Customer Reviews

Classic American Ambulances: 1900-1979 Photo Archive

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This book is a must have for funeral car & ambulance fans! 120 Black & White approx 8 X 10 sized photos of American built Ambulances & Ambulance combinations in all their glory before in the 1970's, tighter fuel economy standards downsized the US automobile, and Federal Ambulance design regulations became more and more stringent. All of this led to the demise of the passenger car based ambulance.

Coachworks include Superior, Miller, Meteor, Sayers & Scovill, Hess & Eisenhardt, Flxible, Eureka, Henney, National, Barnette, Memphian, Comet, Siebert, and Cotner-Bevington. All built on luxury car chassis such as Cadillac, La Salle, Packard. Also includes pics of ambulances built on Chrysler, Buick, Pontiac, Studebaker, Lincoln, Chevrolet, Ford, and Oldsmobile chassis.

Also contains useful info on some of the cars, but I have to say the emphasis in this book is on the photos. All in all, I love having this book in my collection!

A subject often over-looked by automotive historians, and often shunned by the general public, American Ambulances (and funeral coaches) are truly rolling works of art that performed their duties well. Walt McCall and Tom McPherson are two of the most educated people in the field of emergency service vehicles with McPherson having penned several previous volumes on this subject. This book is perfect for the novice ambulance fan or the experienced collector, and offers a glimpse with period professional detailed photography of these truly hand-built, often one-of-a-kind vehicles. Many of the photos have never been seen before and besides those built on Cadillac chassis, there are a number of unique body styles shown such makes as Chevrolet, Pontiac, and even some rare Ford products. This is a must-have type of book for your library if you have ever thought of owning any type of ambulance literature.