Ambulette, Ambulet

OK, folks, here’s a bit of a problem that has come up several times in recent weeks on here. It’s the use of the term “Ambulette”.

The term “ambulette” does not mean “cute little ambulance”, and it should not be used as a generic term to apply to any short ambulance. Those are either station wagon ambulances, sedan delivery ambulances, or short-wheelbase ambulances. In the South, they were sometimes referred to as “hotshots”.

An “ambulette” is a term for a New York City stretcher van. Basically, it’s a vehicle for transporting bedridden people on a one-man stretcher, but it doesn’t have any ambulance equipment, oxygen, or lights and sirens, and it’s not staffed by EMT’s, only a single driver. It’s not an ambulance. (Other places do have stretcher vans, but the term “ambulette” doesn’t seem to be used elsewhere.)

A company called Keefe & Keefe in New York briefly built and sold sedan ambulances in the late 40’s. They did use the term “Ambulette” in their vehicle sales advertising. Keefe & Keefe also operated “ambulette” service and since they were located in New York City, that’s likely how the name came about.

The National Pontiac ambulance that’s for sale is referred to by the museum selling it as an “Ambulette”. That’s not correct. I know they are the ones who misused the term, not PCS forum members, but some of our members have reposted the mistaken term and so are perpetuating the museum's error. Similarly, there is a club member who has customized a sedan delivery ambulance and now calls it an “Ambulette” and that’s not correct either.

My Studebaker ambulance is an “Ambulet” (no “-te” on the end). This was a trademarked term of Studebaker’s and that term should only refer to Studebaker Ambulets.

(Similarly, not every ambulance wagon is an “Amblewagon”. That word was a trademarked name for products of the Automotive Conversion Corp. (ACC). Many wagon ambulances built in the ‘60’s were ACCs so the term would be appropriate for them, but not for products of other companies or home-made station wagon ambulances. And not all sedan ambulances are “Sedambulances”, only those built by McClintock.)

We are the club that is supposed to be documenting the history of professional cars, so we need to be extra careful not to change that history by misusing a term because someone thinks it sounds cute.
 
Ambulette

It was also National's model name for their OWB (original wheelbase, or non-stretched) sedan delivery ambulance conversions, as seen in the ad below. Therefore, I would say the currently advertised Pontiac is correctly listed as an Ambulette:
 

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tutorial

Steve,
Thank you for the tutorial on the Ambulet and Ambulette names. That clears it up for me. One of the local private medical haulers here has the word Ambulette on all their vans. They have lots of lights but I am not sure about the sirens. Never saw or heard a siren on one of them.
Now about that 'hotshot'? Is there more on that? Here (in southwesten Ohio) if you say Hotshot you are talking about a Crosley automobile from the 50s or a type of blue plate special at the local 'greasy spoon'.
I would have included a picture of a Crosley but all I find are copyrighted.
Mike
 
Hi Steve, In Cleveland alot of private ambulance companys ran and still tun an ambulette, but, in Cleveland, an ambulette is a non emergency vehicle always used for wheelchair transport. Vans equipped with lifts and a high headroom are the norm. EMT personel are used for the transport but, that is a matter of competition between companys not a requirement. The Donald Martens ambulance company is the last Cleveland company still using ambulettes and their vans are made for them byAccubuilt in Lima Ohio and the Wayne Difco Corp. This company operates 92 modular type trucks as the EMT staffed ambulances and if all the ambulette trucks are busy, they will send out a regular ambulance...captainvideo.
 
Well, OK, I went off on a bit of a rant and I guess I'm the one that's wrong. I never heard of the term "Ambulette" advertised by National. So then you're right, Steve, the museum is correct in using that name. And I hadn't heard the term "ambulette" used elsewhere for a wheelchair van....

Thanks.
 
St. Francis Hospital in Hartford CT has signs stating ambulance and ambulette parking only which I find humorous because Connecticut does NOT allow ambulettes or stretcher vans. Though a certain element of the livery business has been lobbying the state to change that.
 
the problem is any name that rolls off the tongue nicely get tossed about spelled in a number of creative ways by different people so it sounds the same. I still like the tearm jetterbug for the standard or origional wheel base sedan deliverys. like sedan ambulance a lot of them built on different type of chassis but only one compeny making the sedambulance. any one got a cast or stamped scrip saying ambulette
 

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Steve,
Now about that 'hotshot'? Is there more on that?

In funeral home ambulance terms, a "hot shot" or "emergency" was a handle given to station wagons and sedan deliveries that were used primarily for emergency calls.

Here are Randall Noe ads from the January and December, 1965 issues of Morticians of the Southwest magazine. The cars listed as "emergency" are station wagon ambulances. It's interesting to note that he lists the older Comet cars as Cotner/Bevingtons:
 

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Mr. Loftin's post was entirely correct and he beat me to the punch. Mt. Lichtman is also correct. Using these terms correctly is important as we are preserving and recording history (not inventing it) and it should be done properly and with studied research and due dilligence. As far as I can determine, National may have been the originator of the defiative term "Ambulette" which was used for the firm's original-wheelbase, sedan delivery ambulance conversions in the late 1940's and early 1950s. I'd never heard of an ambulance referred to as a "hot shot" and always assocuated that term with a Crosley "sports car". I may well have learned something new here. Hot Shot....that's interesting. Many of the early station wagon or sedan delivery ambulance or hearse conversions were derisively referred to as "jitterbugs" by the major professional car manufacturers and were even called that by their makers. Weller, Barnette, Economy and some of other small "shade-tree" manufacturers were major builders of what were called "jitterbug" units. Thanks to the two Steves for the interesting and informative posts.
 
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