Beautiful old Buicks
- Thread starter Steve Loftin
- Start date
John ED Renstrom
PCS Member
More '58 National/Buicks
Here, from my collection, is a fleet shot from New Kensington, PA in 1963. (Note their MoPar preference with the Plymouth, Dodge, and DeSoto [yes, that's Steve #2's car!] station wagons.)
The '58 Buicks are a mystery; they are definitely Nationals, but the bodywork is different from the one seen at the PA and CO meets (car originally from MN; see Lichtman photo below). The roofline on the NK cars appears to be slightly lower than the one from MN; each version has a different upper front door treatment; and the stretch between the side doors and wheel well is shorter on the NK cars.
National built at least one more of these, a combination for the Butcher Mortuary right there in Knightstown. Cary, do you have a shot of this car to post?
Here, from my collection, is a fleet shot from New Kensington, PA in 1963. (Note their MoPar preference with the Plymouth, Dodge, and DeSoto [yes, that's Steve #2's car!] station wagons.)
The '58 Buicks are a mystery; they are definitely Nationals, but the bodywork is different from the one seen at the PA and CO meets (car originally from MN; see Lichtman photo below). The roofline on the NK cars appears to be slightly lower than the one from MN; each version has a different upper front door treatment; and the stretch between the side doors and wheel well is shorter on the NK cars.
National built at least one more of these, a combination for the Butcher Mortuary right there in Knightstown. Cary, do you have a shot of this car to post?
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Is this actually an ambulance, or a combination outfitted to look like one?
John ED Renstrom
PCS Member
the story I have is it's a combo that was only used as a ambulance. in reference to Bill's car.
Brady D Smith
PCS Life Member / PCS Past President
Mr. Loftin, you made my day.
I never could prove it, but I always suspected that National made more than one 58 Buick ambulance. What a great photo.
I never could prove it, but I always suspected that National made more than one 58 Buick ambulance. What a great photo.
1958 National/Buicks
My pleasure, sir! We now know of three ambulances and at least one combination. The Butcher car and the white over blue one seen in Cary's photo pages could be the same car...can anyone here say for sure?
My pleasure, sir! We now know of three ambulances and at least one combination. The Butcher car and the white over blue one seen in Cary's photo pages could be the same car...can anyone here say for sure?
John Royark JR
PCS Member
I have taken a few beautiful old buick pix over the years, but out of all the procar chassis for some reason I have not owned one yet. To see my pix you need to attend an Iowa Hawkeye Chapter event.
I know by now you are tired of reading this, but hey, you do really need to attend one.
I know by now you are tired of reading this, but hey, you do really need to attend one.
To my knowledge, there were only three long-wheelbase Buicks built by C/B in 1960...the lowtop ambulance in MN, the combination in IL, and this hightop that went to a well-known CA ambulance operator (attached).
The late Maury Baier, owner of the IL car, said he was told that by C/B in the early 1970s when he tried to buy a replacement tailpipe for his car.
(I have the original 8x10 factory negative. The borders weren't straight on this contact print, so I straightened out the car itself as best I could.)
The late Maury Baier, owner of the IL car, said he was told that by C/B in the early 1970s when he tried to buy a replacement tailpipe for his car.
(I have the original 8x10 factory negative. The borders weren't straight on this contact print, so I straightened out the car itself as best I could.)
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John ED Renstrom
PCS Member
Ex-Mason F.H.; Shattuck, Oklahoma
Tom Hoczyk
PCS Past President
Civil Defense
Terry Lange's photo showing the '50's GM Civil Defense Sedan Delivery brought back a distant memory. When I was VERY young, my father was a member of the New Britain (CT) Civil Defense. He was asked to drive a very similar Sedan Delivery truck in the local Memorial Day parade. I went with him to pick the truck up, at downtown fire station #1, the evening before.
Not having driven the truck before, dad pondered just how to start it. There were two buttons, one on the dash, one on the floor next to the accelerator. Dad chose the button on the dash to "start" the truck, but instead the mighty Federal siren started screaming, bringing all the firemen to the garage, most of them laughing at dad's mistake. He was thoroughly embarrassed, but I loved the sound, so I thought it was cooool. I also thought it was neat riding with dad, driving such a "big" truck. This may have planted the seed of my interest in big trucks, fire trucks included. Tom
Terry Lange's photo showing the '50's GM Civil Defense Sedan Delivery brought back a distant memory. When I was VERY young, my father was a member of the New Britain (CT) Civil Defense. He was asked to drive a very similar Sedan Delivery truck in the local Memorial Day parade. I went with him to pick the truck up, at downtown fire station #1, the evening before.
Not having driven the truck before, dad pondered just how to start it. There were two buttons, one on the dash, one on the floor next to the accelerator. Dad chose the button on the dash to "start" the truck, but instead the mighty Federal siren started screaming, bringing all the firemen to the garage, most of them laughing at dad's mistake. He was thoroughly embarrassed, but I loved the sound, so I thought it was cooool. I also thought it was neat riding with dad, driving such a "big" truck. This may have planted the seed of my interest in big trucks, fire trucks included. Tom
Our '60 Flxible Buick ambulance:
John ED Renstrom
PCS Member
thanks for that one See people Barnett did copy the Economy logo almost.
Brown F.H. (Tulsa, OK)
1959 Comet/Buick
One of my favorite pictures, this girl was caught on a run in 1963 by a Tulsa newspaper photographer. Sold in 1966 to the then-new Butler F.H. (also in Tulsa), it was soon replaced by a 1967 Plymouth wagon. All three beacons and the whistle were moved over to the Plymouth.
(SL collection)
Butler's sold the Buick to a firm in Iola, KS, where a Q2B and a single #17 were installed. The second photo shows how I found her in 1993, sitting behind a house in rural Woodson County, KS.
(SL photo)
1959 Comet/Buick
One of my favorite pictures, this girl was caught on a run in 1963 by a Tulsa newspaper photographer. Sold in 1966 to the then-new Butler F.H. (also in Tulsa), it was soon replaced by a 1967 Plymouth wagon. All three beacons and the whistle were moved over to the Plymouth.
(SL collection)
Butler's sold the Buick to a firm in Iola, KS, where a Q2B and a single #17 were installed. The second photo shows how I found her in 1993, sitting behind a house in rural Woodson County, KS.
(SL photo)
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When I visited the Sheffield F.H. (Port Neches, TX) in 1989, they were all but out of business. None of the cars in their garage had been started in a long time; none of them would the day I was there, either. The funeral cars were a 1969 Fleetwood 75 and a 1964 Royale Limousine combination. Their ambulances were these 1962 and 1963 Flxette combinations. A few years after I took these pictures they were purchased by ambulance operator/PCS member Steve Diamond, who later traded them in to an ambulance dealer. The last I heard, they had been sold to a theme park near Mansfield.
(SL photos)
(SL photos)
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My dad grew up in Port Neches and told this story many times; He was born and raised in a small house just a couple of blocks away from Sheffield's FH. One day when he was in his late teens he heard the Sheffield ambulance coming down the street and went out in the front yard. Mrs. Sheffield was driving and was alone in the rig. Upon seeing my dad by the street she slammed on the brakes, stopped and hollered for him to come over to the car. She told him to jump in because she was by herself and had a patient that she needed help unloading when they got to the hospital. When my dad got in he asked where Mr. Sheffield was. Just as he finished speaking Mr. Sheffield raised up off of the cot in the back and slurred out "here I am boy" and soon passed out again. Seems Mr. Sheffield had partaken of the spirits a little too much and bloodied his melon in a tumble.
That was the end of my dad's ambulance career. My dad passed away last year and I miss him greatly but that story always brings around a smile.
