The World of Ice Cream: A Family Affair

Kind: captionsLanguage: en-

Did somebody say ice cream? (upbeat music) We all have a different idea of a dream car build. Some people beef up the suspension, throw on some off-road tires, and hit the trails. Some strip it down and take it to the track. Others, like my man John, buy a little tiny van from Japan and turn it into the most badass ice cream truck ever built.

It's time to go bumper to bumper on this 1992 Daihatsu Hijet ice cream truck! (upbeat music) It's hot, but luckily we partnered with Nos Energy Drink for this episode of Bumper 2 Bumper. I couldn't be happier because Nos Energy Drink gives me that good energy. Both in my body and in my mind to be the host that I know I can be.

Now back to the show. Big Bro loves himself some ice cream, but when Christina said we'd be doing an episode on an ice cream truck, I wasn't exactly crapping my woolen trousers with excitement. Unless it's the ice cream truck from Twisted Metal, that thing is freaking rowdy. But then I saw this van and got real pumped.

You see, this van and shaved ice business is a family affair. From the build to the custom paint job, down to how this business operates, everything is done by one close-knit family. The owner slash builder of this cute little guy John Salazar wanted to do something different. John's history of car modifications goes back generations.

He was born in LA where his grandfather owned and operated a shop where they built custom lowriders. When John became old enough, he started working on cars with his dad, learning the trade and developing his passion for modification and customization.

John's desire to build an ice cream truck was inspired by his experiences as a naval officer in Japan. People native to Tokyo had a nickname for the city whenever it snowed: Snokyo. John chose to call his business Little Snokyo, and this mascot's name is also Snokyo.

The microvan was mainly John and Luis's hands-on project, but the reason John wanted to build it in the first place was so he can spend more time with his whole family. Now John's wife and their two kids join them in the Hijet wherever they go.

Together they hit up as many car shows as they can, slinging shaved ice to sweaty car nerds like you and me (upbeat music)(ice cream truck music). Guys, I'm so excited to announce that our podcast Passed Gas is live. You can check it out anywhere that you listen to Podcast. Passed Gas is all the fun, stories from car history. It's like this show, but an hour long.

It's passed gas, not about farts (laughs).

John and his dad used whatever they could make work when finding many of the replacement parts was probably not gonna happen. They installed a breakmaster cylinder from a Volkswagen bug and threw in an 8.8 rear differential from a Ford. John decided to leave the Gold Wing engine in, because, you know, why not? It's already in there.

It's located right in the middle of the chassis and it hangs a bit lower than the stock engine. This presented a problem, because he initially wanted to drop the van lower. But that planned was ditched. Now worries though!

Now that they had all the engine internals and other mechanical necessities working properly, John and his dad had the freedom to start tricking this thing out. They added these sick reupholstered Recaro seats by E3 Customs, with racing harnesses from Seatbelt Planet.

Custom fender flares, and 15-inch fat-laced F01 wheels by AME. The whole back is setup for slanging iceys. Inside you'll find everything you need for delicious shaved ice. A generator, chalkboard for advertising, syrups galore, and a butt-ton of ice.

And they used to have two working sinks back there that can pump out both hot and cold water. But those got taken out to make more room for storage. Just wash your hand with melted ice, right? It's the same as water.

Everything on this van was done by John and his father, Luis. Even the amazing airbrush job. They chose striking colors that would pop even in a sea of eye-catching show cars.

When it came time for John to pick a name for the business, he harkened back to his days on the navy base in Japan. People native to Tokyo had a nickname for the city whenever it snowed: Snokyo. So John chose to call his business Little Snokyo.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Did somebody say ice cream?(upbeat music)- We all have a different ideaof a dream car build.Some people beef up the suspension,throw on some off roadtires, and hit the trails.Some strip it down andtake it to the track.Others, like my man John,buy a little teeny teenytiny van from Japanand turn it into the most badassice cream truck ever built.It's time to go bumper to bumper on this1992 Daihatsu Hijet ice cream truck!(upbeat music)It's hot, but luckily wepartnered with Nos Energy Drinkfor this episode of Bumper 2 Bumper.I couldn't be happiercause Nos Energy Drinkgives me that good energy.Both in my body and in my mindto be the host that I know I can be.Now back to the show.Big Bro loves himself some ice cream.But when Christina saidthat we'd be doing an episodeon an ice cream truck,I wasn't exactlycrappin' my woolentrousers with excitement.Unless it's the ice creamtruck from Twisted Metal.That thing is freaking rowdy.But then I saw this truckand got real pumped.You see, this van and shaved ice businessis a family affair.From the build, to the custom paint job,down to how this business operatesis all done by one close-knit family.The owner slash builderof this cute little guyJohn Salazar wanted todo something different.John's history of car modificationsgoes back generations.He was born in L.A where his grandfatherowned and operated a shopwhere they built custom lowriders.When John became old enough,he started learning thetrade from his dad, Luisat his shop in Florida.John says if you had aquestion, he had an answer.They carried on the traditionat his father's shop.Building extravagant custom lowriders.When John turned 18,he enlisted in the Navyand was shipped off, quite literally.The Navy uses ships.I don't know if you knew that.He had stints in many different places,but the ones that stuck with himwere Japan and Hawaii.You can tell.(upbeat music)Nowadays, John has a family of his own.And one of their favoritefamily activitiesis going to car shows.And it was at one particularly swelteringSouth Florida car showthat John had a revelation.No one was selling anything cold.Like can you guys tell by my faceit's hot as frick down here.And no one at the entire car showwas selling anything cold?The heck!So his son suggestedthat they do ice cream.But then John remembered how popularshaved ice was when hewas stationed in Hawaii.There was nothing like it anywhere closeto these car shows in Florida.And before you blow up in the comments,I know there are shavedice places in Florida.I'm not a frickin' idiot.But are there shaved ice placesnear car shows in Florida?No one knows, no one will ever know.The point is John saw apotentially killer marketby bringing shaved ice directly to them.He knew that he was gonna sell.So it was time to figure outwhat he was gonna sell out of.John found a sweet VWVanagon and scooped it up.He was about to startworking on it with his dad,when the family fell on hard timesand was forced to sell the V-Dub.Life is hard.Things get better ifyou keep an open mind,just a little tip from the Big Bro.Luckily, things got betterfor John and his familyand they started lookingfor what would becometheir new shaved ice truck.They looked and looked and finally,some popped up.It wasn't the cult favorite Vanagon,but it was still something really special.This 1992 Daihatsu Hijet microvan.(upbeat music)This was a stellar find.As Daihatsu didn't sell manyvans in the United States.Hijets were a popular cage truck in Japanand a bunch of other placeswhere space is an issue.Not in the U.S!We like our vans like we like our jeans.big and wide.I'm talking JNCOs, baby.Export Hijets got massive!993cc, 3 cylinder engines,that put out a small herd of 50 hearses.You could choose from a 3-speed autoor a 5-speed manual.These tiny trucks even camewith all-wheel drive as an option.But the one that Johnbought off of Gregslist,wasn't exactly stocked.Inside the microvan wasthe engine and transmissionfrom a Honda Gold Wing motorcycle.Definitely a weird swap, but definitelyalso definitely an upgrade.The Hijet was a unique findbut it was in bad shapewhen it got to John.The engine barely ranand the whole thing needed some TLC.He brought the van to his dad's shopand they started fixing it up.John knew that becausethis van was so rare,finding many of the replacement partswas probably not gonna happen.So instead of waiting aroundfor overnight parts from Japan,he and his dad used whateverthey could make work.They installed a breakmaster cylinderfrom a Volkswagen bug and threw inan 8.8 rear differential from a Ford.John decided to leavethe Gold Wing engine in,because, you know, why not?It's already in there.It's located right in the middle of thechassis and it hangs a bitlower than the stock engine.This presented a problem,because he initially wantedto drop the van lower.But there's only aboutfive inches of clearancebetween the engine and the asphalt.So, that planned was ditched.Now worries, though!Now that they had allthe engine, internalsand other mechanicalnecessities working properly,John and his dad had the freedomto start tricking this thang out.(laughs)They added theses sick reupholsteredRecaro seats by E3 Customs,with racing harnessesfrom Seatbelt Planet.Custom fender flares,and 15-inch, fat-laced,F01 wheels by AME.The whole back is setupfor slanging iceys.Inside you'll find everything you needfor delicious shaved ice.A generator, chalkboard for advertising,syrups galore, and a butt-ton of ice.And they used to have twoworking sinks back therethat can pump out both hot and cold water.But those got taken out tomake more room for storage.Just wash your handswith melted ice, right?It's the same as water.Everything on this vanwas done by John and his father, Luis.Even the amazing airbrush job.They chose striking colors that would popeven in a sea of eye catching show cars.They even custom fabricated the mascot,Snokyo, that lives on top of the van.(upbeat music)When it came time for John to pick a namefor the business, heharkened back to his dayson the navy base in Japan.People native to Tokyo hada nickname for the citywhenever it snowed: Snokyo.So John chose to call hisbusiness Little Snokyo.And this mascot's name is Snokyo.(foreign language)Though the microvan wasmainly John and Luis'shands-on project,the reason John wanted tobuild it in the first placewas so he can spend moretime with his whole family.So now John's wife and their two kidsjoin them in the Hijet wherever it goes.I saw them driving down the road.I went to get snacks.Together they hit up asmany car shows as they can.Slanging shaved ice to sweaty car nerdslike you and me.(upbeat music)(ice cream truck music)Guys, I'm so excited to announcethat our podcast Passed Gas is live.You can check it out anywherethat you listen to Podcast.Passed Gas is all the fun,stories from car history.It's like this show, but an hour long.It's passed gas, not about farts.