1965
Cadillac Commercial Cars: The three
illustrations below are from the annual Cadillac catalog of commercial vehicles. Not shown
is the magnificent Fleetwood Seventy-Five limousine from the Cadillac factory.
Hess & Eisenhardt (USA) Various
commercial vehicles for the funeral and ambulance trades, under the renowned S&S
label, like the example below:
The S&S Parkway model
S&S Park Row combination
coach
S&S Park Hill combination
coach
S&S Victoria funeral coach
Miller Meteor, USA] Classic
limousine; the standard "airliner" drapes on the model below [found on
the Internet] have been tied together in a fashion which wasn’t common on those cars
when new.
Superior (USA) Various commercial
vehicles for the ambulance and funeral trades, like the examples below. The red Royale
ambulance with black roof (below) was used in the '66 Superior ambulance catalog, in a
photo that was airbrushed to make it look like a ‘66 model, sans the Mars
888 lights atop the fenders. This particular car has many unusual features about it that
aren’t typical of a Superior-Cadillac, such as the side facing front
attendant’s seat and extra large partition cabinet. It was custom built for a fire
department in the suburban Chicago area, which explains the color scheme [source: Bernie
De Winter].
 
Possibly the Royale ambulance
pictured on p.297 of Thomas
McPherson's book Superior, the Complete History; this car is a 19,000-mile,
mint original, including the original paint; my friend Sarah, from Cleveland, OH, said
this vehicle had been owned
since new by Bob, a resident of the Chicago suburbs; professional car enthusiast and
expert, Bernie De Winter disagrees;
he says that the vehicle was
originally owned by the Clarendon Hills Fire Department. Two opinions are always
better than one!
 
Illustrations in the above two rows are from a Superior
product catalog for the 1965 models
Crown Royale limousine style hearse, like the one pictured
on p.295 of
Thomas McPherson's book Superior, the Complete History.
 
I believe this nice survivor is a Crown Royale
limousine-hearse
Although it looks like a landaulet, this Crown
Sovereign is actually
a limousine with optional, removable landau panels (on which the imitation
landau bars have been mounted the wrong way round)
This Coupe de Fleur flower car is owned by
Bill Donnell of Greenville, IL;
the rear wheel openings have been modified to eliminate the fender skirts;
this modification wasn’t at all typical of a Superior-Cadillac.
[ Photo: Internet, 1999 ]
Here's another Superior-designed flower car; this one
is mentioned in the book
by Thomas A. McPherson, "American Funeral Cars and Ambulances Since 1900";
it belongs to Stanley Sipko of Dupont, PA and is believed to be 1 of 12 built
[ Photo: © 2007 and courtesy Stanley Sipko Jr. ]
Possibly another survivor from Superior
Visser [meaning
"Fisher", in Dutch] (Holland) Various commercial vehicles (hearses
and ambulances on regular or stretched Cadillac chassis, like this one from 1965. My
friend Dirk-Jan de Jong wrote: This ambulance is made on a 1965 Cadillac commercial
chassis. As you can see the model design has not changed much from the 1956 model. This
car has also a non standard windshield, which appears to be almost flat! This car served
for the ambulance services of Utrecht. In the sixties, the ambulance services of the big
cities had almost unlimited money and could therefore drive cars like these (which were
very expensive by Dutch standards of the time). At the start of the seventies it was all
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 ]
1966
Hess & Eisenhardt [see
S&S, below] (USA) Various commercial vehicles for the funeral and
ambulance trades.
Year: 1966 (Item #B12862) -
Click for photo! View 1
HESS & EISENHARDT (Cadillac Fleetwood), "Of Course . . .": 48 page
(single-side printed) non-color folder, 6x12. Folder opens to huge, 36x48, poster style
layout with forty-eight photographs showing exterior, interior and features of the Hess
& Eisenhardt S&S Professional High Body, Kensington and Parkway Ambulances, with
discussion and specifications.
Miller-Meteor (USA) like other
manufacturers of commercial vehicles for the hospital and funeral trades, this one built a
limited series of such vehicles. Some examples are shown below. The
illustrations are drawn from the factory sales literature for that year, which was the
first year the Citation was offered. The first car shown was an end loading
hearse.
Miller Meteor: Citation, 3-way, end-loader
or combination coach
Styling details: non-functional, purely
decorative landau bars (left), molding roof arch (right)
Luxurious interior appointments
 
 
Miller Meteor: Classic Limousine,
end-loading hearse/ambulance, shown with optional removable landau panels; 1966 was
the only year that Miller-Meteor ever listed such a car described in the catalog as the landau-limousine,
though the car in question was available for many years; it is a common misconception that
removable landau panels were standard equipment on limousine combination coaches, and that
all limousine style hearses were combination coaches; while landau panels were most
commonly found on such coaches, a few straight hearses, including one '66 Miller-Meteor
3 way, were so equipped
This beautiful "Patty Hearse" (!) belongs
to the equally beautiful,
young enthusiast, Sarah, of Cleveland, OH
 
Like a Phoenix risen from its ashes...
 
The model is MM's Classic
Limousine combination or Duplex; it may be used in ambulance, hearse or limousine
format,
with or without the panel inset over the quarter windows; in the ambulance
configuration (above), it features the optional
Federal Beacon Ray, in addition to a pair of optional Miller-Meteor
Full Vue demountable beacons
[ for more detailed views and a history of the car's restoration, visit the owner's Web site ]
 
In limousine or hearse configuration, it is featured
again, with and without the quarter window insert panels
 
The interior is just as
stunning as the exterior
1 2
Miller-Meteor exclusive Convert-A-Floor, for
combination coaches;
tables flip over to conceal or expose casket rollers (1); attendants' seats fold into
floor (2)
The combination car floor illustrations show
a car with what was commonly known as a Foster Floor, named after the dealer who
devised such a feature. It was only advertised in sales literature that one model year,
but a number of cars were sold by that dealer over the years with that particular floor
option. The ambulance floor under the "Insert-a-floor", below, also has an
optional under-floor stretcher compartment [source: Bernie De Winter].
1 2
3 4
Miller-Meteor exclusive Insert-A-Floor,
optional in combination coaches; (1) functional partition has linen
compartment (above) and dispensary cabinet (below), (2) side-facing attendant seat was
optional, (3) and (4) casket rollers fit precisely on top of ambulance floor
Miller Meteor: limousine combination in ambulance
form, identified in that year's catralog as a Landau-Limousine
This vehicle was just a limousine combination coach with optional removable landau
panels
1
2 3
4
Accessories included add-on dispensary cabinet (1),
mobile-oxygen compartment (2),
air-circulation booster (3) and control panel for heater controls, dome light and optional
ash tray (4)
 
Miller Meteor: Paramount Landau, 3-way,
end-loader, combination coach or ambulance (latter had white
cross in lieu of landau bows); comfortable front seat (right) already had
seat-belt anchors
The car shown is the end-loading funeral car.
A survivor
 
Miller Meteor: Landau Traditional, 3-way,
end-loader, combination coach or ambulance (latter had white cross
in lieu of traditional, decorative landau bows); wide-opening doors (right)
are trimmed in deluxe, deep-fluted upholstery
The illustration shows the car as a 3 way, evidenced by the
door hinging
Miller Meteor: Classic Limousine, 3-way,
end-loader, combination coach or ambulance
The model illustrated is the end loader
Miller Meteor: Flower Car, a stylish way to
lead a funeral procession
This is an Embassy flower car with a 22 1/2" deck height, while the
interior photos (below) show a flower car with a 25 1/2" deck height
 
(Left) Flower decks are raised and lowered
electrically
(Right) Stainless steel tray, side rails, interior walls and floor
Miller Meteor: Classic ambulance with
42" inner roof height
(Left) Spacious, comfortable, washable ambulance
interior; air-conditioning and
window shades were standard (Center and right) door panels and front seat finish
Standard dash-mounted, illuminated electrical console
(was optional in combination car)
Miller Meteor: Classic ambulance with
48" inner roof height
 
Miller Meteor ambulances: Paramount (left), Volunteer
(right)
Pollmann (Bremen,
Germany) Custom hearse on Fleetwood Series 75 chassis; conversion
done by well-known Conrad Pollmann factory of Bremen. It was built for the Grieneisen
funeral home of Berlin in 1966 and is still in use for special funerals of the German
government [this info from German custom Cadillac enthusiast and hearse expert, Ingo Marx,
April 2002].
S&S [Hess & Eisenhardt]
(USA)
This is an unusual S&S Victoria with
metal back roof and 3-way table; it was built for the Vaughn funeral home in
Parkersburg, West Virginia; a padded top was standard on all S&S Victoria
models and its removal, on this car, cost the client more money [correction supplied
kindly by Bernie De Winter]; my friend Sarah, from Cleveland, OH, tells me the car is
owned by Tim, a PCS member from Indiana [photo: PCS International Meet, Grand Rapids, MI,
2003]
Superior (USA) Various
commercial vehicles for the ambulance and funeral trades, like the examples below:
These illustrations of ambulance layouts are drawn
from that year's product catalog
 
Superior Cadillac Rescuer ambulance; right, a
survivor in the New Millennium
Above three rows: Sovereign limousine
combination coach (lower photos show the car fitted with red, ambulance dome light); my
friend Sarah, from Cleveland, OH, tells me
this survivor is owned by Matt, a PCS member (like Sarah) from Missouri
Superior Crown Royale
funeral car
 
Crown Royale survivor offered for sale on
Internet in August, 2004
 
 
 
Above three rows: Cadillac Royale flower
car, known as the Coupe de Fleur
[ Bottom row photos: © 2002, J. Scott Harris ]
Not quite the same condition but a survivor
nonetheless
Visser [meaning
"Fisher", in Dutch] (Holland) Various commercial vehicles (hearses
and ambulances on regular or stretched Cadillac chassis, like this one from 1966. My
friend Dirk-Jan de Jong wrote: This is a 1966 model which is special in that it
was built on a regular, non-commercial Cadillac chassis. It started its life as a normal Sedan
De Ville, being used for weddings etc. After a few years of service it was
converted to an ambulance, a practise quite common with some big taxi companies in those
days. At the start of the seventies it was all 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
[ Photo: "Ambulances in beeld (1945 - 1975)", courtesy Dirk-Jan de
Jong, Holland ]
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