A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME:

THE MOBILE PLATE WARMER

Fast food is nothing new: as early as 1909 the famous Restaurant Prunier in Paris had the bright idea of taking ready-cooked meals ordered by telephone to private homes (where presumably unexpected guests had called on the servants' night off).  

But those meals had to be kept warm as the delivery driver fought his way through the congested streets.  The answer was the mobile plate warmer devised by the coachbuilder Audineau and built on a special Roval light van chassis.

other vehicles produced by Audineau

Its box body had double doors to the front and sides which opened to reveal galvanised iron cupboards wrapped in thick layers of felt.  Saucepans straight from the oven were popped into the pigeonholes for delivery.  The specially ducted exhaust pipe and water hoses from the rear-mounted engine kept the food in the insulated chests at 140F.

Meanwhile, the unfortunate driver sat high and exposed at the back of the vehicle without a vestige of warmth or weather protection

(written by award-winning author David Burgess Wise)