Miller-Meteor (USA): as usual, Cadillac delivered
its highly successful commercial chassis to a number of independent coach builders who
continued to design ambulances,. hearses and combination vehicles. One of these is
shown below:
This illustration is from Cadillac's own
merchandising catalog of 1976 professional cars
[ Source: Z. Taylor Vinson collection ]
This survivor was on sale on e-Bay in Fall, 2003
S&S [Hess & Eisenhardt] (USA):
Cadillac continued to deliver its desirable commercial chassis to the four
"giants": Eureka, Hess & Eisenhardt, Miller-Meteor and Superior who
continued to design and build ambulances, funeral coaches and combination vehicles.
One of these is shown below:
This illustration is from Cadillac's own
merchandising catalog of 1976 professional cars
[ Source: Z. Taylor Vinson collection ]
Superior (USA): as usual, Cadillac
delivered its highly successful commercial chassis to a number of independent coach
builders who continued to design ambulances, hearses and combination vehicles. Some of
these are shown below:
This illustration is from Cadillac's own
merchandising catalog of 1976 professional cars
[ Source: Z. Taylor Vinson collection ]
[Unknown, USA] custom "parade boat" on
1975 Cadillac chassis
[Unknown, USA] custom funeral car/ambulance
Conversion from funeral car or ambulance
[ Photos: Internet, 2002 ]
Unknown [USA]: ridiculously
stretched 1976 Eldorado (completed circa 1980); this 22-wheel car was offered for sale on
the Internet in November, 2002.
Front and rear views of the "monster"
Cadillac Eldorado
1976
ASC Customcraft Inc. (USA) With an overall length of
26 feet and 9 inches, this car once held the record [cited in the 1977 Guinness Book of
World Recorrds] of "The Longest Car in the World. It was designed by Leo
Weiser, who founded the Automobile Club of America Driving School in 1935. It was on
show in New York and New Jersey in early 1977 at the Greater New York Auto Show held at
the New York Coliseum. The limousine's upholstered seating section is triple tufted for
assenger comfort; side windows are made of 1-way glass; it has overhead air-conditioning
ventzs, a dome light and recessed wall cabinets for telephones, etc. The
"wyre-basket" wheels were made by Fenton of California.
The record of the "longest Car in the
World" fell the following year to a car that was 40 feet long (1978)
Fleetwood (Cadillac) (USA) Formal sedans and limousines on
long wheelbase chassis:
Usually included in Cadillac's own merchandising
catalogs of professional cars was an illustration, like this one,
of the Cadillac built 7-8 passenger sedans and limousines often seen i n funeral
processions
[ Source: Z. Taylor Vinson collection ]
Miller Meteor (USA) professional car
series, as below
This illustration is from Cadillac's own
merchandising catalog of 1976 professional cars
[ Source: Z. Taylor Vinson collection ]
This surviving Miller-Meteor ambulance
belongs to
Craig and Roseanne Stewart of the Raritan River Region CLC
This one is in Australia and belongs to my friend,
Allan
[ Photo (left): 2008, Warren Hawtin ]
S&S (Hess & Eisenhardt) (USA):
This illustration is from Cadillac's own
merchandising catalog of 1976 professional cars
[ Source: Z. Taylor Vinson collection ]
Park Row combination
Superior (USA): as usual, Cadillac
delivered its highly successful commercial chassis to a number of independent coach
builders who continued to design ambulances, hearses and combination vehicles. Some of
these are shown below:
This illustration is from Cadillac's own
merchandising catalog of 1976 professional cars
[ Source: Z. Taylor Vinson collection ]
These three funeral vehicles are from the 1976 Superior
catalog
A survivor
[Unknown, USA] : So far I have not been able to identify the coachbuilder
of this surviving funeral coach.
Unknown (possibly France) This
converted Seville was used for ambulance transportation in a Paris suburb
Wayne Corporation (Divco-Wayne, formerly Miller-Meteor) (USA)
[formerly listed as "Unknown"] This slightly customized survivor resides in
France. I was contacted in March 2008 by the owner, Xavier Moisson, who identified his car
for me and kindly added this complementary information: A friend and I are founders of a rare, European hearse club. I am
the second owner of this 1976 model with 63K miles;
my friend has a 1974 and a 1978 with a gothic interior. If you want, you can see
them on our website here
and here. Our club is called "The
Corpse Drivers "; we started it when we bought the hearses, last year (2007 ); they
used to be on duty in Belgium but are now retired
from service; the '76 and '74 models were always used together. BTW, the
"custom" chrome side rails are used to hang flower wreaths.
[ Photos: courtesy Xavier Moisson, the owner,
and the American car Club de France (ACCF) ]
[Unknown, USA] This superb hearse was discovered on
the Internet. A Database user sent the following complementary information in May,
2000: Sirs: The hearse listed as unknown in the
Dream Cars 1975-1984 was actually owned by Tombstone Tours and was recently advertised at
a sale price of $30,000 US. Attached are info and pictures taken from the advertiser's
Website. 1976 CUSTOM CADILLAC "CRYPT DE VILLE" HEARSE LIMO Ad Number: 647 Date
Posted: 04/16/2000 Contact: G. Tower Telephone: E-mail: belight@mindspring.com Description:
This modified 10 seat hearse limo is the famous flagship vehicle from TOMBSTONE TOURS. You
may have seen this show stopper on CNN News, ABC Television, People Magazine and dozens of
other TV stations and newspapers and magazines throughout the world. Equipped with a
bronze casket couch, granite tombstones, neon, painted canvas headliner, and one of a kind
options that make this a steal at only $30,000. A real head turner in immaculate condition
throughout. 50K original miles. Serious inquiries only Please visit our Website for
pictures http://www.up4sale.com/images/crypt/casket.html
