Merry Oldsmobiles

[Terry Lange]

This '75 C/B Cotington 54 was purchased new by the Winkler, Manitoba Fire Dept. Sometime after I moved south in late '89, it was sold to Winnipeg collector, Brian Schuff. From what I have been told, he later resold it to an overseas collector.

 

[John ED Renstrom]

the nice part of the 74-75 was you could make a new rear bumper out a a standard one as long as the C/B center was good.

 

[Steve Loftin]

This '75 C/B Cotington 54 was purchased new by the Winkler, Manitoba Fire Dept. Sometime after I moved south in late '89, it was sold to Winnipeg collector, Brian Schuff. From what I have been told, he later resold it to an overseas collector.

Love that car (minus truck mirrors, of course) - sure makes me miss my '74!

 

[Matthew Taylor]

C/B Oldsmobiles

1967 C/B Oldsmobile - not mine, yet, but I'm working on it.

1967 Cotner/Bevington Oldsmobile Hearse by pcsmoroute66, on Flickr


1967 Cotner/Bevington Oldsmobile Hearse by pcsmoroute66, on Flickr

My '72

Kingsport 2006 Show Field 2 by pcsmoroute66, on Flickr

 

[Skip Goulet - Deceased 1945 - 2018]

Oak Forest F.D.
Oak Forest, IL
1966 Seville

Meda-Care A.S.
Milwaukee, WI
1974 Cotington 48

Community Amb. Ass'n.
Steelton, PA
1969 Cotington 48
1974 Cotington 54

(from my collection)

Steve: Are you familiar with the history of the Oak Forest car? In 1975 I bought a red '66 Seville just like this one from Summers, but it had come from Holston Ambulance Service from Lake Charles, LA. I don't think that Peggy Holston bought very many new cars, so this could be the one. When I got the car the roof was bare, so it would be hard to tell for sure.

 

[Skip Goulet - Deceased 1945 - 2018]

Most of us are familiar with the twin '72 Cotington 48s owned by David Stalhut and Larri Dirks. There were several of these cars built with Federal #15A Junior beacons on the corners instead of the usual tunnel lights. Here are a few more:

1971 - District Heights, MD
1972 - Powhatan Beach, MD
1971 - Metro A.S. (Hellertown, PA)
1972 - Lower Milford Twp., PA (later sold to Reinsel F.H. in Sharon, PA)

(SL collection)

In 1977 I had the chance to buy the Metro Ambulance car from Metro's owner, Butch Brown. I got acquainted with Butch when I saw a picture of another car of his in one of the EMS magazines classifieds. At that time my service was called Metro-Alert Ambulance....hence the similarity. From then until the mid-80s I talked to Butch quite often. I could've gotten the Olds worth the money, but trying to get it from PA to TX was the problem.

 

[Skip Goulet - Deceased 1945 - 2018]

1967 Olds hightop from Lyons, Ill.

Just curious to know if anyone has pictures of the 1967 C/B hightop Oldsmobile that was operated by Lyons, Ill. for a number of years. I bought the car in 1977 for a whopping $400 from the former Prestige Ambulance builders in Arlington, TX. Lyons had traded the Olds in on a new Prestige Type II unit. I've heard over the years that Lyons exclusviely ran Olds ambulances for many years, with this being the one departure. The few pictures I had of this car were lost when that car was stolen in 1979.

 

[Cary Livingston]

Is the 57 Comet still sitting down there......someone really needs to make a play for this car....if it is still sitting languishing. Gonna be a shame to see this one magically appear overseas one day.

 

[Mike McDonald]

Just curious to know if anyone has pictures of the 1967 C/B hightop Oldsmobile that was operated by Lyons, Ill. for a number of years. I bought the car in 1977 for a whopping $400 from the former Prestige Ambulance builders in Arlington, TX. Lyons had traded the Olds in on a new Prestige Type II unit. I've heard over the years that Lyons exclusviely ran Olds ambulances for many years, with this being the one departure. The few pictures I had of this car were lost when that car was stolen in 1979.

This is EXACTLY the Ambulance I am looking for to "replicate" one Our Fire Department had brand new and lost track of after trading it early (only a year old or so because of chronic rear axle problems) on a "1-Ton Box Car" if anyone runs across one? THX-MM

 

[Skip Goulet - Deceased 1945 - 2018]

This is EXACTLY the Ambulance I am looking for to "replicate" one Our Fire Department had brand new and lost track of after trading it early (only a year old or so because of chronic rear axle problems) on a "1-Ton Box Car" if anyone runs across one? THX-MM

Our '67 was almost a beige with orange color, Mike, and had a Super Chief over the cab. It had two big tunnel lights over the cab and the smaller ones built into the front of the hightop, and it had a red 175 up on the hightop. The big tunnel light on the driver's side was originally green, and we replaced it with a red sealed-beam.

 

[Mike McDonald]

Skip: Unfortunately, I don't have an actual picture to show you... but as I recall it was all red, black wall tires, a center-porch mounted Q with tunnel lights and a single CJ-184 on the roof. They only had it in service about a year with chronic rear axle problems that took out the fender skirts and caused body damage each time. The Ambulance line of succession there was our 1954 Henney-Packard was replaced by a 1959 M-M (High Top) Cadillac that was replaced by this New 1967 C-B (High Top) Olds. After the Olds they went to 1-Ton Modular Boxes that they still use today. MM

 

[Steve Loftin]

1969 Cotington combination, Part 1

I saw this car in Pampa, TX in May of 2012. When I passed through a few weeks later, it was gone. The owner of the property thought it went "somewhere in Arkansas."

I hope it's in the hands of someone that will restore and care for it:

 

[Steve Loftin]

1969 Cotington combination, Part 2

Truly, great cars are still out there and waiting to be discovered!

I didn't put this in the Sad Pro-Cars thread because it was 99.5% complete and restorable when I photographed it. The only thing that wasn't on (or somewhere in) it was the cot hook, which would be easy to replace. Although dirty, the interior was in GREAT shape:

 

[Steve Loftin]

Dixie/Oldsmobile in Independence, KY

Too bad this internet photo (from 1962) wasn't a little bigger:

 

[NJ Dorsey]

This is a 1975 Oldsmobile hearse by Cotner Bevington. I was all set to buy it from a really nice seller for what seemed like a great price... when we decided to take it on the freeway for a test drive. Suddenly the transmission had a total failure. I decided to keep my money, but felt bad enough that I paid for the tow. It just happened that we broke down right in front of my father's place of work. When I had my first hearse, he was always giving me a hard time every time that one broke down. I could just see him walking by and seeing me waiting for a tow in this one!

Maybe I should have still bought it! My friend later saw it with this for sale sign from another seller. $7500 was a few thousand more than what I was going to pay for it!

 

[John ED Renstrom]

this is the best we could do with it stand back about 5 ft and it not to bad?

 

[Brendan Martin]

Here is a 1968 from Dighton Massachusetts.

 

[Mike McDonald]

I sure wish I could find one like that! MM

 

[Steve Loftin]

Here is a 1968 from Dighton Massachusetts.

1967 Cotington 48

 

[Skip Goulet - Deceased 1945 - 2018]

Here is a 1968 from Dighton Massachusetts.

Nice old rig. Is it still around?