The first champagne truck in Eastern Ontario is coming in hot!

Allow me to introduce myself quick, if you didn’t already know I’m Cait, the owner and head planner at Champagne and Co. I am so fired up to finally share with everyone that Champagne and Co has a mobile bar truck being built and will be ready this Spring 2021!

In the last few years, I have been eyeing these little Italian trucks SO hard. I saved pictures to my phone, my computer, and a ton on Pinterest. (Manifesting is real!) I started my search to find other local entrepreneurs near my area, and surprisingly there were none around the Cornwall and Ottawa area that had one of these trucks. I finally got in touch with a business in Calgary, Alberta, called “The Prosecco Cart”. The owner Jen, who runs such a bad ass business out West was extremely kind and shared her contact for the person in Ontario that could potentially build a mobile bar truck for me. She also owns one of these amazing Piaggio Ape trucks and serves all sorts of events in Alberta. If you’re in the Alberta area, I highly recommend checking it out (@theproseccocart)!

I emailed this man named Ken, and within a few short hours we spoke on the phone about two trucks he just bought the day before that were ready to be restored. These two trucks that were brought in are 1982 Piaggio Ape that were part of the original batch imported into Canada back in Fall of 1982. In the late 80’s they were purchased by a business called “Coby’s Milk & Cookies” a business that served ice cream at Wasaga Beach straight out of this truck!

It amazes me that this little piece of history started in Europe, then came to Toronto Canada, and is now going to be converted into a mobile bar truck and working in Eastern Ontario. Think of the amount of people it must have served at Wasaga Beach. Kids playing in the sand, and wanting an ice cream cone so they ran up to this truck to get one. Now it’ll be grown adults running to the truck to pour themselves their favourite cold beverage! If you ask me, adulting isn’t so bad after all.

Ironically, one of my dealerships that I have run events for the past 3 years, is only an hour and a bit away from where Ken lives. I MEAN COME ON, if this isn’t a result of manifesting then I don’t know what is.

I decided since I would be so close to where the truck is being reconditioned, I would start documenting the process of it coming together and let you all in on the fun stuff! I went to visit Ken back in October to see the truck in it’s original form before any of the truck would be taken apart. All I can say is I have never had so much fun sitting in a vehicle before!

As of right now, Ken started stripping the truck week’s back to prepare it to get sand blasted and painted in January. His business is a full-blown operation like you would not believe. The number of hands and knowledge that is going into this truck is incredible. He starts by stripping it, replacing parts or ordering new ones from different suppliers around the world since they aren’t your average vehicle where you can buy parts from local dealerships.

He’s been working on Piaggio Ape vehicles for so long that people from around the world are calling him for advice. I laughed when he told me a man called him at 3 o’clock in the morning from Sri Lanka one night. He was able to guide him over the phone and had an issue fixed within minutes. With that said, I know I’m in good hands. As of right now, it’s waiting in line to be brought into a local shoppe to have the sandblasting and paint done and then will be brought back to Ken to start putting it back together.

Last week I went back to have a visit with Ken (the man in the picture above) and see another Piaggio Ape that he is reconditioning for a couple in Windsor, Ontario. He thought it would be good for me to see another one coming together to get a better idea of what the process would be for mine. The white vehicle behind us is a sneak peak of what our Piaggio Ape will look like after the big transformation.

One big thing I am taking from this whole experience is community. There are so many amazing people in this world ready to help and give guidance and support. I can’t tell you how many awesome businesses have offered their time to help me be a successful business owner. I want to give a shoutout to Christine from Brews and Bubbles located in Vancouver, BC (@brewsandbubblesvan). She literally took time out of her day to speak with me over the phone. I appreciated your advice and encouragement more than you know! Support local businesses, support the crap out of business women across Canada and don’t ever say there aren’t good people left in this world because I know I could name quite a few!

Keep an eye on the blog the following weeks for our next post. I cannot wait to share with you how our truck is coming along!