'53 Chevrolet National Pro-Car

Spotted this gleaming 1953 Chevy pro-car at the Salute to American Graffiti event in Petaluma, CA yesterday. Apart from the National emblems on the front fenders there was nothing on the car to suggest what it was in it's former life. The entire interior was redone and only a couple of bucket seats occupied the rear compartment. I'd love to know more about it but the owner was nowhere in sight even after I visited it numerous times (hate that). Hearse? Ambulance?

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I am also one of those type guys. When I go to a show I hate sitting by my car. I usually park it and the leave and have fun going around and talking to other people.
 
by far the majority of the sedan delivery's were combos. but as the inside was gutted only the man that took it apart knows what he removed.
 
That's not a sedan delivery, it's a full-length professional car by National (note the higher roof line).

Based on the windows, it would most likely be a combination or an ambulance. But it's hard to know if anything else was removed in the customization process (like tunnel lights, for example, which would be cut off).

That would have been a very nice car if restored to original appearance..... :stars:
 
It really doesn't matter what it was anymore as that would now be lost history and it is highly doubtful that the car will ever go back to what it was . I have to admit that I am also guilty of having screwed up a couple of coaches back in the day, but that was when I was in my early 20s and stupid.
 
That's not a sedan delivery, it's a full-length professional car by National (note the higher roof line).

Based on the windows, it would most likely be a combination or an ambulance. But it's hard to know if anything else was removed in the customization process (like tunnel lights, for example, which would be cut off).

That would have been a very nice car if restored to original appearance..... :stars:

huh???? what do you think it was built from??? they did not scratch build it, it was not a modified sedan, wagon or convertible. it started live as a sedan delivery where National stretched it and raised the roof. one look at the back side will show you that. :confused:
 
Not to be a nitpicker, but the taillights are wrong. 53 have a red upper section, a red center "bullet" and a lower white section.

Those are 54 taillights. I had a 54 Bel Air coupe that had a 53 front end on it due to a collision before I bought it.

Regardless, I wouldn't kick it out of my garage if it leaked oil.......:)
 
The rear bumper almost looks like 55 or 56 Chevy. My 48 has the guards upside down because the rear door won't clear when opening.
 
The rear bumper is a three piece design horizontal bar with the vertical bumper guards. The center section is station wagon and sedan delivery specific along with the bumper filler panel.
 
I'm not enough of a Chevy fan to say 53 or 54. the taillights would interchange. the common trick was to swap the 54's into the 53 as they were a lot more stylish light. the poncho sedan delivery/wagon had the same hole also. we have 53 Chevy lights in ours right now while we are hoping to get the Pontiac ones recast. they like that rear bumper and splash apron are kind of hard to find.
 
The other thing that's throwing me off, the headlight bezels and horizontal grille bar. 53's did not have a visor over the factory bezel and that is not a 54 bezel either. And the grille bar is different, no vertical grille teeth and the shape seems to be different from what I can tell. The 54's used vertical teeth also along with a rectangular parking lamp.

The mystery deepens.
 
The other thing that's throwing me off, the headlight bezels and horizontal grille bar. 53's did not have a visor over the factory bezel and that is not a 54 bezel either. And the grille bar is different, no vertical grille teeth and the shape seems to be different from what I can tell. The 54's used vertical teeth also along with a rectangular parking lamp.

The mystery deepens.

The headlight bezels/visors look like they came from a '52-53 Cadillac. Its a pretty common thing for customizers to use to change things up.
 
Thanks for all the comments and info. The owner stated it is a 1953 on the show card so a bit of customization is evident. I would have much preferred it staying original but do find myself liking it as it sits too.
 
1953 Chevy

Yep that is my car at the car show. When I got the car it was already had the interior stripped out of it and most of the parts were gone that were ambulance only. I did cut the front lights off the roof and used them inside the rear of the car. I extended the rear rain gutter so that the wood hopefully would not rot again. The car was destined for other things when I got it. The front headlight bezels are a 52 Cadillac and fit like they belong to the car. The grill is a 53 grill just some minor changes to make it a little bit cleaner. The interior was a mess when I got it so I decided to make it into a family car so my grandkids could ride safely in the car. The interior that it has now took a lot of work to make everything work together. The headliner came out nice and I used a couple of modified thunderbird center consoles. I do still have the National ambulance rear windows and the top rear lights from the car. I also have the data plate from National that was saved from the interior. I tried to keep the dash stock looking and hide the radio and A/C controls in the speaker area. I guess nobody has figured out where the gas fill is yet, hum. If the car had been more original I would have restored it but it was beyond that stage and has been reborn into a very nice driving car.
 
You did a fantastic job bringing a car back from the brink of becoming steel scrap. You are a testament to the ingenuity of the craftsman that can take a disaster and turn it into a work of art. Well done, and welcome to our website.
Paul
 
That does indeed appear to be a sedan delivery back door. Most of these Chevrolet and Pontiac conversions in the late Forties and Early-to-Mid Fifties were carried out using sedan deliveries as the base vehicle. In fact, that's how post-war National began....converting 1947-1948 Chevrolet sedan deliveries to ambulances and combination cars.
 
You did a fantastic job bringing a car back from the brink of becoming steel scrap. You are a testament to the ingenuity of the craftsman that can take a disaster and turn it into a work of art. Well done, and welcome to our website.
Paul

Thanks for the kind words. The original work done by National was done very well, you could see where the original sedan delivery was cut at the windshield and where the back door was cut and the new higher roof installed .The C pillars were made of wood and are still in good condition. I had a cabinet shop make the replacement pieces around the back windows that were rotten. I got this car from the Santa Rosa Ca area and it was a project that was stalled and the Po had no desire to complete.
 
I am also one of those type guys. When I go to a show I hate sitting by my car. I usually park it and the leave and have fun going around and talking to other people.

When I take one of my cars to a show I have a Info sheet that I leave in the window and that tells most of the story of the car,
 
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