Coachbult.com - Anheuser-Busch



Anheuser-Busch - 1910s - 1930s - St. Louis, Missouri

Anheuser-Busch – during prohibition, Anheuser-Busch devoted some of its idle wagon-building capacity toward the building of truck bodies for other firms. One was a brine-cooled refrigerated body called the ABC that was sold to dairies and meat packing companies. A company publication stated “By the use of 150 pounds of ice in this body, and 30 pounds of salt, an inside temperature of three to ten degrees above zero can be maintained for a period of 24 hours. The motion of the tuck in transit circulates the zero brine to produce the low temperatures inside the truck body”. Toward the end of Prohibition, Anheuser-Busch redirected this operation to the construction of electrical refrigeration units for stationary installations. The second well-know body that the Anheuser-Busch shops built was for the Lampsteed Kampkar, a camping body that fit on a Ford Model T chassis. The sides of the body folded downward into a horizontal postion and became beds on each side of the car. While initial interest was great, it tapered off, and apparently production ceased in the mid-1920s. The Kampkar bodies could also be mounted on other chassis; 1921 issue of a company magazine pictures a Kampkar body on a White. The Anheuser-Busch body shop also built station wagon bodies and bus bodies. A-B also built horse vans (horse boxes in GB & Europe) for themselves, some where architectural in design and resembled small houses. They also built the trailers that hauled their famous Clydesdales from appearance to appearance. ---- From a 1921 brochure:
"Make this the kind of a vacation you've always dreamed about - enjoy the splendor of Yellowstone, the majesty of the Grand Canyon, visit balmy Palm Beach or the great North Woods. Go anywhere you wish - on your own schedule, over your own railroad system in your own private car, stopping at your own hotel, eating your own cooking at your own table - all in great comfort and at a price you can easily afford.
The Lampsteed Kampkar Body, complete with full equipment and ready to mount on a standard model "T" Ford Chassis costs only $535.00 including war tax." Manufactured by Anheuser -Busch, St. Louis MO from 1921-1926. ---- The Lamstead Kampkar, invented by Samuel B. Lambert (the same Lambert Family of Listerine fame), was manufactured by A-B and advertised as the ".only practical and complete car for touring and camping ever devised." The Kampkar shell fit perfectly on a Ford chassis. The sides of the car folded down, in the fashion of a Pullman berth, and the seat and side cushions combined to make a bed 42 inches wide on each side of the car. --- The A-B vehicle department – started in 1926 - was discontinued in 1931 when the manufacture of refrigerated coolers commenced. (Kampkars were built at least from 1915 through 1933)

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Anheuser-Busch Body Works - Lamsteed Kampkar - St. Louis, Missouri - Another small body was the Lamsteed Kampkar, built mainly - if not exclusively - for the Model T Ford chassis. It was built in St. Louis, Missouri, by the Anheuser-Busch body works, which was branching out from manufacturing only beverage bodies. One Kampkar has been restored and is on display at Harrah's automobile collection in Reno, Nevada. The body had two double beds, which fold outward at night. During the day, part of the bed was folded along the edge of each side of the body while the rest formed two parallel benches, running along both insides of the body. The front of the left bench was also the driver's seat and featured a movable backrest, as did the seat of the rider opposite him. Canvas covers could be placed over the fold-down beds. Cooking was apparently done outside. SIA#176 pp12-13 -- ANHEUSER-BUSCH - St. Louis, Missouri - (1917 et. seq.) -In 1903 the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Association of St. Louis experimented with the idea of delivering beer by horseless carriage. The two trucks ordered built that year were electrically powered and said to be the largest of the kind in the world. Twentyfour feet long and ten feet wide, they had a capacity of 30,000 pounds worth of brew, and didn't work out at all well. Subsequently, Anheuser-Busch did go automotive with a better idea for delivery, and inaugurated a vehicle department itself that designed and manufactured truck and bus bodies. This was a particularly advantageous activity during those years when the company's principal product was not legal. During World War I, with the arrival of Prohibition, Anheuser-Busch also marketed a new non-alcoholic concoction of barley malt, rice, hops, yeast, and water called Bevo (from the Bohemian word "pivo" for beer). To promote this beverage, the company had a special automobile built on a Pierce-Arrow chassis, an unusual vehicle with a distinct mariner appearance that was dubbed the Bevo Boat. During the war, the Bevo Boat was used to promote the sale of war bonds. After the Armistice, two further versions were produced, the last during the mid-Twenties. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Bevo the beverage was discontinued and the Bevo Boat was rechristened "the Budweiser car."

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1930 CADILLAC BEVO BOAT

This most spectacular and unusual automobile was built by Anheuser Busch Inc in 1930 to promote their Bevo Beer, which was a near beer sold during prohibition. The Bevo Boats were used by A-B in parades and in promotions and it is believed that there were 8 such cars built, this being the only one still in existence. This fabulous car has been exquisitely restored and is completely roadworthy. The boat body is finished in red with white stripes and has a superbly fitted red leather interior. It has a host of unusual features including but not limited to: Woodlite headlights, Woodlite cowl lights, 2 large chrome anchors mounted to the bow, a life raft on each side, a propeller on the transom, Wig-Wag taillights with lanterns that swing from their mount, the front bumper ends are anchors, there is an Anheuser Busch eagle mounted on the front deck as well as a large cannon that sits on the cowl. Mounted to the rear fenders are 2 apparently functional Winchester Arms10 gauge cannons! The rear deck opens like an engine hatch for storage. This car is not only a most incredible part of American history, but is a very unique and well documented automobile that can be driven reliably and shown without competition.

Currently for sale at $189,500.00 from Hyman Ltd.

For more information please read:

www.anheuser-busch.com

G.N. Georgano & G. Marshall Naul - The Complete Encyclopedia of Commercial Vehicles

Albert Mroz - Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Trucks & Commercial Vehicles

Denis Miller - The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trucks and Buses

Tad Burness - American Truck Spotter's Guide, 1920-1970

Tad Burness - American Truck & Bus Spotter's Guide, 1920-1985

Robert M Roll - American trucking: A seventy-five year odyssey

David Jacobs - American Trucks: A photographic essay of American Trucks and Trucking

David Jacobs - American Trucks: More Colour Photographs of Truck & Trucking

John Gunnell - American Work Trucks: A Pictorial History of Commercial Trucks 1900-1994

George W. Green - Special-Use Vehicles: An Illustrated History of Unconventional Cars and Trucks