Hot Rods Old Hearses and Ambulances

Specifically late 40s early 50s. This has been bouncing around in my head for years. Why do so many commercial olds, pontiac, cadillac, lincolns, mercurys. chrysler, etc, etc. of this era have manual transmissions ?

 

Power shifting ambulances baby! Gotta get there fast.

 

my guess is most of these vehicles were purchased on a low bidder basis, therefore the suppliers had to omit expensive add upgrades like an automatic.

 

need that granny gear to get that dead weight moving.

My 48 packard hearse will be back in the shop soon, can't weight, been on the back burner too long.

 

Commercial vehicles lived or died by 'ready-to-go-reliability' and 'low maintenance' and back then, automatic transmissions were very much a luxury. Luxuries were (are) fine for the rich but not so much for running a profitable business. Even a rich guy in a hearse is just another type of cargo that simply has to get delivered.

 

When I was in high school, I hitched a ride home with some Manson-family types in a hearse. Although I was not threatened in any way, it was a creepy experience. I've not ridden in one since. If/when I do again, it will be the last time.

 

If you're paying money to drive a car, you have a reason to pay extra for an automatic transmission. But if you're paying someone to drive the car for you, the extra work to shift is just part of his job, so why would you pay extra to make his job easier?

 

I would say/ think because of reliability,
Manual transmissions are pretty brutal/reliable unless you abuse them,

 

Didn't know that. Maybe it helped with unloading.

 

Well... I imagine going from life to the hereafter is quite a... shift.

If you want an auto trans, you have to... urn it.

These puns don't get any better, they get hearse.

 

Never understood the attraction to hearses and ambulances. Neither are any fun to ride in.

 

Of course
I drive a hearse
could be worse
I could be ridin' in the back

And just remember it is hearse not hurst.

 

They are big, heavy commercial chassis, and early automatics weren't up to the task.

 

Not so! But the manual transmission was cheaper.

 

When your shipment absolutely has to be there on time.
Automatics we’re not reliable enough people thought back then. But they knew and trusted the manuals.

 

Class act!

 

Friend of mine had a 1970 Cadillac hearse with a plate that said NO BODY.

 

Absolutely true story- in the mid eighty's, we were running the Super Stock roundy-rounders as they were called around here, late models whatever, tube frame, flat panel bodies, 360 ci limit, alcohol carbs. Had a guy who built chassis in his fab shop, loosely based on a Howe, and had a jig made up on a trench plate. Built a new car for their team every year, and we got last years car, and we always worked and ran together, and he would build a few customers cars every year. He and their driver had grown up together as white boys in Richmond CA, so grew up tough, and the whole bunch was heavy construction/ demolition background. The driver was very good, would always push, multiple track championships at Petaluma, was very popular, good-looking devil with a Cheshire-cat grin, extremely popular. His family always hosted a racer's BBQ for everyone, everybody loved them. So he got himself killed in a highway accident- and I don't remember him ever getting hurt on the track. It was pretty rough, and the turnout for his service was quite large. Get ready for the final ride, and the "family" car won't start... daughters are crying, OMG moment- then the widow laughs and yells out the window "I'm surrounded with goddam mechanics, CAN'T YOU FIX THIS???" Lightened everything up, and one of the guys had driven his company truck with a toolbox, hood open, scrape the battery cables with a jackknife, and it fires up

View attachment 5435560
The Boys- with some knothead wearing his freshly-signed Eddie Hill boat drag t-shirt to a dirt track race- 1984

 

Mr. Childers and his 1953 Pontiac Ambulance

Hello,

As you can see, there were different models of ambulances for daily use and specialty use. This 2 door Pontiac version came from the Dilday Family Mortuary Ambulance Services. It was not a commercial big city ambulance. It was a 2 door version, but met the needs of Lion’s Dragstrip quite well.
Mr. Childers

I found a semi-secret filming area at Lion's Dragstrip that no one else, except one guy with a super telescopic lens on a 35mm camera was using. Over the months I wandered over there, I became friends with Mr. Childers, the famous white Pontiac Ambulance Driver from the local Dilday’s Mortuary Service of Long Beach.


The two brothers in their khaki pants and blue nylon jackets talking with Mr. Childers.
1958-59 Lion's Dragstrip
What was the most exciting spot for taking my drag racing films? Across the dragstrip from the spectator’s side bleachers and not having a chain link fence in front of me. But, wait, that puts me on the other side of the orange tower where the white Pontiac Ambulance was always parked. Yes, that was the secret spot that would be good for maybe 15-20 minutes.

The shots were easier as it was a good background and closer to the action. (I did this enough, to time it, when the security guard would come by and yell at me to get back to the bleachers.) I went over there plenty of times and actually struck up a friendship with Mr. Childers, the ambulance driver from Dilday Mortuary. We became friends from the talks during the break in the action. The sons of the Dilday Mortuary Family went to our local high school during the same time period.
impala tower side from the "secret spot."

Note: When my brother was in the Willys Coupe Accident and the ambulance took him to the hospital, Mr. Childers told me that he would stay at the hospital to keep tabs, until my parents and I came back to the emergency department. Friends help friends in an emergency.

Jnaki

As far as hearses, when we went down to the OC to go surfing, there was a guy we knew who bought a faded black hearse. At first, everyone thought it was cool when he showed up at the beach with his longboard inside. A nice fit and fitting place inside (pun intended) But, after checking out the whole hearse, it felt a little creepy. It would not have mattered if it were painted red and had yellow flames on the front end… it was still not anyone’s thing, except for the owner.

The owner felt it was the coolest surf wagon around, so he did not care if anyone wanted a ride to the beach with him. Actually, no one we knew wanted to ride around with him anywhere. So, we saw him driving by himself every time we saw him at the OC beaches from Seal Beach to San Clemente. When we saw him in the parking lot at the beach and parking lots at the piers, he was the only guy around his hearse wagon.

Later on, he got more attention when he put his longboard on top. Passing motorists waved and thought it was cool. Although, he had cleared out the sliding track inside and put in real seats, they remained empty. The sad thing was, he was always alone going to the beach, while at the beach, and going home.

We all knew who or what was in the back, after attending plenty of sad moments during our time. YRMV
The early hearse and the Lion’s Dragstrip ambulance were both automatic transmission units.

Here is the last film on the tower side taken in 1964. Sorry for the shaky movement. right after the start, the security guard yelled at me and I was shaken out of the drag racing moment. He came over to the spot and said hello to Mr. Childers and then continued to yell at me to “get the he## out of there, before he throws me out of the whole dragstrip…”

1964 Lion's Dragstrip tower ambulance side... Atts Ono vs. Airoso Brothers Willys Coupe race at the All Gas Coupe and Sedan big event.

 

This one is for sale about an hour north of Seattle

 

Here is my 1950 Miller, just installed a rebuilt 331 engine and transmission. Still a long way to go.