Anyone ever build, see, have pictures of a Cadillac Sedan Delivery... I think it would be a unique idea to build a 195x caddy dlvry..... Maybe build one out of a hearse like the one pictured below??? http://www.hearse.com/vehicles/motorized/cadillac/1951/ss/combination/v001/pages/pa.html
I still have a 47 Caddy hearse landau (no 1/4 windows) that would be a great starting point for you. Al
here's a photo of my 53 Pontiac SD long gone you might have to add or remove some in the roof area then get the cardboard templete's and fit her up, the roof line can make or break the car had a 53 Caddy hearse lined up once had the same idea hope your idea gets build
yeah just fill in the sides you could shorten it along with the frame or use your delivery side panels and frame or have a long frame delivery you could call it the Final Delivery
My next door neighbor back in Pgh, had a 55 & a 56 Cad Station Wagon. Extreamly low mileage and to nice to mess with. They were not converted but were geni Wagons. The 56 had 2 4s and was a beautiful car. All leather inside. Close as you could get to a sdn delivery in a Cad. Iceman
Those were Hess and Eisenhardt conversions. They did 12 in 1956, and would do them to order in other years as well. Seems '56 was an attempt to make them kinda 'production'. The twin 4's was simply the Eldo engine, optional in all Cadillacs. Below is a shot of a '60, done by H & E. An associate had a clamshell Cadillac wagon some years back, dunno builder. As for sedan deliveries, what you are looking for is a "service car" or "first call" car. This would be the car that a funeral home would use to bring the deceased TO the home to prep for the funeral. Not as large as a hearse, and no side doors, these were built by the same shops as the hearse and limos. They are quite rare, because only the upscale funeral homes could afford both a hearse and service car. Remember, a hearse would cost double what a Sedan De Ville would cost in any given year. Lastly, any car that opens in a manner like that shown is known as a "three way", because the table in those cars could be moved about halfway out either door or the back, to facilitate loading, esp. in inner city homes where the car would be parked along the sidewalk. You could then load the casket into the side from the sidewalk instead of strictly through the back. Great source of screw thread motors, BTW. Cosmo
Al why did you have to post that? Dammit. Trying to thin my heard and now you give me more sick ideas. Do that loaded, leather, low and slow. Potential potential...
I've never seen one of the sedan deliveries but here's a Hess and Eisenhardt woody wagon and a one off Brooks Stevens designed '53. The 53 back end looks a little Studebakerish.
Streetwertz; It could be yours!! ZZ-Iron; I have a 70 Fleetwood frame to strech 2 ft. to match the 13 ft. wheelbase. That will set it low w/late model suspension & all set for a 500 cid. Chevsotolac; I thought I had heard all possible names for a hearse. I will add Final Delivery to the list. Shmoozo; 7 1/2 ft. pillar to pillar. You could drift a ricer thru it at 90 & not touch a thing. Fuelfc; Refer to the above answer to Streetwertz. Like Whichitaundertaker said.. Good luck finding a carved panel that is both alive (no pun intended) and available. AL
That would be a great race car hauler. When I was much younger, a neighbor used a 55 Pontiac flower wagon to haul his flat tracker.
Cosmo's (entire) post is mainly spot-on. Minor additions: Service cars were indeed the same size as other coaches initially - having all been built on extended commercial chassis. Downsizing service cars to regular wheelbase occurred in the early '50s - as they started to fall out of popularity. About then the switch was made from the more impressive makes (Cadillac, LaSalle, Packard) to more readily attainable service cars based on Chevy, Ford, etc. Low production numbers in any given year (going back to the '30s) finally came to end end in the early '60s. Although the 5 main coach builders (4 from '57 onward) did tailor vehicles to their customers, none offered a standard wheelbase Caddy 'sedan delivery'. Not to say that a one-off wasn't made by a smaller professional car coach builder or an individual along the way but if it happened by the hands of Eureka, Meteor, Miller, S & S, or Superior - at least pictures would survive. Each is pretty heavily documented. Superior made stripped down basic ambulances for both the American and Canadian military that did not have additional side doors. One of these would provide a good basis for a conversion: The non-rusty example below was available (non-running) with the original 331 last year in south TX for a whopping $500.
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