Pontiac procar pics

[Bill Marcy]

1970 Superior-Pontiac Consort Ambulance

This is my 1970 Consort ambulance.

 

[Justin Rousselot]

My other half's '74 Superior back when she was in highschool ( and we have been together ever since she's a keeper! )

 

[Martin Harvey]

My 1967 Superior Pontiac next to a 1967 Quebec built Demers Ford ambulance at our 2017 meet.

 

[Steve Loftin]

This treasure is from the June, 1958 issue of THE AMERICAN FUNERAL DIRECTOR magazine. I wonder for which Graham F.H. this car was built?

 

[Kurt Arends]

Picked these up some time ago.

 

[Abe Bush]

1971 models

Most of us have seen only a handful of '71 Pontiac procars over the years, if any. As far as I know, there were only two sold new in Oklahoma (a 51" ambulance and a LWB combination).

Here are a few from my collection:

The Loup City Cooperative Ambulance outfit covered three towns from their quarters in Loup City, NE. This is a 54" job the with bucket seat/console option. This girl is amazingly rust-free to have been a lifelong Nebraska car. They're not pretty, but the Junior West Coast mirrors (factory option) sure made driving these rigs easier and safer. I shot this picture in 1993, shortly before she was sold to a collector in Wisconsin in ...anyone know to whom?

Another 54" job is this beauty from the West Ridge Fire Co. in Kearsarge, PA. All this needs is a pair of CP25s flanking the C6B to be FULLY DRESSED!

Consorts are probably the rarest of all '71 Pontiac procars. This endloader served the McCabe Bros. firm in Pittsburg, PA.

More '71 Indians

According to the Superior book, Pontiac procar production of all types totaled 350, 194, and 320 for the 1970, 1971, and 1972 model years. No wonder we
haven't seen many of the '71s! 1971 model year production for all GM products was delayed by a lengthy strike in 1970. With that in mind, here are a few more to look at:

1. This pristine (in 1991, anyway) Sovereign Landaulet endloader was owned by the Watt F.H. in Moline, Kansas (no longer in business). When many
funeral homes in this part of the world stopped providing ambulance service, they quickly traded in their combination(s) for the first straight hearse
they could find. That way, their coach wouldn't be pressed into duty as an ambulance! Many station wagon and carryall ambulances were stripped and converted into flower and/or removal vehicles.

2. Here's a 51" job that served Greenwood County Ambulance Service in Eureka, Kansas.

(SL photos)

3. Yardville, New Jersey's 54" nicely-optioned ride was eventually bought by Bob Dietz and sold to the Derfelt F.H. in Galena, Kansas. Derfelt's sold it to the Lawson F.H.
in Jay, Oklahoma. The last time I saw her, she was leaning up against the fire station in a small town in Arkansas. Recognize this car? Get out your copy of the 1972 Superior ambulance catalog; through the magic of an airbrush, this car turned into a '72 model! (1971 was the first year for a 54" Pontiac.)

4. Another 51" car, this one was owned by Beacon Ambulance in Hurley, Wisconsin and Ironwood, Michigan.

(SL collection)

Thank you for sharing these, Steve, as 1971 Superior Pontiacs are my absolute favorite Pontiacs. I think I am biased, as when I was growing up my parents bought a cream colored 1971 Grand Safari station wagon, and I had seen a few early 70s Pontiac pro cars by that time. Very few though, but I remember our station wagon had a barely visible raised area on the roof but aft of the B Pillar, and just in front of the roof's luggage rack. I remember longingly pretending our car was actually a high-top ambulance, and that "bump" helped me to illustrate that illusion in my elementary school mind at the time. The front clips of these 71s epitomizes that old car that was our daily driver for many years, and took us on many family vacations over the years. And my mom got a great many speeding tickets while driving it way over the speed limit most of the time she was ever behind the wheel, lugging us 4 kids back and forth from event to event, or just plain ol' grocery shopping! That poor old car served us very well for many years, until she was eventually replaced with a 1978 Chevy Caprice Classic station wagon, and the sad old poncho ended her life at the Whiteside County fair's demolition derby, circa 1982 or so, painted up to represent the town's local Sunoco full service gas station (and repair facility). She won her heet, and came darn close to winning the entire derby! Sadly we were on vacation in Colorado at the time, and I was sorely disappointed that I wasn't able to watch our car nearly win.

 

[Paul Steinberg]

Abe... Sadly your memory is failing, since the car you described wasn't a Pontiac, but an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser.

 

[Kurt Arends]

Abe... Sadly your memory is failing, since the car you described wasn't a Pontiac, but an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser.View attachment 45268View attachment 45269

Abe is correct Paul! The '71-'76 "clam shell" wagons do have a raised area! It goes up right before the roof rack. '71 Pontiacs were the best styled of the '71-'76 fill-sized Pontiacs, IMHO!

 

[Steve Loftin]

Very few though, but I remember our station wagon had a barely visible raised area on the roof but aft of the B Pillar, and just in front of the roof's luggage rack.

Abe is correct in his description, as seen here:

 

[Paul Steinberg]

I stand corrected.. Don't think that I ever saw one like it, but I can see it in the picture that I posted.

 

[Steve Lichtman]

My dad had a '73 Buick Estate wagon, also a clamshell. The "bump" in the roof was to accommodate the rear window, as it slid up into the ceiling. It allowed the extra height for the window without compromising the side windows. Yes, that bump was on all the clamshells.