1956
Eureka (USA) Various professional cars
built on the Cadillac commercial chassis, like the examples below:
 
Eureka hearse and ambulance models
Hess & Eisenhardt (USA) stretched
convertible presidential parade car dubbed either the Queen Mary II or the Mary
Jane. Two of these cars were built and used during the Eisenhower, Kennedy and
Johnson administrations, remaining in service until 1968. Car #1 spent some time in Paris
before it was acquired by the late Charly de Pauw, a Belgian collector; he claimed that it
was HIS car, and not Jack's, that was following the Kennedy Lincoln on that fateful day.
When de Pauw died, his car was acquired by the Mahy collection, in Brussels where it was
exhibited in Belgium's National Automobile Museum; that's where I
photographed it in the eighties. In 1998, this car was sold, together with one of the 1938
former V-16 [now V-8] White House security cars (dark blue car #2), for a reported $1.6
million. In April 2001 the car was again offered for sale, this time in the Vegas
Auction venue of the Imperial Palace collection. Car #2 was the White House
security car which followed directly behind the presidential Lincoln on that fateful day,
November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was shot dead by one [or more?] assassins. Jack
Tallman of Tallman Cadillac in Decatur, IL was its owner. I was fortunate to be allowed to
drive it when I visited Jack in Decatur back in 1978.
Car #1
 
 
Above four photos: preparing for a mission (a)
top left: unfurling the flags (the one
with the presidential seal is on the right, front fender, (b) top right: weapons
all present?
(c) lower left: let's add a Tommy gun for good measure, (d) lower right: in active
service
behind the then presidential Lincoln (Eisenhower and General De Gaulle aboard).
Above, the Queen Mary II on a
security mission in Berlin on June 26, 1963; this presumably was the
Paris car (car #1) that, later, found its way to Brussels; remember Kennedy's
famous words on that historic occasion:
Ich bin ein Berliner! [in other words, Guys, I'm a 'Berliner' too, or
I'm one of you]
Poor quality photo (above - from newspaper) shows car
#1 on exhibit
in the Belgian capital of Brussels, complete with dummy G-Men aboard
 
I took the above two snapshots in the Belgian Museum
in the eighties (pity about that pillar!)
[ Photos: © 1989, Yann
Saunders - Autoworld
Museum, Brussels].
The second 1938 and 1956 White House security cars formerly on exhibit at the
National Auto Museum in Brussels, Belgium, were sold at auction, in
1998, for around $1,600,000
It is believed they were acquired for the Imperial Palace collection in
Las Vegas
 
Photo: Internet [Imperial Palace, Las Vegas,
NV]
This is car #1, formerly owned by the late Charly de Pauw
Car #2
Although early photos of one of these cars shows
it with the smaller, lower grab handles mounted at the A pillars [windshield frame], both
cars now have the larger, raised handles, as seen on the car used in the November
motorcade. Neither car was used in the film by Oliver Stone that recounted the Kennedy
assassination. So far as I can tell from the movie still (below), the car used was a
customized Series 75 limousine; the small fender lamps used to illuminate the
presidential standards were omitted; the combination siren and flashing red light on the
LH front fender were mounted too far astern and the body was not built inboard of the
front and rear fenders, as it was in the authentic car; that car has also the small,
rectangular grab handles. Article in SSA 1981, p.12-13. Photo McC
p.317-318.
 
Two White House security cars in a single collection,
that of Jack Tallman, Decatur, IL.
Right: my son Jamie (aged 4 at the time), takes a shot at some bad guys
hiding in the trees!
Owned by Wayne Lensing, the car is currently (2005) on display at the Historic
Attractions Museum in Roscoe, IL
 
Photo left: rarely was the top ever put up, but it
was there in case of a sudden downpour. Photo, right:
close-up of the bumper mounted, fold-down step plates and the grab handles used by
the duty G-Men
 
Preceding four photos of car #2: courtesy of Jack Tallman
Jack's car was in the tragic Dallas motorcade, in November, 1963
 
Dallas, TX, November 22, 1963, despite every
precaution taken, president Kennedy
is assassinated... [photo, left]. Right is a still from the movie Kennedy;
you will notice how the movie car is much shorter than the original and
the running boards are mounted outboard of the body sides
Hess & Eisenhardt (USA) Various custom
vehicles for the ambulance and funeral trades like the examples below:
  
  
 
 
This combination hearse-ambulance was copied from a
photo in the collection of the
McSwain & Evans, funeral home in Newberry, SC, courtesy of the management
Hess & Eisenhardt (USA) Skyview
observation coach on the 158" wheelbase. Like the 1955 model, of which six were
built, these 1956 models also were delivered to the exclusive Broadmoor Hotel near Pike's
Peak, Colorado. All were painted Mandan Red and had Pecos beige upper body accents.
There were four large, transparent Plexiglas roof panels on the roof for
sightseeing in the scenic park around the hotel. One of these rare station wagons
was offered for sale at a Kruse auction in Scottsdale, AZ, in January 2001. Although bid
up to $53,000, it was not sold.
Hess & Eisenhardt (USA) This Custom
View Master with roof rack but no imitation wood paneling was photographed at a car
show in the mid-seventies by the late Gene Babow
 
Hess & Eisenhardt Custom View Master
Miller, A.J. (USA) various
vehicles for the funeral industry, like the landau coach below
Miller landau hearse
Meteor (USA) Various custom
vehicles for the ambulance and funeral trades like the examples below:
 
This model was built by the Meteor Motor Car Company
of Piqua, OH
 :
This one was photographed a few years ago in a
junkyard
 
Above: the renowned Crestwood hearse
 
Above two photos, the Meteor side-service coach with
landau styling; the wrap-around
rear corner windows were standard on all Meteor cars except for
the Landau Traditional models and the Envoy flower car
Above, the popular Meteor combination
hearse-ambulance
This flower car too is from the Meteor Motor Car
Company
Superior (USA) various commercial vehicles
for the funeral and ambulance trades, like the examples below:
Above and below: Superior limousine ambulance, with
built-in, "tunnel" roof lights;
The car below appears to have done its time; it now awaits an enthusiastic restorer
Here's a side-loading hearse from a
Superior product catalog of this year
...and here's an ambulance from the same brochure
 
This survivor was offered for sale on Internet in
August, 2004
[Unknown] (probably from
Europe) Fire truck conversion on 1956 Cadillac chassis
[Unknown] (USA?) Converted
ambulance used as a prop by Universal Studios in California?
[Unknown] (USA?) Hi-Top
ambulance; maker unknown
[ Image: Internet, 2008 ]
Visser [meaning
"Fisher", in Dutch] (Holland) Various commercial vehicles (hearses
and ambulances on regular or stretched Cadillac chassis, like this one from 1956. My
friend Dirk-Jan de Jong of Holland wrote: This one is built on a 1956 Cadillac
commercial chassis. At least one of the cars still exists and is (partly) restored by a
guy living near my parents. The construction is partly made from wood. Note the
non-standard windshield. At the start of the seventies it was over for the Cadillac
ambulance as regulations (and money supply) were tightened and a switch was made to the
(Chevy)van-based ambulances.
Visser built an entire new upper body, including the
windshield
[ Photo: "Ambulances in beeld (1945 - 1975)", courtesy Dirk-Jan De
Jong, Holland ]
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