Nicest ambulance I've seen was a 50's (?) Chryslerwith the lights in the roof, like the 47 Pack on CL -- was unrestored, at Shady Dell in Bisbee AZ maybe eight yrs ago. The next yr it was gone...
The thunder taker is amazing! I used to dream of owning one cause as a surfer it would be the ultimate board transporter, but Australian parking spots make it pretty impossible!
In 1990, I bought a slightly o/t 1967 Plymouth Belvedere I six-passenger wagon in Antwerp, Belgium. It, and an identical twin, were shipped to Brussels, Belgium new in 1967 for conversion to funeral cars, and sold to a pair of undertaker brothers. This car was in service until 1987. It was black with two-tone blue interior. It had a 225 Slant Six with a three-on-the-tree, 200 km/h speedo, clock, HD heater, and no radio. It also had carpeting, HD radiator, Hemi suspension (XHD rear leaves and Hemi torsion bars), and front antisway bar, as well as full wheel covers and 7.75x14 ww tires. I bought the car, sight unseen, while I was stationed near the Dutch border in Germany. Drove it home, fixed it up and got rid of the "whorehouse red velour" the PO had installed after he bought it from the funeral parlor! Thankfully, he kept all of the original interior bits, so redoing the interior was easy. It was my DD until we left Germany in '92. My neighbors always gave me a good-hearted sense of hell about my Leichenwagen. They couldn't see why I owned one. I used to have a pic of what it looked like in funeral livery, but it was lost in a tornado several years ago. It had a 10" cross mounted on a bar atop the front of the roof, with a flower pot holder on each of the four corners of the roof. On the "D" pillars, there were small white lamps. The rear seat (never sat on) was folded down, and a set of rollers were in place in the cargo area. The wagon itself was NOT modified, in terms of body mods - no raised roof, custom doors, or any of that. It was one of only three known export '67 Belvedere I wagons, and all three ended up as funeral cars - two in Belgium, and one in Sweden. I still have the build sheet to the car. Traded the car in 1997 for a paint job on a '67 Suburban I restored then. The car now has a built 360 automatic, and is still in the local area.
I like them but honestly I don't think I'd care to own one. I think an old ambulance would be creapier then a hearse, least in a hearse there wasn't bodily fluids seeping under the floor mats! I'm always fasinated in how they put them together. I was looking at a late 40's Pontiac ambulance and the body was raised about 4" all around. Kinda the oppisite of a section job, they cut thru the whole body including hood and welded in a strip of metal, then finished in lead! How lator intensive was that! Years ago there was a 34 Ford converted into an hearse sitting in a storage yard up the street from me. It looked like they streched a standard sedan delivery about 4/5' and just added a long extra door to the side to make up the differance. Bad thing they framed it all in wood and it was really falling apart. I should of bought it anyway, probably worth a good chunk of change now. The one in post 28 is a pure work of art!
Inspired the SRV song "Willie The Wimp". <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yLZI2z19vbQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
my oldest & best friend, whom I coaxed into a life-long passion for drag-racing in 1981, passed-away in late 2009 after a brief bout with cancer: as I had relocated 1,100 miles away a few years earlier, I couldn't get-back for his funeral, but he is buried with the first trophy that we won in our initial season between the funeral home & his final resting place, 2 of my cohorts 'strongly-suggested / enthusiastically-encouraged' the driver of the hearse to take the scenic route, so he could make one final pass down his home track, as friends & family watched 21.74 @ 55.88 MPH
I own a 1965 pontiac hearse that was the band car for a band called The Makers. I also own a 1953 pontiac ambulance converted into a housecar.
I've got mine for sale in the classifieds. Just sayin....http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=695206&highlight=1946+cadillac
I never cared for hearses as hearses, but I always thought one with a pancaked top and painted a non-funereal color would make a fine luxury station wagon.
My family owns mortuaries in Omaha,Nebraska.When I was a kid,my grandfather gave me a couple of Hearse promos from Martin Meteor,1 Caddy and 1 Poncho.I remember my grandfather saying that Pontiacs were for Medical Examiners,not for a mortuary.
My friend bought this 1935 Dodge Brothers cemetary van off the HAMB about a year ago, OldBlue53 and I flew to Amittyville, NY and drove it back to Illinois. He is planning to remove the aluminum wheels and put a set of black wires under it.
As I learn more about these semi-unique machines, I have been trying to figure out exactly how to revive my '62 Bonneville Ambulance by Superior... Shortly after I bought it, I had the opportunity to talk with a man who'd worked at Superior since the mid-'60s (and was retiring soon) who gave me some interesting insight into how these machines came to be (well, at least those made by Superior Coachworks). He told me that back then my '62 Pontiac was shipped to Superior (then based in Kosciusko, Miss.) as an assembled chassis with a firewall / cowl / front clip + a crate full of trim strapped to the frame. It was then built on site, including doors and rear door built in-house. Cooler still, after I told him what I owned, he checked the records and told me that of the roughly 350 1962 Pontiac chassis Ambulances, they built a total of ONE with a stick-shift transmission...and that would be mine. (gloating, sorry) More on this build as funds allow...
my first car in 1968 was a a... 1958 Cadillac S@S limo style hearse rear suicidr dooer 4 1/2 foot long orginal equipment. black jacked up rear. 2 1/2 straight pipes, bucket seats. a bench seat in rear with a cooler built into the floor. had it till 1976 when an idit ran a trafic light into the passeneger side doors not replaceable.
Heres a couple pics of my 63 Cadillac Miller Meteor.. Looking for casket rollers, bier tracks and pins..
Check out some of the work on these Spanish hearses. http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/...beauty-of-spanish-funeral-coaches/?refer=news
The Jalopy Journal
