Fast Food? How about “Fastest Food.” One does not anticipate that the 1952 International Metro van from which absolutely delicious fajitas are being served would have inspired Guinness World Records to create the new category, “Fastest Food Truck.” This fascinating intersection of unique dining delights and white line fever comes courtesy of one LJ Koch, A young man with a dream, a plan and one blistering fast food truck.

Meet LJ Koch and his Vettro.

World’s Fastest Food Truck? Guinness World Records Says Prove It.

What kind of food truck merits having Guinness World Records create its own special category? What kind of food truck has 130,

000 followers on Instagram? What kind of food truck has Mattel considering creating its very own Hot Wheels model? Answer, the “Vettro”, one very, very fast Corvette powered 1952 Metro Van. The driving force, literally, behind the budding Fajita Hut food concept is creative chef and hot rodder LJ Koch.

The mouth-watering aroma of sizzling fajita fillings surrounded me in a delicious cloud that drenched my olfactory senses and filled my mind with delight and desire. I love fajitas. That the source seemed to be a tubbed-out rat rod version of a 1950s Metro delivery van just added spice to, what I would soon come to learn, was the Luc’s, aka Luc’s Fajita Hut, mobile dining experience. Behind the wheel and at the grill of Luc’s, I found LJ Koch, a man with a plan.

Where a passion for food meets an automotive obsession; that pretty much defines the life and dreams of LJ Koch. The seeds for the business sprouted years back when LJ and his best friend, Lucas Martellacci, shared the food and fast cars dream. LJ says, “We were young kids and had started working professionally in kitchens. We loved fast cars and motorcycles. The more we cooked, the more we wanted to open a restaurant together.” Sadly, Lucas passed away in 2016. It was at that time that LJ decided to follow their shared dream and in 2017 open the business, Luc’s Fajita Hut, which he named after Lucas. The business consisted solely of food trucks until 2020 when LJ opened his first bricks and mortar location in West Milford, NJ. Today, LJ’s menu features, as one reviewer wrote, “Creative, eclectic fusion fajitas alongside international comfort classics.” Eclectic fusion fajitas sound interesting; for Philadelphia foodies, how about the Shaved Ribeye Cheesesteak Fajita? If eclectic means choosing from a wide and diverse range of sources, LJ’s eclectic fusion tastes extend well beyond food to the unique trucks that do the serving; like LJ’s high speed Vettro restovan. For LJ the Vettro provides a vehicle (No pun intended) to achieve a much greater goal.

“Our goal is a multibillion dollar fajita empire,” says LJ without any suggestion that he is joking. LJ says, “We have been building Luc’s as a strong brand step by step for years based on a long horizon master plan. We have a bricks and mortar flagship location focusing on providing fresh, relatively quick, hot, quality food, all under 20 bucks. We are looking to expand through franchising. We’ve been developing a frozen fajita product, that’s pre-made. We’re looking to both ship direct to the consumer and, through a co-packer, stock Luc’s brand products in stores nationally.”

LJ says, “The Vettro represents one of the greatest marketing creations probably ever built. It has generated amazing public awareness for us and the company.” Certainly unique, it bears a blended name drawn from the 2021 Corvette and the 1952 International Metro Van that had been merged and massaged to produce this one-of-one Vettro show stopper. However, an earlier effort could easily have been named a Bitsa, you know, a bitsa this and a bitsa that, because the first concept called for the modified Metro Van fast food truck to be fitted to a shortened Chevy S10 pickup frame, with an old GM LS engine and a 5-speed hand-me-down manual transmission. However, the project took a sharp and fortunate turn on a Friday when LJ’s build partner, Matt Knapp of West Milford Tire, keenly observed that they could eliminate myriad problems by positioning the engine in the back of the cut down Metro Van. LJ agreed.

That weekend when driving north of Washington D.C. LJ spotted a damaged but basically new 2021 C8 Corvette. He bought it. By the end of that Sunday it sat at West Milford Tire. LJ says, “So, now, this is Monday morning, Matt gets to the shop and he sees it. Then I came in like about 9:00 am; dragging from about two-hours of sleep the night before. Then, I set eyes on the engine. It was just like new. I see the red engine cover of the C8. To me it looked like Optimus Prime, it was so cool, just the glowing red engine. Now, Matt’s looking at me and I’m looking at him and we just knew that we needed to do this. We were going to make this work.”

Buying the damaged C8 proved a stroke of genius. While the C8’s body suffered damage the full factory chassis showed no harm. LJ says, “Our truck would not be a jigsaw puzzle comprised of a Camaro this and a suspension from that. Our truck would have a complete C8 drive train and aluminum space frame chassis. Even the dashboard would transfer. The Vettro would boast full factory C8 power and performance.

Power for the Vettro would come from a 6.2-liter, all aluminum, naturally aspirated V8 delivering 500 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque with an 8-speed dual clutch automatic with paddle shifters. Standard front and rear double-wishbone suspension translated well to the Vettro application.

Some tasty Vettro non-factory options include a fully functional mobile kitchen featuring a custom flat-top grill, steam table, and a custom Snap-on toolbox that dispenses beer on tap. A guaranteed crowd magnet, Vettro appearances have been featured all over the web and social media sites. A natural PT Barnum, LJ makes sure a wide swath of the population has an opportunity to enjoy the Vettro experience.

LJ says, “The social media presence has been exploding over the past year. The Vettro has done amazing things for us and for the company, I mean, our online social media presence is absolutely booming. This week our page cracked 130,000 followers, which is a pretty big deal. Just last week we added another seventeen thousand followers. I gotta believe that, based on web page views, web time on site and social media views, the Vettro ranks as one of the most well-known builds in America today.”

As to personal appearances LJ says, “We were in probably 15 different states, Canada and countless venues in 2026 alone.” Vettro appearances included Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, New York International Auto Show at the Javits Center and the Indianapolis 500. A Vettro tour took the world’s fastest food truck to North Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee. They even went international by bringing the Vettro to Toronto. Everywhere the Vettro went people could enjoy Luc’s Fajita Hut specialties. Now, when people experience the Vettro in person it not only checks their personal outrageous box, but because of its wide social media presence, it impacts the audience as even more outrageous because the Vettro’s web stardom imparts a celebrity aura.” For extra measure, how about being considered for stardom as a “Hot Wheels” toy car.

The coming months will see more of the Vettro magic spread across America. LJ says, “We competed in and won the Birmingham, Alabama stop on the 2026 Hot Wheels Legends Tour.” By winning its regional leg of the Hot wheels Legends, The Vettro earned the honor of competing against other custom car builders from around the globe for the ultimate prize: having its unique design immortalized and manufactured as an official 1:64 scale Hot Wheels die-cast toy car sold worldwide. But wait there’s more, as the Vettro heads to SEMA.

SEMA (Special Equipment Marketing Association,) stands alone as the world’s largest gathering for the automotive aftermarket industry. Its annual show will be held in Las Vegas this November and the Vettro will be there. LJ says, “We will be headed west to appear in the Hoosier Tire SEMA show display. Hoosiers are the only tire we put on the Vettro and they are a valued sponsor.” But why stop with being famous in North America, how about globally by appearing in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Indeed, Guinness World Records has specifically created a new category with the Vettro in mind, the “Fastest speed achieved by a food truck. With the Guinness record in mind, LJ adamantly proclaims that the Vettro has yet to achieve his grand plan. The plan calls for capturing the Guinness World Record. He figures the cost to actually do the event will run between forty and Fifty thousand dollars. In a nod to financial reality, LJ says, “We have connected with social media types, YouTubers as well as seeking additional sponsorships.”

When asked if the Vettro ranks first in top speed, LJ responds saying, “That’s what Google says.” He, however, did not rely on Google alone. He says, “We took the Vettro to Pocono Raceway. We topped 125 miles per hour and Vettro’s got more to give.” Always the promoter, LJ has some specific ideas on just where he would like to set the record. He says, “No question we will be undertaking one very extensive and expensive project. So till then we want to take it easy on the old girl.” He continues saying, “While we’re going to produce YouTube videos and social media posts my real goal and mission is to set the record at a major racing venue on race day. So either Daytona 500, Indy 500, Talladega, could be an option. I dream of setting the record in front of a crowd of two or three hundred thousand people, now that would be badass.“

LJ says, “We are hell-bent on elevating national awareness of the Vettro to be recognized as America’s best-known food truck by being America’s fastest food truck. For Luc’s Fajita Hut and all our associated businesses, the Vettro captures the balls-out spirit of our enterprise.”

 

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