Recently we
have talked to many paramedics across Manitoba and found out that few know
anything about there history beyond about 1980. As most Professional Cars
were long gone, they asked many questions. We thought that a History page
would help secure these vehicles in our minds and you would see why this
Project is Your History for You
Professional
Cars
A
professional car is loosely defined as a custom-bodied vehicle, based on
passenger car styling, and used in the funeral, rescue or livery services.
Such vehicles may be hearses, flower cars, service cars, ambulances,
limousines, or cars which are special built to combine two or more of
these different functions, such as combination hearse-ambulances, sedan
ambulances or invalid coaches. These body styles are all hand built. The
commercial chassis and the front and rear clips of these cars are the only
thing they have in common with their factories of origin. The roof, glass,
and doors are all manufactured by expert craftsmen. Next time you pass by
a hearse or a limousine, study the design, and see the designers are able
to maintain fluid proportions on such a long wheelbase. For many
professional car enthusiasts, these vehicles are the epitome of automobile
design. http://www.professionalcar.org/procar.html
Where
Did They Go and Why
For the parent automobile
industry, the early to mid 1970’s was marked by a series of Middle East
oil scares, frightening national fuel shortages, long lines at the gas
pumps and – consequently – the US federally mandated ‘downsizing’
of all US passenger cars.
The auto industry wasn’t the only business impacted by burgeoning
government regulation. Sweeping new federal standards, which for the first
time regulated ambulance design, equipment carried, and – most
importantly – the training and qualifications of the men and women who
staffed them, would ultimately displace the soft riding, luxury passenger
car type ambulance, which had been the accepted standard of emergency
patient transport in America for nearly three quarters of a century.
By 1974, three major players representing four brands
remained building professional cars:
-
Divco-Wayne, which manufactured Miller-Meteor and
Cotner-Bevington;
-
Sheller-Globe, which manufactured
Superior
, and;
-
Hess & Eisnenhardt (S&S).
Veterans
Prince Cotner Bevington Oldsmobile
These companies continued to build and market passenger car based
ambulances as a profitable sideline to their core hearse manufacturing
business. A significant number of their funeral coach customers continued
to provide ambulance service to their communities – thus the dual
purpose combination funeral coach/ambulance remained one of the most
popular models in every manufacturer’s professional car lineup.
The
new era starts
A number of new names –
Horton,
Springfield
and Modular among them – had sprung up and were doing a booming business
turning out practical, price competitive ambulances on light duty truck
chassis. It is important to note that these new enterprises built
ambulances and ambulances only.
They did not make funeral coaches or combinations.
City of Winnipeg Modulance
The 1975 and 1976 Cadillac
ambulances were the last of the really ‘big’ ones. Powered by
Cadillac’s 500 cubic inch V8 engine, the CZ90 commercial chassis sported
the square headlight units, which wrapped in a continuous band around the
front corners of the car into the turn and parking lights.
The oil scares of 1973 and
1974-1975 had a chilling effect on the
US
auto industry. Overnight, market demand for small cars skyrocketed while
the big, gas hungry V8s Americans had always loved languished on dealer
lots. Faced with tough, new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE)
standards the Big Three auto companies knuckled down to design, develop
and place into production an entirely new generation of smaller, lighter
and more fuel efficient cars. Stepping up to the plate, industry leader
General Motors pledged to ‘downsize’ all of its full size passenger
cars for the 1977 model year. And downsize they did. The 1977 Chevrolets,
Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles, Buicks and Cadillacs were all significantly
smaller, lighter and more fuel efficient than the 1976 models which they
replaced.
The ambulance side of the
professional car industry was especially hard hit. The
US
federal government’s tough new ‘KKK’ ambulance specifications gave
Superior
, M-M, C/B and Hess & Eisenhardt a massive disincentive to continue to
build and market passenger car based ambulances. (Adapted from, The
American Ambulance - An Illustrated History 1900-2002, Walter McCall,
pages 115-119)
For 1977, the Cadillac
commercial chassis was down-sized and smaller, to reduce vehicle weight
and fuel consumption. The Division built 1,299 of these special,
lengthened units.
Originally built for
Omaha Ambulance Services, Inc., this 1978 Miller-Meteor Lifeliner is the
very last Cadillac ambulance made by the
Piqua
,
Ohio
firm. The car was completed on Thursday, April 20, 1978 and was M-M body
number 78141. It was painted in
Omaha
's unique livery scheme of Cotillion white over Citation bronze, the
latter a 1974 Oldsmobile color.
Miller-Meteor built
only 21 Lifeliner Cadillac ambulances that year. For 1978, commercial
chassis production further declined, to only 852 units. Miller-Meteor
received orders for only 4 ambulances. This particular car, now owned by
PCS President Martin J. Schmeisser, was number 4 of 4. It is the only
known 1978 survivor. No 1979 Miller-Meteor ambulances appeared and sadly,
on December 13, 1979, the company, with roots tracing back to 1853, closed
its doors. Today, the name has been revived, where a firm in
Norwalk
,
Ohio
is producing a line of funeral coaches and limousines on Cadillac and
Lincoln chassis.
This
ambulance listed for $29,000 and is presently equipped with assorted
trauma and medical equipment. Capable of transporting three patients, the
car has a 52-inch patient headroom area. Powered by Cadillac's 425
cubic-inch V-8 engine, the ambulance measures 244 inches in length, weighs
7,500 pounds, and will consume 24 gallons (100+ liters)* of premium fuel.
*On July
21, 2005 the Restoration Unit was filled up for the first time in probably
25 years. The bill for 107 liters?
$100.00
They are
Gone BUT Never Forgotten
Miller-Meteor built
only four ambulances in 1978 and none in 1979; they ceased operations
completely after 1979.
Superior
was the last to give up on the market. The company made ten ambulances in
1979, their final year of ambulance production.
On February 19, 1980,
Dr. Roger D. White received
Superior
's last ambulance at their factory in
Lima
,
Ohio
. The retail price of the rig was $32,000. Dr. White bought the ambulance
solely as a collector car; he says the car "has never carried a
patient, and is driven only under ideal summer weather conditions."
Dr. White knows who bought the other nine ambulances
Superior
made that year, and where they were originally put in service. He does not
know where those cars are now. "That's another project!," he
says. In 1999, this vehicle was "adopted" by Dr. David Richards.
The Last Ones
Thanks
to the Professional Car Society for the information,
