1962
Commercial car chassis for 1962
Eureka (USA) Various
commercial cars for the ambulance and funeral trades, like the examples below:
The Landau, side-servicing funeral car
The Combination limousine
The standard ambulance
Eureka "Hi-Boy" ambulance (67" o.a.
height)
Miller-Meteor (USA) Various
commercial vehicles on the Cadillac commercial chassis including ambulances, hearses and
flower cars similar to the model below. Professional car enthusiast, Bernie de Winter, has
been of great help identifying some of the "unknowns" in these pages; I just
hope I put the corrections in the right places.
Miller-Meteor combination hearse-ambulance
  
 
 
   
   
  
This beautiful survivor was offered for sale on Ebay
in Dec., 2007
[ Photos: Internet ]
Possibly a Miller Meteor survivor ...
in restorable condition
S&S (Hess & Eisenhardt) (USA)
Various commercial vehicles on the Cadillac commercial chassis including ambulances,
hearses and flower cars similar to the model below
The Superline Victoria
(Left) The Superline Park Row (combination);
(right) The Superline Park Way (ambulance)
Superior (USA) Various commercial cars for
the funeral and ambulance trades; a typical example is shown below:
Superior Crown
Royale Combination Car for 1962
[ Photo: Internet, 2012 ]
A survivor located on the Internet; the car has been
properly identified
by Bernie De Winter as a Superior Sovereign limousine combination coach
(Unidentified)
(USA)
Combination car
1963
Cadillac (USA) These creations on
the Cadillac commercial chassis are "nothing" cars drawn by the company to
include most elements of all commercial cars by their various builders, to avoid
insulting any one of them. Such "combination" cars were used in Cadillac's
commercial car catalogs and ad campaigns.
Eureka (USA) Miscellaneous
commercial vehicles such as ambulances, hearses and flower cars [like the model below:
Eureka Landau
 
Two rear views of a Eureka hearse model; my
friend Sarah, from Cleveland, OH,
tells me that this 2-tome survivor is owned by PCS member Darlene, of Chicago, IL
Thanks to Bernie De Winter for identifying
this one as a Eureka limousine combination
Köng, W.E. (Switzerland)
ambulance {HW collection***}. Köng built similar ambulance bodies on the 1959
and 1960 chassis [see above].
 
Poor photo (left) is from video clip I took in August
1984 on the occasion of the first International Cadillac Meet
I organized in Geneva, Switzerland; the 1959 Köng ambulance also was present
(behind the '63 model in that photo)
Miller-Meteor (USA) Various
commercial vehicles on the Cadillac commercial chassis including ambulances, hearses and
flower cars similar to the model below. Professional car enthusiast, Bernie de Winter, has
been of great help identifying some of the "unknowns" in these pages; I just
hope I put the corrections in the right places.
 
Left: Miller Meteor Paramount landau (first
year for this model, made through 1969)
This Classic limousine combination survivor
(2nd year of production)
This survivor was offered for sale, in the mid-seventies, for
$995!
I'm guessing that this survivor is one
of the Miller-Meteor creations
This one looks like it has 1959
Cadillac tail-light lenses for emergency roof lights!
S&S (Hess & Eisenhardt) (USA)
Various commercial vehicles on the Cadillac commercial chassis including ambulances,
hearses and flower cars similar to the model below
 
Catalog illustration (left) and S&S
Park Row combination coach survivor (right)
Superior (USA) Various commercial
vehicles on the Cadillac commercial chassis including ambulances, hearses and flower cars
similar to the model below
Superior Sovereign landaulet, 3-way hearse
 
The Superior 48"-inch Royale rescue
ambulance that sold for $11,227; the beautiful
survivor at left belongs to Dave, a PCS member from Belmar, NJ [thanks for the tip,
Sarah];
the survivor at the right has not yet been identified
Superior Royale 42" ambulance
 
Superior flower car / hearse survivor; one of
28 built in 1963; features include "suicide doors", flat top rear visor
fiberglass roof, hydraulic stainless drop panel on the rear deck and high profile
rear bed/rear door to accommodate a casket
[ Photos: CLC Forum, courtesy David Link ]
[Unknown, USA] Ugly, stretched 6-wheel station wagon with chopped roof and
tinted glass all round. Definitely a Mafia staff car! [photos] A very similar car was built on the 1967 Cadillac
chassis.
Versteegen (Netherlands)
Cadillac aficionado, Jo Thewissen of Holland sent me in December 1999 a series of photos
of custom Cadillac ambulances and hearses built in the forties, fifties and sixties, built
by this relatively unknown Dutch coach-builder. The photo below is typical of that
coach-builder's styling. Thanks for the pics and the information, Jo.
1964
Carrosserie Gummarus Docx (Belgium)
custom hearse, conversion from De Ville convertible. The current owner,
Christophe Barat, a friend and Cadillac enthusiast from France, wrote: Here's a photo
of a car [more like the remains of a car] for your collection; I liked the story
so much that I bought the wreck, even though there's nothing much I can do with it. This
De Ville convertible was sold new, in Belgium, in 1964. In 1970 kit was acquired by a
Belgian funeral home that had it converted to a hearse (at considerable expense); a roof
was added to the car, as also a hatchback rear door made up from the trunk lid. The
rear body was cut and welded to form a flat floor. The hearse was used for about 15 years
in Belgium then sold (through the classifieds) to a Frenchman who decided to convert
it back to its original design. He searched all over Europe and the USA for the required
parts including the entire rear body which he had welded back on the car. Then he
did nothing more. The "car" was left unattended for 10 years. He tired of
looking at it and decided to sell it. One of me friends bought it with the intention of
parting it out. I heard about the story and decided to buy the lot. The logo of the
funeral home is still visible on the doors. What am I going to do with this basket case
(ha-ha!) For the time being it is just laying in the back of my hangar. I thought
you would be interested in this story. If you think it might interest readers of the Self-Starter,
let me know and I'll ask you to do the translation [done. Christophe!]
Christophe sent these two photos; the B&W one is from a Xerox copy of a classified as
in 1984, at the time the previous French collector bought it. This car was first
registered in Belgium on January 10, 1964. It was sold April 7, 1970 for 155.250BFr [circa
$3,000] and converted to a hearse by September 9, 1970 at a cost of 94.963BFr
[circa $1900]. The prior French owner bought it on January 18, 1984 after seeing it
in a classified ad; he acquired a convertible parts car and began re-conversion work in
September 1985. My friend, Christophe, bought the "car" in March, 2002.
 
Left: the only known photo of the car (and a poor
one) when it was used as a hearse
Right: the remains of what was once a '64 De Ville convertible, then a hearse,
then again a convertible
[ Photos: courtesy Christophe Barat, France - owner ]
Derham (USA) One of the last jobs done by
the Rosemont-based company of Pennsylvania was this armored, 1964 Cadillac "Series
75" limousine. The company records do not show who the client was.
Note the ugly, but bullet-proof windshield treatment
[ Photo: Derham Archives - CCCA Museum ]
Eureka (USA) various ambulances, hearses
and flower cars (selection below)
A survivor found on the Internet
Eureka 3-way Landau hearse
Eureka rear-way limousine hearse
Eureka Hi-Boy ambulance
Miller-Meteor (USA) various ambulances,
hearses and flower cars (selection below)
Classic limousine combination coach
 
  
The tragedy of President
Kennedy's assassination in Dallas, TX, on November 22, 1963, will remain forever fresh in
the public consciousness.
This the Miller Meteor "Duplex" model (body #1) that drove deceased
President Kennedy from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Air Force One
at Love Field. Originally built for show at the National Funeral Home Directors
Association Convention, held in Dallas in October 1963,
the O'Neal funeral home in Dallas took delivery of the vehicle following the show.
It is car #1 of the 1964 Miller-Meteor production
[ Photos: Internet ]
Miller Meteor Paramount Landau
hearse
 
 
Above two rows: the Classic style
limousine ambulances
Immediately above, a survivor found on the Internet
Miller-Meteor 42-inch ambulance
Embassy flower car with 22.5" deck
height ( available also with a deck height of 25.5",
the latter being able to accommodate a casket in the rear compartment, below the
deck)
Classic 42" headroom ambulance
  
Left: Classic limousine; right: Landau
Traditional with 3-way table
 
Embassy flower car with 22.5" deck
height
[ Photos: Internet, 4/2000 ]
 
The owner of this superb survivor says he
prefers the 1961 Cadillac wheel covers to those issued in 1963 and 1964
Classic limousine
combination with removable landau panels
Hess & Eisenhardt (USA) Custom Series
75 limousine for Mrs. Marjorie Merriweather Post, heiress to the Post cereal empire [SS
5/2001, pp.12-13]. H&E had tried their hand already at a
"Hi-Top" limousine like this one in 1960,
when they built one for Mrs. Du Pont of the Du Pont de Nemours chemicals empire.
A modification like this almost doubled the cost of the regular Series 75
limousine, from $13,026 to $26,000! I find the rear roof design downright ugly
In addition to the roof modification, the car has
also non-original front bumper guards
[Photo: courtesy Frank del Monte, Jr. and the CLC
Self Starter]
S&S [Hess & Eisenhardt] (USA)
various ambulances, hearses and flower cars (selection below)
 
 
Left: Park Hill (with padded top); right: Park
Row (with plain painted roof)
Victoria landau
Victoria landau
survivor
This surviving Park Row model looks like it
needs a new front bumper
S&S Hi-Boy
Superior (USA) hearse, SSA92,
p.34
Selection of "Superior" professional
cars for 1964
Superior Crown Royale landaulet with 3-way
table
 
Beautiful Crown Royale survivor
This fine Crown Sovereign
survivor belongs to Deb Rawaillot
who kindly supplied the photo; it was delivered originally to the
REHR-Kaiser funeral home in Kankakee, IL, on July 10, 1964;
the base price of this model at the time was $12,020;
the car features Lev-L-Matic
Crown Sovereign landau hearse
Possibly the same model as above,
despite slight changes in decorative chrome accents
[ Photo: Internet ]
Royale limousine hearse
Superior Rescuer high-top ambulance survivor on the
Internet
Superior flower car
[Superior used the same, basic "Professional Car" styling and engineering
on all their vehicles, from 1957 to 1964, although it evolved during that time
frame,
with major styling differences noticeable particularly in 1959, 1961 and 1963]
[Unknown, USA?] The lines
of this survivor are similar to those of the Superior combination
hearse-lmousine; but, in doubt, let's call it an "unknown".
[Unknown, USA?] Custom Series
75 limousine with padded top and small rear window ŕ la Derham.
Fleetwood offered a car like this in 1965; it featured imitation landau cars on the rear
quarter panels
[Unknown, USA] chopped-top Cadillac
ambulance
Enthusiast, Bernie De Winter says: obviously it's
a photo that’s been modified
using a computer program, and the car is an S&S Park Row or Park
Hill. It’s hard
to tell if it had a padded top at one time from that photo, but it’s obvious
that cutting
a commercial windshield would be next to impossible without breaking it
Unknown, USA] Custom Series 75
limousine with Derham-type, leather-covered roof; roofline similar to 1960
H&E limousine described above [tall and angular]. Photo McC p.355
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