|
|
|
1956 CADILLAC-METEOR LIMOUSINE MODEL 560 AMBULANCE/HEARSE
It's probably safe to say, collectors over the past decade have not placed Ambulances & Hearses on the Top of their "Must Have List" until NOW. These great, old, hand-built Professional Service Cars have been coming on really strong in value (just watch the auctions)... many are purchased from Overseas as "The Ultimate Yank Tank". For us, each has a unique history and deserve recognition for not only the great service they provided in our lives but, the fact they were all completely / individually custom made by the different Coach Builders. History shows us that unlike the 'usual' collectible classic cars, most have been crushed at the wrecking yard and made into Kelvinator Refrigerators (or worse). The result: diminished numbers = higher value on the Classic Car Food Chain.
By the mid-50's there were only a handful of Professional Coach Builders left in America; Superior, Eureka, Meteor Motor Car Co., A.J. Miller, and Hess & Eisenhart (S&S). 1956 would be the Last Coach Building Days under the Meteor Co. banner as they were acquired by Wayne Works-Divco which eventually became Miller & Meteor. Packard and the Henney Corporation were already 'history' so, faced with a choice of ONE coach builder; all these custom coaches were built on Cadillac's Extended 8680S Frame. As far as the history of this particular coach, our research shows it was delivered in 1956 to the Central Mountain District and it was serviced by Quantrell Cadillac at 163 West 6th St. in St. Paul Minnesota (receipts show a service at 37,150 miles on 4/6/62). It soon found it's way to a Fire Dept. in Altura (Winona County), Minnesota, near the Wisconsin border (population in 1956; was 493). It likely led a sheltered life in the Fire House and saw little use in that small town....mostly occasional house fires, and auto accidents at Route 61, State Road 248 or on Main Street. It's really in amazing condition, retaining most of it's original rear-cabin interior and much of it's original equipment. It has traveled only 86,000 miles over the last 55 years (1,563 miles per year) and has seen ownership from MN. to GA., TN. to NJ, CO. and Oregon....much of it, under title from members of Professional Car Organizations. It has been lavished with a motor rebuild, complete tune-up, transmission, new carburetor, drivers compartment interior, brakes, suspension, fuel system, cooling , re-chrome, electrical upgrade + alternator, custom matched Interior upgrade, paintwork & exhaust rebuild....and now, re-restored by us over the last 4 months.
The Great News is: the time has finally come when the A.A.C.A. and other National Car Clubs are honoring these full-service coaches, even designating them with their own 'Commercial Class' on the show field. Judging by the late, date coded VIN numbered motor ( which follows the same sequence as the chassis VIN # on vintage Cadillac's) and coupled with the Coach builders sequential serial number, one can easily speculate it was one of the last (or the Last) Ambulance/ Combination Coaches built under the Meteor Motor Car Company nameplate.
This coach is finished in "Alpine White" over "Mandan Red" with a two-tone "Taupe Gold" and "Sienna Brown Poly" Interior. It carries the original Cadillac 365 c.i. V8 / 285 hp Hydramatic Transmission, Radio delete, Heater, Power Steering & Power Brakes. Weighing in at a stealth 6,280 lbs and stretching (including 'Dagmar' Bumpers) nearly 22 feet long, this Highway Behemoth is loaded with Coachbuilt Options: Two-Tone Paint, Dash Mounted Compact Instrument Panel for Auxiliary Lighting / Equipment(upgraded), (2) Rear Bullet Emergency Lights, (2) Red Spot lamps, Roof-Mounted Siren-Lite (Model 20) Siren and Federal Beacon Ray Emergency Lights (Model 173), Disappearing Hooks for Aux. Stretchers, Adjustable Cam Lock & Safety Hook, Rear Door Chrome Step Plate, Wide Whitewall Tires and 3- Patient or Passenger Capability... which includes the (2) Jump seats. Lest we forget, it is also fitted with a Storage Cabinet & a restored period Ferno-Washington Gurney. It is our plan to add the Vintage Resuscitator, original IV Bottles, Hook & Rack, (2) Type- E Oxygen Bottles on cradle, First Aid Medic Bag, Manual Resuscitator, Red Emergency Cot Blanket, Vintage Door "Ambulance" Signs, and more. We even saw fit to buy & cosmetically restore 'old' both, a vintage Motorola Police FM Band 2-way and GE VHF Radio, w/ period Microphones & Antenna for that final touch.
She just left the restoration shop now and judging by the bills (over 100 man hours spent). SORRY, JUST SOLD! 
|
|
STOCK/INV. NUMBER:
SOLD
|
|
