Homecoming!

Steve Lichtman

Steve Lichtman

Well, it has happened.

But let's start this tale at the beginning, shall we? So let's all sit around the....cooler, and listen to my tale.

Since I found this hobby and started reading and learning about it, there has been one ambulance that I thought really was my favorite of all. That ambulance is the Henney Junior, built from '51-'54. I like the lines, I like the short wheelbase, and I like the fact that it has custom coachwork and a short wheelbase. True, there are others with those attributes (Superior Consort, C-B Seville, anything by Weller, etc.). But I like the lines of a Henney Junior.

In 1991, a local Packard collector, Alvin Bain, passed away. Among his Packards were several professional cars, including two Henney Junior ambulances. As his estate was being sold off, Dad and I travelled up to Hancock, MD to examine what he had. One Junior had already been sold, but the other was still there. Rusty, buried in weeds, missing a rear window - but present. Shortly, we negotiated with Mr. Bain's son, and I bought the Junior for $250. I had my Henney Junior. (At a later auction of the estate, Dad also bought a '48 Henney Packard combination, which he has since sold.)

We had it towed home, and eventually got it running a little bit. A little research and some blue paint showed that it had originally been an Air Force ambulance, though we do not know what base it served on, though it's safe to assume it was local to the area - perhaps Andrews Air Force Base in MD. I found a pencil in the glove box from Etchison Funeral Home in Frederick, MD. While the successor to Etchison had no old records and no interested in finding out, I did locate an ambulance service owner in Frederick, who indicated that he did work for Etchison Ambulance at one time, and they did own a blue Henney Junior, so obviously, this was it's second owner. Mr. Bain apparently bought it from Etchison.

(Are you bored yet?)

We had it towed to the PCS International Meet in Hunt Valley, MD, where it would have won "Worst in Show" if we had such an award. But, rust and all, it was there. And, in deplorable condition, it was the first of our cars ever to be featured on the cover of "The Professional Car" (OK, the back cover, but still...). That photo is reproduced below.

See part II...
 

Attachments

  • 53HenneyJrSL.jpg
    53HenneyJrSL.jpg
    73.4 KB · Views: 466
Part II

Not much happened with it for a few years, but it stayed in our various garages. When Dad and I moved to Mt. Airy in 1998, we got it running enough for me to drive it under it's own power from our old garage to our new one. OK, it had license plates from some other Packard, but it made the trip uneventfully.

Finally, in 2002, it went to Pipe Creek Restorations in Taneytown, MD, where the engine was rebuilt. Shortly thereafter, it went to Penn Dutch Restorations, an affliate or subsidiary (I really don't understand the relationship) of Pipe Creek. Restoration was started in earnest. At the time, Jeff Hammers, the owner of the shop, had just acquired a new chocolate lab puppy, named Farfel.

Year after year, the restoration went on. And on. And on. And the bills kept coming. But work progressed slowly. And the rust was disappearing, and the car was being disassembled into smaller and smaller assemblies, until one day there was a huge pile of metal shavings. OK, not that bad, but still, the body was here, the chassis there, the hood somewhere else, etc. And I had frequent visits at the shop with Jeff, and Farfel.

And eventually, the parts started to come back together. Then it was time for paint. Long ago, I picked out the colors. You'll see what they are in a few minutes. And the paint started to be applied. The owner of Penn Dutch, Jeff, looked at it and pronounced it an awful color combination, but hey, I'm the customer so what I said it should be, they made it so. The colors were chosen from a Packard paint chip chart.

So stuff was painted, and started to be put back together. Here's what it looked like in January of 2009.

See part III
 

Attachments

  • 53HenneyResto10s.jpg
    53HenneyResto10s.jpg
    74.9 KB · Views: 437
Part III

As the first decade of the 21st century turned into the second decade, there began to be talk of actually finishing the restoration of the Henney Junior ambulance. And my hopes were raised, and deadlines passed and the car wasn't done. But then there was more talk of it being done, and yet work continued. As the car progressed and trim was applied, Jeff finally decided the colors were OK after all.

Finally, last week, Jeff called me, and rather matter-of-factly, he said, "It's done." So we scheduled a day to pick it up. And of course, it rained early this week so we declined to move it.

So today dawned bright and sunny. OK, it didn't dawn bright and sunny, but at least it dawned overcast and not rainy. So today was the day. I loaded up the trailer, and headed up to Penn Dutch's shop. When I arrived, I was met, as always, by Farfel, who can put his paws on my shoulders when he's standing on his hind legs, and can put his now-gray-hared face in front of mine. And the Henney Junior was standing out in the yard, in the place where they put their finished cars. And it was DONE! (Almost).

Onto the trailer it went, and I drove home, and it was placed carefully in my garage today. And then it had to be moved, because it was a bit longer and wider than I calculated (considering I hadn't seen it in 8 years, it's easy to forget how large a "small" ambulance of the '50's is.) So, after a 4-way switch of parking positions, it's now in my garage. FINALLY.

So the restoration is done, and so is the story. Whew! Good night.
:wwpics:
 
Part IV (Hey, I start IV's all the time!)

Thought I'd forget the picture? Never!

Here it is today, in my yard. At home. At last.

Good night!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1111s.jpg
    IMG_1111s.jpg
    96.8 KB · Views: 425
:071:WAAAY COOL PACKARD !!!!!!!! Keep us updated on your progress ......this is my project :1936 Henney/Oldsmobile :3some:


3-23-10080.jpg
 
I feel a little cheated. I sat through that whole thing waiting to see pics of the finished project and no finished product,it was like installing a pay toilet in a diarrhea ward.:snow2_smi:
 
Ah, take your pink Pepto, the completed photo is there. Ya just have to....WAIT FOR IT!!!

The Henney tunnel lights were found on e-bay. I tried to win some at a local live auction years ago, but was outbid. I never thought I'd find a set, let alone have two opportunities to get them.

Scott, good luck. Looks like you've got as far to go as I have come.

When I tell it, there's no such thing as a "short story".
 
Steve - great color combo / we ran it for years until the regulators told us we had to have white and omaha orange for no intelligent reason-Kevin
 
Steve Lichtman said:
Ah, take your pink Pepto, the completed photo is there. Ya just have to....WAIT FOR IT!!!

The Henney tunnel lights were found on e-bay. I tried to win some at a local live auction years ago, but was outbid. I never thought I'd find a set, let alone have two opportunities to get them.

Scott, good luck. Looks like you've got as far to go as I have come.

When I tell it, there's no such thing as a "short story".
Click to expand...

Looks really nice Steve and I like the color!
 
Steve, Now....that's one handsome Junior you've got there. Congratulations on a job well done. Looks like an award winner to me. Exceedingly nice.
 
WOW! Glad to see it done and back at the farm!:657: Will we be seeing it at Albany or do I need to stop by the farm on the way?:drive2:
 
The car came out beautiful............ Stunningly Beautiful!!!! All good thing come to those that have the patience to wait... :applause::cheers::applause: Can't wait to see it in Albany..
 
color choices

Steve,
Congrats on one fine looking coach. I don't know what all the color choices were but I think you made the right ones. Those colors were a combination on many cars of the early 50s. But only the best ones.
Mike
 
That's a handsome Henney, Steve! Congratulations on having patience and getting it done. I recall in an older TPC a reproduction of some funeral home's ad from the 30's touting their new ambulance or combination. I'm pretty sure it was a Henney Packard. There wasn't a picture, or at least not a color one, but it boasted that the new car was "A two-tone Persian Sand and maroon" Could it be Packard was still calling your color Persian Sand in the early 50s?
 
We ship no car before its time. The shop nickname for this car was "The Bruise", yellow and red, get it? This was one of the top (or bottom) 10 rusty, parts missing vehicles we have restored, only slightly better than Martin Shepherd's '58 Eureka Flower Car. It's always a catch 22 in the restoration business, get 'em done fast and send out enormous monthly bills versus spread the pain out over a longer (sometimes much longer) period of time, customer's option. We actually like the color combination quite a lot now that it's done but I gotta admit I had thoughts along the lines of "What is this man thinking?" when he showed me the proposed color scheme. Steve mentioned the grey hair Farfel acquired over the years we worked on this car. He neglected to mention the grey hairs that I got working on this project. It isn't perfect. Our instructions were not to make it perfect. There is always the cost/benefit question to answer but all in all we are very proud of how it turned out. Thanks Steve! Next pro car out the door will be a '37 S&S Carved Side, another major project, not so rusty but which required an enormous amount of structural wood work. Termites, like tin worms, have no respect for pro cars apparently.
 
Steve, as a long-standing Henney Junior fan, I commend you for your efforts and their handsome result. VERY impressive rig. Waaay back, in the early '60's, the local Rambler dealer in Munie took in a '53 Junior on trade. It was a white ambl in wondeful shape, with an asking price of $250. I pleaded with my folks, but was told "no." A house painter bought it for his work truck. Sigh......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top