can end the auction early for anyone. Reminder, have 100 pictures I can send. Sold as-is.