Beautiful old Buicks

Keith Snyder said:
Wish we had the serial plate information on that Premier ambulance that is supposedly in Sweden. It would be interesting to kow where that went when new.
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Poking around for some time I located physical address in Fårö (an island in Baltic Sea with a population of less than 600), then name & phone number, then active email address - and sent an inquiry off. Let's hope my rusty Swedish from dating an ex gels with Fårö's own dialect... :thumb:
 
The two ambulances don't seem to be the same vehicle. The one at the accident scene has three port holes while the other has four.
 
As written Tim, they're not the same ambulance.

Did you also happen to notice that the portholes themselves are different shapes between small and large bodied '52 Buicks? Roadmaster has dubious distinction of having center, horizontal design element that extends beyond the circle.

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These are hard to find in junkyards and sought after in the custom car community.
 
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My '86 Superior. Purchased new by Thompson-Brown Funeral Home Pen Yan, NY. Sold to Trahan Mortuary, Pensacola, FL in 1997. Purchased by me August 2004.
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At the El Paso Cemetery, Derby, KS with "Silent Siren" headlamps on.
 
'41 Flxible Buick ambulance stationed at Ben Bow chromite mine in Stillwater County, Montana from Sept '42. Russell Lee photographer, courtesy Library of Congress.
 

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T.J. Richards Ltd of Keswick converted a horse drawn, mounting on a new '25 Buick. Delivery to Taylor & Forgie FH took place 12/2/25. It remained at the FH until 5/50.

Clarrie Forgie driver.
 

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Steve Loftin said:
Lots more information, speculation, and photos here:

http://nunesfireandice.com/james_dean.html

http://deadwrite.wordpress.com/tag/james-dean/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_sj5HNKX0A&feature=player_embedded#!
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I had just turned 10 the month before James Dean's fatal car crash. I was only slightly familiar with him at the time, although I had seen a couple of his movies. When the news came out about the fatal wreck, I had mistakenly thought at first that they were talking about the late-Jimmy Dean, actor and sausage king who was from Plainview, TX. I was quickly corrected and had it explained that there were two Deans with similar names.
 
Terry Lange said:
Skip, I posted 3 pictures of the National Dodge on the "Mopar Procars" thread. It is post #6.
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I found the link to the Mopar post, Terry. Thanks. There was also a post of that neat red Memphian Dodge. I've seen pix of it in Gregg Merksamer's book and elsewhere. But those were the first closeups I've seen. Check my post at the end of that thread.
 
Terry Lange said:
Here's my contribution:

'62 Flxette - Crestview Ambulance, Winnipeg, Manitoba
'61 Flxette - Greencastle, FL
'64 Flxette - Paul Nix collection, Arleta, CA
'62 Flxible LWB - Paul Nix, formerly Rose Hills Mortuary, Whittier, CA
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I'd love to have any of those Flxettes, but especially the '62 and '61 ambulances. My second-ever ambulance was a '61 Flxette ambulance that saw duty near Houston. I bought it from Summers Coach in Duncanville in 1972. I let the racetrack in Odessa have it in '73, but got it back again c.'85, only to have it stolen in '86. I spotted a solid white '61 Flxette via Google a few years back. The ad said that the car had been found "in a field in West Texas". The car was in AZ at the time, and I called the people to ask about it, telling them about the Flxette I had lost.They spittered and sputtered and then hung up. The next day the ad was gone. Hmmmm!
 
'61 Flxible Buick Premiere (1 of 51) in Mexico recently posted on the HAMB. Although the interior has been stripped, the remaining right side etched quarter glass can be seen. That along with faded red paint leads me to believe ambulance over combination.

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This is a 1961 Flxible-Buick Premier ambulance (FB63-61). Because the Flxible serial plate was presented in the photos, we can now officially identify this vehicle. According to Tom McPherson this vehicle - Flxible body number 18176 with motor number 4H1058887 - was delivered on September 6, 1961 to Instituto Mexicano Del Social Seguro in Mexico D.F. Now....there's another survivor accounted for and identified.
 
Keith Snyder said:
This is a 1961 Flxible-Buick Premier ambulance (FB63-61). Because the Flxible serial plate was presented in the photos, we can now officially identify this vehicle. According to Tom McPherson this vehicle - Flxible body number 18176 with motor number 4H1058887 - was delivered on September 6, 1961 to Instituto Mexicano Del Social Seguro in Mexico D.F. Now....there's another survivor accounted for and identified.
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That's very good to know...that it went to Mexico originally. So many cars have gone across the border from the U.S. over the years. As I have mentioned in other threads, my small volunteer standby ambulance co. lost a number of our old coach-type ambulances to theft. One of them, a nice '61 C/B Olds Seville ambulance ended up in Mexico. This was not your ordinary theft, as such, but was an illegal move anyway. We loaned the car to a small town that was waiting on their first-ever ambulance. When it was to arrive we were to get the Olds back. However, as soon as their new van arrived, they put the Olds up for auction, and by the time I found out, it had been sold, and the buyer took it almost immediately to Mexico. When I found out what had happened, I went to the city secretary of that small town. This lady had just taken over when the previous secretary had retired. She claimed that they had a title to the car (which we had never given them), and assumed it was theirs. They apologized and we attempted to get it back from the guy who had bought it at auction, but as I note above, it was too late. That's been since 1977, so I fear it may now be in the same shape as this Buick!
 
Tom McPherson says that there were three of these ambulances delivered to the I.M.S.S. He told me that they are seen in a factory photo on page 261 of his Flxible book on the apron in front of the Loudonville factory prior to delivery. In the photo (a black & white) the cars appear to be a light gray or even silver...a light color anyhow and not red as is the oe in the photo. According to the data Tom sent, Flxible produced 138 Buick professional cars in 1961. Of these, 52 were long-wheelbase Premiers. These break down as follows: 10 funeral cars, 26 combination cars and 16 ambulances. There were also 86 Flxettes which broke down as follows: 7 funeral cars, 70 combination cars and 9 ambulances. Personally, I've always thought these 1961s were among the most attractive of all the early '60s Flxibles and Buicks.
 
Keith Snyder said:
Tom McPherson says that there were three of these ambulances delivered to the I.M.S.S. He told me that they are seen in a factory photo on page 261 of his Flxible book on the apron in front of the Loudonville factory prior to delivery. In the photo (a black & white) the cars appear to be a light gray or even silver...a light color anyhow and not red as is the oe in the photo. According to the data Tom sent, Flxible produced 138 Buick professional cars in 1961. Of these, 52 were long-wheelbase Premiers. These break down as follows: 10 funeral cars, 26 combination cars and 16 ambulances. There were also 86 Flxettes which broke down as follows: 7 funeral cars, 70 combination cars and 9 ambulances. Personally, I've always thought these 1961s were among the most attractive of all the early '60s Flxibles and Buicks.
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I have to agree with you, Keith. I loved that '61 Flxette we had. We later had a '67 short National Buick straight ambulance that had come from KS. Nice car and only had 47K miles on it when we got it. If you're familiar with the Buick procars built by Trinity here in Texas, their short-wheel-based Triune ambulance was very nice. A small funeral home in Dimmit, TX had a '68 Triune ambulance that had the Buick Wildcat engine. That car really ran. A friend of mine, now deceased, drove for that funeral home, and made an emergency transfer in it from Dimmit to Lubbock, about 105 mi., in just under 45 minutes once. And it was one nice car. Both he and the car are now gone!
 
Keith Snyder said:
Tom McPherson says that there were three of these ambulances delivered to the I.M.S.S. He told me that they are seen in a factory photo on page 261 of his Flxible book on the apron in front of the Loudonville factory prior to delivery. In the photo (a black & white) the cars appear to be a light gray or even silver...a light color anyhow and not red as is the oe in the photo. According to the data Tom sent, Flxible produced 138 Buick professional cars in 1961. Of these, 52 were long-wheelbase Premiers. These break down as follows: 10 funeral cars, 26 combination cars and 16 ambulances. There were also 86 Flxettes which broke down as follows: 7 funeral cars, 70 combination cars and 9 ambulances. Personally, I've always thought these 1961s were among the most attractive of all the early '60s Flxibles and Buicks.
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Thank you for this detailed information. Is Mr. Mc Pherson; a PCS member, I don't show him listed in our members. I would be great to have him as a site supporter with all his information/knowledge. Or are you his spokesman? Thanks for all the info.
 
Ken Novak said:
Thank you for this detailed information. Is Mr. Mc Pherson; a PCS member, I don't show him listed in our members. I would be great to have him as a site supporter with all his information/knowledge. Or are you his spokesman? Thanks for all the info.
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Yes, Tom is a PCS member, but does not visit the website much, if at all. He has authored many professional Car books, attends many meets, and helps out whenever he can. He is a real asset to thiis hobby and these rare cars.
 
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