First Call Car Thread

Most older service cars interior had a floor like any hearse or combo, with post cups or cot bar (sometimes flat floor with removable casket rack when needed) but the interiors were usually plain, with heavy duty fabric or vinyl.
Here are some more.
1962 Abbott & Hast Dodge service car

You beat me to that A&H one :)

All of the Abbott & Hast cars could technically be called service cars. Ron referred to them as "Junior Hearses"; never intended to be front line coaches, but slightly more distinguished than the usual service car. Most had permanently fixed landau bars, rather than a wreath like this Dodge. Duties ranged from removals to hauling graveside items to casket transport.

My Ford has the standard Ford station wagon interior, complete with fold down rear seat, but it had cot cups installed. Like John mentioned, in addition to the cups, mounting holes were added so a removable skeleton rack could be installed. The funeral home that owned this car kept the original rack unfortunately.
 
Funeral Vans

When I worked in St. Paul, we had two funeral vans. The first was a 2003 Eagle Chevrolet Venture that did not have a folding rear table. When I wanted to clean under it, I simply pulled it out onto a church truck, vacuumed, and slid it back in. We got that van directly from Eagle and it came with the original seats, which we wrapped in plastic and stored in the funeral home basement. The seats were sent with the vehicle when we sold it.

We replaced that vehicle with a 2009 Eagle Chrysler Town & Country, which had a folding rear table and Sto 'n Go seats. It had the offset rollers, which I didn't care for, so I added an extra set of hardware, as seen in the photo. This made it much easier to carry one casket or two cremation containers.

It also worked perfectly for Veterans' inurnments. The urn could be secured on one side and the American flag on the other. This was a nice presentation, as I always invited families to select an urn bearer and a flag bearer.

(Karsnia photos)051.jpg043.jpg040.jpg
 
I recently learned of a 1939 Henney Packard service car about an hour away from me. Waiting for more info on it. Until then here is a 1957 Siebert Ford Service car ad


1957 Siebert ad 2.jpg
1957 Siebert ad 2.jpg1957 Memphis Chevy service car.jpg
And a 1957 Memphis Service car factory photo
1957 Memphis Chevy service car.jpg
 
You may remember this very rare car being sold on eBay four or five years ago. Originally owned by Hahn-Cook in Oklahoma City, one of her stablemates can be seen at the top of Page 188 in the Henney book:

Individual (Meeker, OK)
1940 Henney service car40%20Henney%20001.jpg
 
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I recently learned of a 1939 Henney Packard service car about an hour away from me. Waiting for more info on it. Until then here is a 1957 Siebert Ford Service car ad
View attachment 22138



Does anyone have a high resolution picture of the design on the side of this Siebert Ford Service Car? Mr. Royark?

And does anyone know if it was painted on or a 3-dimensional ornament attached to the side? Any more photos of this car would be much appreciated- I want to build a scale model of it =)
 
When I worked in St. Paul, we had two funeral vans. The first was a 2003 Eagle Chevrolet Venture that did not have a folding rear table. When I wanted to clean under it, I simply pulled it out onto a church truck, vacuumed, and slid it back in. We got that van directly from Eagle and it came with the original seats, which we wrapped in plastic and stored in the funeral home basement. The seats were sent with the vehicle when we sold it.

We replaced that vehicle with a 2009 Eagle Chrysler Town & Country, which had a folding rear table and Sto 'n Go seats. It had the offset rollers, which I didn't care for, so I added an extra set of hardware, as seen in the photo. This made it much easier to carry one casket or two cremation containers.

It also worked perfectly for Veterans' inurnments. The urn could be secured on one side and the American flag on the other. This was a nice presentation, as I always invited families to select an urn bearer and a flag bearer.

(Karsnia photos)

Wow, whoever floded that tree did a perfect job....

2 stars on top
4 across the bottom
 
I recently learned of a 1939 Henney Packard service car about an hour away from me. Waiting for more info on it. Until then here is a 1957 Siebert Ford Service car ad
View attachment 22138



Does anyone have a high resolution picture of the design on the side of this Siebert Ford Service Car? Mr. Royark?

And does anyone know if it was painted on or a 3-dimensional ornament attached to the side? Any more photos of this car would be much appreciated- I want to build a scale model of it =)

That's the only picture I have. I would assume its a cast piece like most service cars had.
 
Here is one of our two first call vans 2009 Dodge. Nothing fancy at all
we can fit the stetcher and a cremation tray in and a few days ago I had a casket ( plain cloth one ) and a cremation tray in ( that was a tight fit)

We can also use our 2011 Lincoln MKT for a first call if we need toCopy of book 008.jpgCopy of book 010.jpgCopy of CAM00095.jpg
 
The 64 has Superior flip over rollers in the end plate, I assume that is original?

20220326_123441_resized_1-jpg.49125
 
I guess I'll add our recently acquired 1954 Pontiac Meteor Service Car. Pontiac builds were subcontracted to Economy Coach Co. This car served the Hicks Funeral Home in Frederick MD. Not sure when it was pulled from service, but it was then bought from the home in 1972 to be used as a personal vehicle. I spoke with the previous owner and he filled me in on the timeline of this car. Setting outside, dormant for well over 20 years has not been kind to this car. We plan a full restoration, with a possible drivetrain update/upgrade as we intend to drive it often. I've been sharing this car on Facebook, and finally registered here.IMG_20221220_170702825~2.jpgIMG_20230115_144759850_HDR~3.jpgIMG_20230326_140355220.jpgIMG_20230128_113917500_HDR~2.jpgThe_News_Thu__Oct_7__1965_.jpg1954-Pontiac-badge-e1671390711942~2.jpg
 
I guess I'll add our recently acquired 1954 Pontiac Meteor Service Car. Pontiac builds were subcontracted to Economy Coach Co. This car served the Hicks Funeral Home in Frederick MD. Not sure when it was pulled from service, but it was then bought from the home in 1972 to be used as a personal vehicle. I spoke with the previous owner and he filled me in on the timeline of this car. Setting outside, dormant for well over 20 years has not been kind to this car. We plan a full restoration, with a possible drivetrain update/upgrade as we intend to drive it often. I've been sharing this car on Facebook, and finally registered here.View attachment 49609View attachment 49610View attachment 49611View attachment 49612View attachment 49613View attachment 49614
That '54 is an excellent save. Looks good as it strands but what a beauty she will be when done. Looking forward to progress. Thanks for sharing!
 
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