Rick Prather's Cameo Cakes delivery truck represents a long-time dream come true for the specialty baker. He transformed a worn-out 1962 Divco Meadow Gold milk truck into this one-of-a-kind metallic orange beauty.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
Although fully dressed out in billet aluminum, chrome and stainless steel, the engine that drives the Divco down the road is a basically stock rebuilt Chevy 350.
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The Foose 16-inch rims mount 235x65x16 Hankook tires, which can be tucked up tight under the front fenders, thanks to a set of Ride Tech airbags.
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Prather's next project is an original fiberglass Divco promotional go-kart, which will be painted and outfitted with the same graphics as its big brother. The full-sized truck will be known as `Mr. Cake,' while the little fellow will be called `Cup Cake.'
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Slightly taller Foose 18-inchers with 285x60x18 Hankook rubber are mounted on an '81 Chevy pickup rear end that just happened to be exactly the right width for the Divco. Rear suspension consists of two leaf springs per side, augmented by Ride Tech air bags.
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Factory-fresh OEM sheet metal, combined with plenty of help from his family, made the Divco restoration do-able for Rick Prather, who enlisted Brian's Body Shop in Valley Center to shoot the finished product in DuPont Hot Hues Tango-Tango.
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The Cameo Cakes baker adorns the right rear corner of the delivery truck, asking the question of the moment: `Got Cake?'
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Mike Berry / The Wichita Eagle
The orange theme flows from the aftermarket steering wheel to the Flaming River tilt column and utility-style flat metal dash, studded with Cyberdyne orange LED gauges. The view screen is for the 400-watt Eclipse sound system and built-in Sirius satellite radio and GPS systems.
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The tall Freightliner air ride seats were covered in a combination of orange and white vinyl by Unique Auto Trim.
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Prather and his mom handled the remainder of the interior, continuing the orange/white theme, stretching vinyl over foam padding; Prather used electric linear actuators to build remote-controlled openers for both sets of folding doors.
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Prather said each Divco truck reportedly was delivered with a pair of white service hats. The Meadow Gold milk bottles and rack are a reminder of this truck's original mission and the orange ribbon was awarded at this year's State Fair.
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Prather wanted his Divco delivery van to serve two purposes: a show truck and a traveling billboard for his specialty cake company. Cody Zimmerman designed the Cameo Cakes graphics and was one of the first clients to have his own wedding cake delivered by the bright orange van.
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Prather's wife, Vicki, decided the horizontal stripe of white through the middle of the truck `needed something' and came up with the idea of an embroidered Divco emblem, complete right down to the heads of the attaching screws.
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The Model B100 Divco was the shortest of the delivery vans built by the now-defunct company, on a 100-inch wheelbase. Prather found all new sheet metal for his version and installed a later model grille in the nose of it.
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Divco maintained the same basic body design from the mid-1950s through the early 1970s, according to Prather. He updated the look of his 1962 model delivery truck with this later model grille.
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Prather fabricated a new flat dashboard to accommodate the Vintage Air air conditioning controls and vents. A Lokar tall shifter is used along with a rare orange metalflake steering wheel snagged at a swap meet.
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A closer look at the nose reveals the Divco emblem riveted to the grille surround and the unique handle built into the center support of the hood. It was probably used originally as a grab rail for mechanics stepping up onto the front bumper to work on the mighty 4-cylinder Golden Missile engine.
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The spacious rear cargo compartment shows off the bright orange vinyl material that Prather and his mother, Elaine Wallace, used to cover the expanse of interior space. The air ride seats are units originally built for a Freightliner semi-tractor.
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As if the deep metallic orange painted needed any help, the truck features all kinds of small details, like the chrome eyebrows mounted over the bug-eyed headlights.
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