Bo Pounds's 37 Lasalle

Yes Darren, it is worth it all to get the car you have been wanting and waiting for. Most know my story about my 70 caddy mm combo but brief highlight is it took me about ten years of begging and two owners before I managed to get it. And to beat it all I traded a fwd late 80's six door limo for it. Value wise I came out alittle ahead, personally I came out way ahead.
 
Steve wrote:

I would assume that a ton of money was spent on modifying (as opposed to restoring) this nice old hearse. The least he could've done was replicate a period correct ambulance design in the rear side windows. The '72-ish M-M clones he used don't "fit" at all.



Steve

I look up to you as a very knowledgeable man when it comes to all procars. A guy who records and keeps all kinds of factual info on cars, people and locations. A guy who tracks cars and owners from many years gone by. A guy with a massive photo archive of procars.

A person who can read about a car for sale and instantly show previously photos of the car in use, where it came from, who owned it and what color it originally was.

I don't have that kind of dedication or enough memory upstairs to hold that kind of knowledge.


When it comes to seeing something that you think is incorrect like with the markings on the ambulance, if it was my car, I would be thrilled if someone like yourself came up to me and let me know.

I think it would be cool if you could help him find the proper era markings and help another dedicated procar guy out.

Guys like you and Cary Livingston are guys who make a real difference to this club and in my opinion are true club assets !

Both can and do help out big time.


Thanks for all you do,
Darren

:applause:
 
OK the last thing one wants is to do is nit pick another mans efforts. but to point out what Walt and Steve are saying. there are standard things common to all cars in a set range of years. in the ambulance window treatment styles the beveled cut glass will always be and 1900 to early 20s leaded glass late 20 to early 30s. which gave way to the etched glass in different styles we see up into the 60s then the inserts and tapes designs of the 70s. each set of years every manufactures would follow with there own design, but all would be similar. lights, warning equipment, upholstery stitching and patterns are other things that point to a car's "age". the horse is not on Mr Pond's but the people doing the work for him. I never saw a 30s car when they were in use everyday so I'm not the man to say what was was what. but I have to go off pictures. here are a few glass treatments in cars around that age. easy enough change to make, but night and day in appearance. just one of these things you got to think about when your fixing on your own car. what is age correct. I'm looking forward to see this one. his is a amazing collection.
 

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It is a great resto, but I agree with some others here, it is a hearse, not an ambulance, so I hope it receives the proper deductions at a PCS International. Why does it depend on who you are if the conversion is ok or not. Everyone threw a fit when Bill Wright turned a combo into a straight ambulance, and there was also a 70 Superior combo set up as a straight ambulance that people threw a fit about. So no matter how good the resto is on this one, it is VERY INCORRECT, and should be treated as the others have been.
 
Why does it matter who you are? It doesn't. If it were at a meet to be judged, yes, it would get hit on authenticity points.

But 1) it's not at a meet being judged for points, and 2) as much as I'd like to see them all restored as they were, it is his car, he can do what he wants, and it's already done so it's not like there is anything much we can do about it now....
 
This is why we are The Professional Car Society; professional enough to acknowledge a man's work and visions, shaking his hand as we congratulate him and - hopefully in correct context - gently explain the value of preserving original vehicles as they were intended to be, while being receptive to his reasoning too. All we can do is share what we know, learn from others, and encourage as best we can. In my own mind, the bigger issue comes if a car is judged and presented with an award incorrectly at one of our meets (i.e. combination-made-ambulance winning awards in ambulance class, etc.) Then we're openly rewarding something that really isn't...
 
Steve Lichtman said:
Why does it matter who you are? It doesn't. If it were at a meet to be judged, yes, it would get hit on authenticity points.

But 1) it's not at a meet being judged for points, and 2) as much as I'd like to see them all restored as they were, it is his car, he can do what he wants, and it's already done so it's not like there is anything much we can do about it now....
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I know its his car and he is allowed to do with it as he pleases, as I am with my cars, what I meant by my statment is I just dont understand why most people think its great that he did this to his car, but when others have done this they got the third degree and had big discussions on how wrong it was to represent a car that way. Thats all I meant. Sometimes typing dont come off as the same meaning is saying it.
I do agree, it is a beautiful car, but it dont match the model. I bet if I turned my 85 Eureka Pontiac into a ambulance not one person would say that looks nice, most everyone would be against it, saying it was never this type of car. So MY OPINION is this is modified, customized to be something it was never intended to be.
 
I wonder how this car would have been viewed if there were no before photos or prior history on the car and it just appeared as is in it's glory.

Darren
 
While i personally would have restored it to its original condission as a straight hearse, this is a beautiful example of a 1937 Miller LaSalle Ambulance, and this man has put a ton of time, work and money in to this coach to make it the beautiful example that it is. I would much rather see it as a ambulance than some rat rod or street rod. Congratulations Mr. Pounds on a beautiful coach, and a job well done. And thank you Danny for sharing.

Josh
 
Josh Gentry said:
While i personally would have restored it to its original condission as a straight hearse, this is a beautiful example of a 1937 Miller LaSalle Ambulance, and this man has put a ton of time, work and money in to this coach to make it the beautiful example that it is. I would much rather see it as a ambulance than some rat rod or street rod. Congratulations Mr. Pounds on a beautiful coach, and a job well done. And thank you Danny for sharing.

Josh
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Thanks Josh but now I almost wish I had not shared. Bo has done a great job with this car, I would not have done it but being the quality job Bo did I am ok with it. I realize that there will be a problem with judging the car at a meet but can't we just enjoy this car for what it is?
 
I believe we are enjoying it for what it is. a nicely done up old car that with a few changes would be a nice example of what a 39 ambulance would look like.
I could never afford to do this I'm struggling to get my 53 in one piece. I just wish that Mr Ponds was getting more for his money. converting a Hearse into a ambulance is just a matter of remove the hearse stuff and putting in the correct ambulance stuff. it was done all the time in 39. I my self would not hesitate to do this if I could gather the stuff. I personally don't have a need for a Hearse. I'm a ambulance guy to. there would not be a lot of either of them around. so one would have to make do if he wanted a straight ambulance. we are are all little anal retentive in some ways. me, I lean to what you can see out side and when you open the door. I just don't see rushing one out the door so we can start on the next. I think we talked about shinny paint and moving down the road in another post. I'm looking forward to see this one, not to pick it apart. you just don't see a lot of 30s stuff in any shape. worst thing about losing Wayne was I never got to see what he did with that lasalle combo he had.
 
At least one other

Do some of you guys remember that there was another hearse turned into an ambulance? It was owned by Robert Cosgrove, it was I believe a 1932? and it was a Nash. It appeared at the Int'l Meet in Daytona back in 2004. Soon thereafter, Mr Cosgrove passed away. If my memory serves me, there was no contraversy surrounding the car and it was well received by everyone, as far as I was aware.
 
at that same meet were a pair of cars that had there power trains replaced and if I remember right people were so up with them they were not allowed on the show field( glad those days are over). the problem with Bills combo was that it was judged with the ambulances, Bill wanted it there. cut Bill out of a 2 place trophy as it scored high enough to take that in the combo class.
this 39 I would guess would be I'm not sure. if one could id as a Hearse by the tag then it would to me have to go into the conversion class. if one was lucky enough to have a 39 ambulance tag then it's one heck of a extensive rebuild of a ambulance using a Hearse as a donor car. which reminds me 30 stuff escapes me who was the original converter of this LaSalle? but to see it in person it would be like finally getting to see the horse Drawn ambulance of Mr Smith's. something one vary seldom gets to do and usually only by pictures.
 
John ED Renstrom said:
at that same meet were a pair of cars that had there power trains replaced and if I remember right people were so up with them they were not allowed on the show field( glad those days are over). the problem with Bills combo was that it was judged with the ambulances, Bill wanted it there. cut Bill out of a 2 place trophy as it scored high enough to take that in the combo class.
this 39 I would guess would be I'm not sure. if one could id as a Hearse by the tag then it would to me have to go into the conversion class. if one was lucky enough to have a 39 ambulance tag then it's one heck of a extensive rebuild of a ambulance using a Hearse as a donor car. which reminds me 30 stuff escapes me who was the original converter of this LaSalle? but to see it in person it would be like finally getting to see the horse Drawn ambulance of Mr Smith's. something one vary seldom gets to do and usually only by pictures.
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To answer your question Ed it is a miller coach and actually is a 37 not 39.
 
dates are one of those things I can never keep stright. got to write them down. sill looking forward to seeing it. 37 miller, 37 miller, got it.
 
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