In front of Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In in Seligman sits a 1936 Chevrolet that Juan Delgadillo turned into a roadside sign. He cut the roof off the hardtop, covered the body in paint, horns and automotive emblems, and stood an artificial Christmas tree in the back, a lure meant to pull drivers off Route 66 and up to the counter. Delgadillo, who lived from 1916 to 2004, built the drive-in in 1953 mostly from scrap lumber salvaged from the Santa Fe Railway yard in town, because he had almost no money to spend on it. The roofless Chevy is on permanent display out front, and the joking extends to the building itself. The counter door has two knobs, and the one on the right is a dummy; only the left one opens it.
The jokes go on from there. A neon sign in the window reads Sorry, we're open, and hand-painted signs warn that cars park at their own risk. The menu offers a cheeseburger with cheese, and dead chicken, and Delgadillo liked to ask customers whether they wanted cheese on their cheeseburger. Visitors have described a mustard bottle that fires a yellow string instead of mustard.
Behind the stand, Juan's Garden has kept more old Chevrolets, among them a 1949 Deluxe coupe, a 1963 half-ton pickup, a 1970 Impala hardtop and a 1939 one-ton fire truck, along with a toilet and a phone booth set out purely for comic effect. After Juan died in 2004, his daughter Cecilia and son John took over the counter and kept the same routine going for travellers who had never heard it.
Getting there
35.3261, -112.8730
Locations are approximate and may be inaccurate, on private land, or otherwise inaccessible. Check before you travel.
Hear it from the road
Whistlestop is an audio tour guide app that tells you this story automatically when you drive past. No searching, no tapping, nothing to ask.
