professional car collector

PROFESSIONAL CAR COLLECTOR
A NEW ERA IN THE PROFESSIONAL CAR HOBBY
JULY 2010
ISSUE NUMBER 95
©
Page 2
Professional Car Collector
PCI M EM B ERS HIP
TOPS 600 P EO PLE
Professional Car Collector is a publication of
PROFESSIONAL CARS INTERNATIONAL
432 EAST FAIRMOUNT ROAD
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA 91501-1706
(818) 558-5701
EMAIL
[email protected]
WEBSITE
www.professionalcar.org
LOUIS C. FARAH
Executive Director
Editor / Publisher
Professional Cars International (PCI) is an
international organization that is dedicated to
the celebration and promotion of professional
cars, which are generally defined as vintage
ambulances, hearses, flower cars, limousines
and any other historical vehicle utilized in the
allied professions of the funeral, emergency
medical services and the livery industries.
Ownership of a vehicle is not a prerequisite of
membership. Our mission is to ensure the
preservation of these unique vehicles through
restoration, appreciation and public education.
Membership in Professional Cars International is $25 for a full year and includes a
monthly subscription to Professional Car Collector Magazine; a membership card; a pair of
our custom window decals; free classified
advertising in our magazine; free admission to
all club-hosted events and membership privileges on our interactive website. To join,
simply send your payment of $25 to the address above with your name, address, phone
number and any information of professional
cars owned.
Our editorial staff accepts submissions
including articles, features, stories and other
professional car-related items. You can fax,
email or mail any items of interest in care of
the editor at the contact information listed
above. Immediate detailed information on
membership, display advertising rates or Professional Cars International in general can be
obtained through our phone number and/or
email address.
Professional Car Collector is a copyright
protected publication that may not be reproduced, distributed or used in any manner
without the expressed written permission of
the publisher.
Professional Cars International is
pleased to announce that our membership crossed the magical 600
member mark during the month of
June. In addition, our member retention percentage rate currently
stands at 99%. This is an amazing
milestone in the history of our organization.
We are proud and honored that
so many people have joined our
ranks, and we are eternally grateful
for our private and corporate sponsors that continue to subordinate
this club’s financial foundation,
which allows us to continue staging
quality events and providing complimentary food and drinks to all of
you that attend our functions. A
big thank you to everyone!
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from the time your dues are received.
On The Cover
For many year, the Henney Motor Company was the largest and
most successful professional car manufacturer in America. They
constantly led the way in innovative features and quality construction. However, a number of missteps after World War II along with
the demise of Packard spelled the end of this once great giant. Read
about it in this issue of PCC.
In This Issue
A HENNEY STORY
At one time the Henney Motor Company
was the largest manufacturer of hearses
and ambulances in America. They
brought a number of innovations to
the marketplace including the motorized
3-way casket table and air conditioning in
their ambulances. Yet that wasn’t enough
to sustain them during the mid-1950’s.
Read about 60 year rise and fall of this
once mighty company as told through
the publications of noted historian
and author Thomas A. McPherson.
Pages 3 through 7
SUMMER MEET 2010
AMERICAN HEROES
AIR SHOW
Our biggest show of the year returns to
the Hansen Dam Sports and Recreation
Center this months. Professional Cars
International, Professionalcar.org and
executive producer James Paules have
joined together to bring you this year’s
show that promises to be bigger and
better than ever. We anticipate that this
year’s show will see a new record for
more aircraft and emergency vehicles
on display than ever before.
Page 8
IT’S TIME TO
RESTORE YOUR CAR
Now is the time to stop procrastinating
and start restoring your professional car.
For those that reside in the Southern
California area, we have a vast array of
businesses that are ready to transform
your car from ho-hum to a hum dinger!
Page 9
THE CLASSIFIEDS
Support our advertisers that
make our free events possible.
Page 10
AT THE CLOSE
Our Executive Director shares
a few pearls of wisdom. See
what he has to say this month
Page 11
A MOMENT IN TIME
A bus crash in downtown Los Angeles
in the 1950’s saw this group of woman
shoppers being transported in the back of
a City of Los Angeles rescue ambulance.
Issue Number 95
Page 3
A Henney Story
he Henney Motor Company
started life as a carriage and
buggy builder in the late
1800’s. As the automobile
began to take shape in the
early part of the 20th Century, the company operated as the John W. Henney
Company. Their first venture into the
motorized funeral car began in 1916.
Building on an assembled chassis with a
six-cylinder Continental engine, Henney
was located in Freeport, Illinois.
By the early 1920s, the Henney name
was among America's best known in the
funeral car trade. In the decade that
followed, the company produced limousine and sedan passenger cars to custom order, as well as a production run of
50 sport phaetons in the early 20s that
were designed by Herman Earl. He later
worked for Des Moines Casket Company,
and finally ended up in Piqua, Ohio with
the Meteor Motor Car Company where he
worked for almost 25 years up to his
retirement. The Henney passenger cars
were, like the Henney hearses, powered
by six-cylinder Continental or eightcylinder Lycoming engines.
T
The funeral coaches built by Henney in
1926 coaches included stylish cycle fenders and shortened running boards with
integral step plates beneath each door.
Options included a choice of a single sideentrance attendant's door or an extrawide double side door that allowed easy
access for a gurney or casket. More expensive coaches featured landau-bars,
spot-lights and stylish Gordon spare tire
covers and offered customers the choice
of a Meritas-covered body or an all metalskin body sprayed with Dupont's new
DUCO lacquer. The 1926 catalog displayed Henney's popular 7-passenger
landau sedan-ambulance as well as their
new Light Six line which was designed to
compete with the Mort and other lowpriced coaches.
The name of the business was
changed to the Henney Motor Company in
1927 and shortly thereafter John W. Henney Jr. sold his interest in the firm roughly
a year before the stock market crash in
1929. During his absence, the Henney
Motor Co. produced 100 taxicabs on
stretched Model A Ford chassis as well as
their normal professional car line. They
also supplied 3-piece ash roof rails to
Ford, who used the sub-assemblies on
the 1929 Model A Fordor body framework.
From the late twenties until the adoption of the Packard chassis in 1937, Henney frequently mixed-n-matched chassis
and engines from different manufacturers. Chassis used in varying amounts
during this period included Stephens
(one assembled in their factory using a
Continental motor); Velie/Buick/Auburn
(using Lycoming motors); Pierce Arrow/
Reo (a special car marketed by National
Casket); Pontiac economy model and the
Oldsmobile Progress Model. In addition,
they occasionally built a hearse or an
ambulance on a chassis specified and/or
supplied by the customer. This could
have been a Cadillac, LaSalle, Rolls
Royce, Lincoln, Cord and others.
In 1927, Henney introduced the NU-3Way coach, a funeral car equipped with a
three-way casket table patented by Los
Angeles inventor, William H. Heise. Very
similar to Eureka's, the Heise table could
be loaded from either side or from the
(See Henney, continued on page 4)
Page 4
(Henney, continued from page 3)
rear. A bronze Heise tag can be found on
the table framework of Henney's 3-way
coaches.
Mr. Henney was repelled by the way
hearses had to be backed up to the curb
for loading, which he thought was very
undignified. The 3-way idea was developed by Heise, but Ed Richter perfected
it. The 3-way feature added about
$100.00 to the price of the car but Henney did very well with it. Henney was
soon selling more than half the 3-ways in
the industry, and they sold side-servicing
equipment, including the mound, track
and carrier to some of their competitors.
The Henney Deluxe line continued
mostly unchanged as did their lowerpriced Light-Six models which were easily
distinguishable by their old-fashioned
artillery wheels. Henney coaches were
offered with either a leather-back landau
roof or a plain painted metal roof treatment. As always, plain, frosted, leaded
or combination frosted/leaded windows
were available on all of their coaches.
In 1928 Henney was awarded a government contract to supply 23 ambulances to the United States Veterans
Bureau (now the Veterans Administration) for use at their medical facilities. In
the same year, the NU-3-Way funeral
coach featured prominently in their print
advertising. This side-loading coach featured a Heise casket table that extended
out 36" from either side of the vehicle
and allowed easy loading and unloading
of the casket. Previous side-loading
coaches had small rollers inlaid into the
floor that allowed bearers to slide the
casket around. The Heise 3-way table
allowed the casket to be firmly attached
to the vehicle eliminating all chance of a
mishap that could occur during inclement
weather or on hilly streets. You could also
load it from the rear if the coach was
equipped with a back door.
The 1929 Henney line featured a redesigned chassis with swept front fenders plus a longer and lower body with
incredibly wide front and rear doors specially designed to take full advantage of
their Heise 3-way tables.
Henney
claimed that the wide pillar-less door
opening could support over 1500 lbs. at
its center. Heavy wrought-iron bracing
placed within the strong ash-framing
made it possible.
During that year, Henney launched
what amounted to a smear campaign
against Eureka, Sayers & Scovill, Meteor
and Silver-Knightstown falsely accusing
them of marketing side-servicing coaches
built with bootleg casket tables. Ads that
appeared in the nations funeral and mortuary magazines falsely stated that Hen-
Professional Car Collector
ney was the exclusive licensee of the
patented Heise casket table. In 1930
Eureka, Meteor and Sayers & Scovill filed
suit against Henney and eventually won
an injunction against them. In a year
when they could ill afford it, Henney's
victims' business suffered, while Henney's prospered.
As a direct result of their attack on
Eureka, Henney won a contract to supply
REO-chassised coaches to the National
Casket Company who had just canceled
their contract with Kissel because Eureka
supplied Kissel with their funeral coach
bodies.
Having survived the stock market crash
of 1929 with his cash reserves intact,
John W. Henney Jr. easily regained control of the company in 1930 and soon
conceived a high-priced luxury car similar
to the L-29 of his good friend, Errett Lobban Cord. The magnificent convertible
sedan that resulted was powered by a
Lycoming straight-eight engine and set
on Henney's 137 wheelbase chassis.
Only four examples were built and all
were sold to Henney's friends and large
customers. 1930 and 1931 Henneys
rode on a purpose-built chassis that
closely resembled that of the auto industry's style leader, Cadillac. Their ambulances were advertised as being completely equipped, and their NU-3-Way
side-loading coaches were racking up
sales at the expense of their competition.
In addition to the frosted/leaded/beveled
or plain rear quarter-window options, new
interior window treatments were available as well and included wicker window
inserts, mini-blinds or airline-style draperies.
Henney offered the industry's first
electric-powered casket table in 1932
which was designed by William H. Heise,
the designer of the original 3-way table.
A centrally located motor was placed
under the casket frame in a specially
designed hump or "mound" that could be
operated from either side of the vehicle
using switches imbedded in the compartment walls. The "electric" option was
available on select Henney and NationalREO NU-3-Way coaches.
The company introduced beaver-tail
styling to their coach bodies in 1933. By
1934 they had abandoned assembly of
their own chassis and were building on
Cadillac, Lincoln, Oldsmobile, Packard
and Pierce-Arrow chassis. Less expensive models were built primarily on
Oldsmobile chassis during the mid1930s and were designated as Henney
Progress coaches. Heise's electric 3-way
casket table was marketed as the
"Elecdraulic" and was standard equip-
ment on a few high-priced NU-3-Way
coaches. The Henny Arrowline was introduced in 1934 and was built exclusively
on Pierce-Arrow chassis. Unfortunately,
Pierce-Arrow went bankrupt during the
1937-1938 model year, so Henney
looked to Packard to furnish chassis for
their high-priced coaches. By the end of
1935 Henney introduced the popular
Henney 800 series that was built on a
Packard 120A chassis.
The Funeral Auto Company of Louisville, Kentucky purchased eight identical
Arrowline funeral coaches during 1936.
Funeral Auto Co. were just one of the
many funeral livery services across the
country that rented out hearses and limousines to metropolitan funeral directors
who either couldn't afford to own one, or
didn't have the room to park these huge
coaches at their place of business. As it
is today, hearses are an extra-cost item
in most funeral services and can be
rented as needed by smaller funeral
homes. In large cities like New York City,
the cost of parking a large coach can
quickly exceed its cost, so funeral and
limousine livery services remain popular
to this day. Henney also built a handful
of 1935 and 1936 coaches on stretched
Auburn chassis. Henny Arrowlines were
built from 1934 to 1937.
By 1936 both Packard and General Motors were offering extended-wheelbase
commercial chassis to the professional
car industry. The Packard chassis was
based on their successful 120 Series
while General Motor's were offered by
their Buick, Cadillac, LaSalle and Oldsmobile divisions. Consequently all Henney
coaches were built on purpose-built
Oldsmobile and Packard commercial
chassis from 1936 onward. 1937 was
the final year for Henney Progress
Oldsmobile coaches as Henney made a
permanent switch to the Packard chassis
in 1938 and would remain with them
until their demise in 1954.
At the 1937 National Funeral Director's
Convention, Henney introduced a streamlined flower car as well as a self-leveling
suspension system that they called the
Leveldraulic. The flower car was built on
a Packard chassis, featured a collapsible
convertible top and could be used as a
first call car or to transport altars, chairs
and other necessities to the home of the
deceased or to the gravesite. The complex Leveldraulic system used a number
of electric motors and hydraulic pumps
and actuators to assist in leveling the
coach while the casket was being loaded
or unloaded on hills and uneven roadways. The manually operated system
Issue Number 95
could also be used to level an uneven
load and was available on both Henney
funeral coaches and ambulances.
"Weather-Conditioner" air conditioning appeared on Henney ambulances for
the first time in late 1938. Developed by
their new partner Packard, the mechanical system included a huge evaporator,
called a 'cooling coil,' which took up most
of the equipment cabinet that separated the driver from the rear compartment. This cumbersome AC system
lacked a compressor clutch and could
only be controlled with the blower speed
switch. The horsepower-sapping pump
was on whenever the engine was running
and the only way to turn it off was to remove the drive belt to the compressor.
Packard started installing the system in
on production Packards in 1939 advertising that purchasers would "Forget the
heat this summer in the only airconditioned car in the world".
Late in 1939, Henney proclaimed that
the current years production of 1200
vehicles was the largest number of funeral cars and ambulances ever produced by one company in a single year.
To celebrate their record, a commemorative booklet titled "The Story of the
1200th Henney-Packard Produced during
1939" was distributed to the firm's distributors and employees. Another entitled "Program Of Progress" followed in
1940.
In that same year the company offered a Formal Limousine model. This
limousine-style hearse featured art-deco
metal shields featuring the owner's name
mounted on all three rear compartment
doors. When equipped with Henney's
Leveldraulic suspension and Elecdraulic
NU-3-Way casket table, this coach was
the most technologically advanced
hearse available this year. Long wheelbase airport limousines were in great
demand during the late 1930s and Henney built a number of 8-door (4-doors per
side) using extended-wheelbase Packard
chassis.
They also introduced a Landaulet funeral coach this year that was its answer
to the landau-style coaches offered by
their competition. The Landaulet was a
dedicated side-servicing coach and was
available in town car or enclosed drive
versions. Henney styling had evolved
slowly but surely during the late 1930s
and the Landaulet hearse featured a
rather dramatic roofline complemented
by its shortened side windows built exclusively for the Landaulet. It’s padded Burbank-covered top and large landau bar
gave it the appearance of an expensive
four-door convertible sedan. In Landaulet town cars, the divider panel was
Page 5
hinged in the middle, allowing the casket
easy access to rear compartment when
the driver's seat was slid forward. Most
other 1939 Henney coaches featured a
more conventional rear roofline with an
integral rear door.
Introduced iin 1939, a very unusual
"Super Formal" coach featured a slightly
heart-shaped window that was used in
place of the standard Henney side compartment glass. A picture exists that
shows a 1939 Henney Super Formal
Town Car Hearse on a Packard Super
Eight chassis with a Manning nameplate
on the front doors. The 1940 catalog
shows a regular (non-town car) Super
Formal Coach although no pictures of the
vehicle exist and it may never have been
built.
Henney flower cars were mildly redesigned in 1940 and were available
painted, or with a Burbank-covered fauxconvertible roof. Access to the casket
compartment was through small side
doors located behind the driver's door or
through the tailgate which had built-in
casket rollers that matched those on the
compartment floor. The height of the
stainless steel flower deck was hydraulically adjustable so that different-sized
floral tributes could be accommodated
and a tonneau cover was included to
cover the bed when not in use. Henney
also manufactured a small number of
sedan-ambulances using standard Packard limousines with a removable B-pillar
that could accept a gurney through the
passenger-side doors as well as a few
multi-door airport limousines built using
stretched sedan chassis. New this year
was Henney's graveside jukebox, the
"Singing Chapel On Wheels". A compact
record player/amplifier installed under
the right-side instrument panel, it included two remote speakers located
under the hood and could provide music
during the graveside ceremony.
Packard introduced their new streamlined Clipper during the spring of 1941
just as Cadillac introduced their new
redesigned Series 60 and 62 models.
However the Clipper had to wait until the
after the war before placed in service
underneath Henney coaches. All pre-war
1940s Packard-Henney coaches were
built using the older Series 120, 160 and
180 chassis although some Clipperinfluenced styling made its way onto the
older chassis by 1942. Henney was the
largest professional car builder in the
country yet only managed to produce
300 vehicles before the firm turned to
war production work early in the year.
Civil Defense vehicles were in short
supply at the start of the war and Henney
filled the void with a number of attractive
vehicles purpose-built for domestic service. Henney deserves credit for being
the first professional-car manufacturer to
produce a modern modular-styled ambulance body. Built on a Packard chassis,
the extra-wide box-back ambulance included room for four patients and was
painted with an art-deco paint scheme
that integrated beautifully with the crossshaped windows.
Later versions included black-out trim and just like today's
retired modular ambulances, the boxy
Civil Defense Henneys were popular as
used work-trucks during the late Forties
and early Fifties.
John W. Henney, owner of the Henney
Motor Company, son and namesake of
the firms founder, died in Freeport, Illinois on November 26, 1946 and the
family sold the firm to C. Russell
Feldmann, a millionaire businessman
whose original claim to fame was 1927's
Transitone radio, one of the first units
designed for mobile use exclusively for
installation in an automobile. The Transitone was not only bulky, but costly
($150) and initial sales were well below
expectations. However, by 1930 the
radio's bulk had been greatly reduced
and sales had increased to the point
where the radio giant Philco became
interested in Feldmann's Automobile
Radio Corporation, purchasing it in December of 1930.
Feldmann gave Henney immediate
access to large amounts of capital that
was previously unavailable, strengthening their already healthy position in the
industry as well as their relationship with
Packard. The firm's acquisition coincided
with an agreement to manufacture Packard's new 7-passenger limousine and 8door 15-passenger airport limousines
which were both in great demand immediately after the war. Production finally
exceeded demand in mid-1947 and Henney re-tooled in preparation for production of their brand-new 1948 coaches
that were unveiled at the 1947 National
Funeral Director's Convention. Contrary
to popular belief, Henney only built Packard limousines for the 1946-47 model
year. 1948-50 Packard limousines were
built by Briggs as Henney was too busy
building hearses and ambulances to do
any extra contract work, even for Packard, an important business partner.
The 1946-47 Henney-Packard sevenpassenger sedans were also sold as combination cars, built for use as either a
conventional limousine, or a side-loading
invalid car or sedan ambulance. The right
front seat is removable and the passenger side B-pillar is designed to either stay
(See Henney, continued on page 6)
Page 6
(Henney, continued from page 5)
on the car or come away with the door,
enabling a wheeled cot to enter from the
right side.
Henney's all-new 1948 coaches were
powered by a 160 horsepower straight-8
engine built on Packard's new 158"
wheelbase commercial chassis. Packard's 22nd series "inverted bathtub" styling was controversial and Henney's
prices were expensive, yet they produced
close to 2,000 coaches in 1948 and
were once again the largest professional
car manufacturer in the world. In order
to provide adequate interior headroom
and maneuverability for the casket and
gurney using the new Clipper bodies,
Henney was forced to section the body in
order to raise it by a couple of inches. A
consequent extra row of teeth was also
added to the bottom of the new egg crate
grill, a similar system to that used by
Flxible to match their coaches with the
Buick chassis.
Funeral coaches were available with
either NU-3-Way side-servicing or dedicated rear-loading versions. Ambulances,
hearses and combination coaches were
all available in either straight limousine
styles or with a textured landau roof over
the blanked-in rear quarter windows. Combination coaches were only
available as rear-loaders, but could be
changed from a funeral coach to an ambulance by simply snapping in the ambulance badge on the inside of the rear
quarter windows, unfolding the attendant's jump seat, and placing a removable Federal beacon on the roof. All of
the pre-war options remained including
air-conditioning, leveldraulic suspension,
elecdraulic 3-way casket tables. and the
"Singing Chapel On Wheels". Ambulances could be ordered with an illuminated rooftop "ambulance" sign, podshaped warning lights and a choice of
sirens.
Henney's flower car was clearly the
most beautiful of its brand-new 1948
professional cars. Standard equipment
included a stainless-lined casket compartment as well as an all stainless
flower deck topside. As with most other
flower cars, a body-colored folded fauxcabriolet top was built onto the rear of
the flower deck. A conservative-looking
service car was also offered that used
the limousine-style body with all the windows blanked-in.
In 1950, Henney was awarded a special contract to build a fleet of nine custom-built, long-wheelbase Lincoln Cosmopolitans for the Truman White House. The
contract stipulated that the coaches be
armored by Henney's competitor, the
Hess & Eisenhardt Company of Ross-
Professional Car Collector
moyne, Ohio, as they were the only armoring firm "approved" by the federal
government.
Entering government service with the
convertible that became the "bubbletop,"
these armored Lincolns were primarily
used during the Truman and Eisenhower
years, and at least one survives. It is on
display in the Harry S. Truman Library
and Museum in Mr. Truman's home town,
Independence, Missouri.
A great influence on the postwar Henney designs was their designer, Richard
Arbib. In the late 1930's, Arbib began his
career working with Harley Earl as a consultant to GM Styling. After a stint in
WWII, his penchant and talent for car
design brought Arbib to the Henney Automobile Company. His creativity reached
new levels with the beautiful 1951 Packard Caribbean and the beautiful 19511954 Henney-Packards professional
cars. Henney converted a 1951 Packard
250 convertible into the Pan American
show car for Packard to display at the
1952 New York Auto Show. It was an
instant hit and eventually saw production
as the Packard Caribbean from 19531954.
After an absence of four years, Packard re-entered the long-wheelbase limousine business in 1953, offering a 149inch wheelbase Eight-Passenger Sedan
and a Corporate Limousine whose bodies
were built by Henney. Only 150 were
built in 1953, including 100 eightpassenger sedans and 50 limousines.
Even fewer were built for 1954, (65 sedans and 35 limos) and the limousine
ended production that year.
Henney built a prototype Packard
"Super Station Wagon" in 1953-54. Built
using a long-wheelbase Packard professional car chassis and a Henney ambulance body, it included four center opening side doors, Henney's distinctive
curved rear quarter windows plus a
fourth side window inserted into the Cpillar exclusive to the Super Station Wagons.
In 1953 and 1954 Henney offered a
budget-priced short-wheelbase companion to their long wheelbase professional
cars called the “Junior”. In order to keep
down it's price, the Junior's chassis,
unlike that of the Senior, was from the
budget Packard series and the interior
trim was made from cheaper materials.
Henney was well into the production of
the Junior before it realized that they
were losing money on every Junior built
and instituted a huge price increase that
effectively killed the model. Total production of the appropriately-named Henney
Junior's totaled 500, 380 in 1953 and
only 120 in 1954. A substantial number
of the 1953 coaches were sold to the US
Government at a loss, a fact that helped
contribute to Henney's already-poor financial picture.
The Junior was awkward-looking at
best. A window between the side door
and the rear quarter window would have
helped the car's looks immensely. Another factor that hurt the car was its rear
compartment length, which looked good
measured at the floor, but translated into
a less than ideal length at the beltline
because of the angle of the rear of the
body and the amount of floor length that
ran under the top of the front seatback.
Stiff competition from emerging
budget coach producers in Indiana and
Tennessee doomed the project, and
Packard's cancellation of their longwheelbase chassis for the 1955 model
year doomed the full-sized coaches as
well. Although in the early years Henney’s exclusive association with Packard
took the company to impressive heights
well above it’s competition, it was the
same association that doomed the company in the end. With the end of the
Packard commercial chassis came the
end of Henney as a funeral car builder.
If not for one particular person, the Henney story may not have ever been so
thoroughly detailed and recorded. Noted
author and historian Thomas A. McPherson amassed an incredible amount of
material on the Henney company including their history, and most importantly,
hundreds of crisp, clear factory photographs of Henney vehicles. He recently
published a hard-bound book entitled,
The Henney Motor Company, The Complete History. It is the definitive history of
not only Henney, but Packard-based professional cars. Mr. McPherson’s extensive personal knowledge and photos
were the basis of this article, and his
book is available through a variety of
sources including Amazon, eBay, professionalcar.org and most automotive book
outlets. It is a must for every professional car enthusiasts, along with
McPherson’s complete histories on
Eureka, Flxible, Superior and MillerMeteor. Each book contains the complete history of each company including
production numbers, model descriptions,
and hundreds of factory photographs.
Professional Car Collector Magazine
wishes to express our gratitude and
thanks to Thomas A. McPhersons for his
contributions, both to this article and the
professional car hobby in general. Without his knowledge, expertise and resources, very little would be known and
documented in regards to the many
manufacturers of professional cars. +++
Issue Number 95
Page 7
Page 8
Professional Car Collector
A ND EXE CU T IVE D IR EC TOR JAME S PAU LES , JR . P RESE NTS
Summer Meet 2010
American Heroes Air Show
SATURDAY JULY 24TH 9:00 AM UNTIL 3:00 PM
HANSEN DAM SPORTS & RECREATION CENTER
F OOTH I LL B LVD JU S T W ES T OF THE I -210 F REEWAY IN L A K E VIEW TE R RAC E.
OVER THREE DOZEN AIRCRAFT ON DISPLAY FROM FIRE DEPARTMENTS, LAW
ENFORCEMENT, GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES, NEWS MEDIA AND ALL FOUR
BRANCHES OF THE MILITARY / STATIC AND ACTIVE DISPLAYS
DEMONSTRATIONS / HUGE VENDOR FAIRE / LIVE ENTERTAINMENT
FIRE APPARATUS, POLICE CARS, PROFESSIONAL CARS AND DOZENS
OF SPECIALTY VEHICLES FROM THE FBI, DEA, ATF, SECRET SERVICE,
U.S. MARSHALS, AND THE L A COUNTY CORONERS OFFICE
RO L L I N ’ TO T H E RE S C UE CO D E 3 PA R ADE
F IRE A PPA RATU S , A MBU LA NC ES , P OLI C E C A RS A ND OTH ER EME RGE NC Y
VEH IC LES TO S TAG E AT ROC K Y’S RES TAU RA NT PA RK ING LOT AT 8: 30 A M.
ROC K Y ’ S IS LO C AT ED AT THE WHI TE MA N A IRP ORT O N OS BOU RN E S T REE T
JU S T NO RTH OF T HE RA IL ROA D T RAC K S AT S A N FERN A NDO ROA D.
COMPLIMENTARY COLD DRINKS AND LUNCH
COURTESY OF PROFESSIONAL CARS INTERNATIONAL MEMBER MICHAEL FOLEY
PROFESSIONAL CARS DISPLAYED BY
PROFESSIONAL CARS INTERNATIONAL
PHANTOM COACHES HEARSE CLUB
VINTAGE HEARSE ASSOCIATION
JOSEPH ORTIZ COLLECTION
NO ADMISSION FEE
PLENTY OF FREE PARKING
FOR INFORMATION, CALL THE PCI FAX-MESSAGE CENTER AT
(818) 558-5701 OR EMAIL [email protected]
Issue Number 95
It’s Time To Restore Your Car
The summer months are upon us and car show season is in full swing. If
you thought that it was too late to try and restore your professional car in
time for the vast number of events that are scheduled for July and August, think again!
Professional Cars International has amassed a number of auto-related
businesses that are willing to provide you the goods and services you
need to bring that vehicle back to show condition at a faction of the cost
that most other jobbers are charging. Your membership in PCI will open
the doors to a number of Los Angeles-based specialists in a variety of
automotive related shops ready to serve you.
Mohammed Abuelhawa, sales manager for 1 Day Paint and Body in
Glendale, is a wizard when it comes to custom body and paint work for
hearses and ambulances. From expert body preparation to one-step
painting, he can perfectly match the original color of your car. He also
specializes in removing rust spots using metal, not Bondo, to ensure that
the rust doesn’t come back. He can save you thousands of dollars on
paint and body work.
Just as important as body and paint is your interior. Sure Fit Upholstery in Burbank has thousands of different fabrics, leathers, vinyl and
carpeting right on the premises to faithfully recreate your interior. All of
their work is done at their shop and usually they can complete your car in
one day. From door panels to seats, carpets to headliners, they are your
one-stop shop for all of your interior needs.
Perhaps the most important aspect of classic car ownership is mechanical. It doesn’t matter how nice your car looks if it doesn’t run right
or has mechanical problems. The folks at Greg’s Tune-Up in Burbank are
experts at vintage cars from the 1940’s right up to today’s complicated
vehicles. For relatively easy repairs like water pumps, fuel pumps, power
steering, alternators, brakes and other common problems, they get it
right the first time and for a very reasonable price.
Now that the car is done, it’s time to go a few steps further. For perfect graphics custom-made to your order, there’s Liquid Reality Studios.
For perfect replications of fire department emblems to private ambulance company logos, they can faithfully reproduce your project. Don’t
just paint your car...replicate it’s former life.
A number of PCI members have two-way radios in their vehicles for
parade purposes. We use both low-band and high-band radios for PCI
and the Crown Firecoach Enthusiasts events. To have your radios programmed, we use Louie Farah. He can program any radio within minutes
as well as install the proper antennas, wiring and hardware,
If you’re driving a Cadillac professional car, the cheapest parts on the
West Coast are at Cadillacs Only in Santa Paula. They have thousands of
parts from 1946 to 2000 including exterior, interior and mechanical related items.
On a national level, your best resource for goods, services and advice
is the website of www.professionalcar.org. Not only is this the home of
PCI’s on-line discussion board, but the world’s largest resource for professional car related goods and services. A national chain of professional car enthusiasts are constantly posting helpful information on the
website discussion areas, and the website has a variety of forums used
for advertising, technical information, eBay and Craigslist listings and
classified ads. Whatever you are looking for in the way of information
can be found at www.professionalcar.org.
While we have been able to establish a wide variety of discounted
goods and services with businesses in the greater Los Angeles area, we
would like to expand our offerings. If you know of local businesses in
your area that are willing to offer our members discounts on their goods
and services, please let us know and we’ll include them on our preferred
resources listings on www.professionalcar.org.
It’s never too late to restore your car for a lot less money than you
think. PCI is here to help you get the most out of your professional car
experience by being your Number 1 resource for goods and services.
Page 9
Please see our sponsors for your
professional car restoration needs!
RADIO PROGRAMMING
VHF-LOW VHF-HI UHF
PCI AND CROWN FREQUENCIES
MOBILE AND HAND-HELD RADIOS
LOUIE FARAH
(818) 974-1062
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY - RADIOS MUST BE PROGRAMMABLE
Liquid Reality Studios is an independent design firm that
specializes in the unique and the unusual. We are
equipped to handle almost any of your graphic design
needs. From small business branding, to logo and identity
creation, to short run custom stickers and decals, to vehicle
graphics, we can help you create a lasting image for your
business or project. We also specialize in production
graphics and design. From short term signage for your sets,
to temporary vehicle graphics, to custom product labels for
props, we can handle it. Complete your professional car
restoration with stunning reproduction of the original lettering and design.
Liquid Reality Signs & Design
www.liquidrealitystudios.com
Sure Fit Upholstery
INTERIORS
CARPET
DASHBOARDS
DOOR PANELS
1406 West Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, California 91506
(818) 845-7869
RESTORATION EXPERTS
Proud member of Profess ional Cars International
Page 10
Professional Car Co llector
THE CLASSIFIEDS
5015 Van Nuys Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
323-850-1881
818-379-9970
Fax: 818-379-9973
See our cars at
www.corrente-cadillac.com
Collins K-9, Inc. is a full service private sector canine
company dedicated to the men and women of law
enforcement and the communities they protect. We
have been serving these departments, the community and private businesses since 1986.
w w w . b o m b d og s .c o m
( 4 1 0 ) 4 8 2 -8 6 9 6
Erickson & brown funeral home
Family owned and operated by
Charles and Jennifer Landwehr
Taft’s oldest. continually operated,
family-owned business
501 Lucard Street Taft, California 93268
(661) 765-4111 - office
(661) 763 -5417 - fax
Burbank Holiday Inn
Media Center Towers
150 East Angeleno Street
Burbank, California 91502
(818) 841-4770
L oc at e d i n t he B ur ba n k E nt e r t ai n me nt D i s t r i c t ,
ou r e nt i r e h ot e l h as b e e n c o mp l e t e l y r e mo de l e d.
E nj oy t he be s t i n r o o ms , f oo d a nd e nt e r t ai n me nt .
Official hotel of Professional Cars International
Sponsor of the Great American Funeral Meet and
part of the Professional Cars International family
Jorge Ferreira
General Manager
Pierce Brothers Valhalla
Memorial Park & Mortuary
10621 Victory Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91606
(818) 763-9121
Caring family service 24 hours a day
Doug Scott Funeral Cars
Proud corporate sponsor of Professional Cars International
EXECLUSIVE
DISTRIBUTORS OF
HORTON AMBULANCES
AEV AMBULANCES
AND BUILDERS OF
LEADER AMBULANCES
Leader Industries
10941 Weaver Avenue South El Monte, CA 91733
(626) 575-0880 Fax: (626) 575-0286
CHARTER MEMBER OF PROFESSIONAL CARS INTERNATIONAL
Locations in Glendale and Burbank
(818) 402-9195 (818) 249-0005 - Fax
Always the best selection of quality funeral
cars on the West Coast. Worldwide shipping.
YOUR AD HERE!
FOR INFORMATION ON ADVERTISING RATES AND
SCHEDULES, CALL US TODAY AT (818) 558-5701
AND BE IN THE NEXT ISSUE!
Issue Number 95
Page 11
Establishing A Presence
A W I N N I N G A T T I T UD E B R I N G S P O S I T I V E R ES U L T S
A T T H E C LO S E
T
he months of May and June
have proved to be very pivotal for Professional Cars
International. It was during
the month of May that we learned
that Professional Car Collector had
received two separate honors from
Old Cars Weekly Magazine (the second time we’ve received two such
honors in the same year in the past
five years), and in June we reached a
new milestone by surpassing the
600 member mark.
It has now become clear that PCI
is on-track to become one of the largest professional car organizations in
the world by this time next year. It
certainly wasn’t our goal to when the
club was launched in May of 2009.
However, we introduced something
new, something fresh, and provided
people with features and benefits no
one else offered. That’s progressive
thinking.
We were already staging some of
the largest and most successful professional car events in the country,
but the main attraction that made
us stand out was the fact that we
offered a full-color magazine published every month. People saw that
as a major advantage over the other
professional car clubs out there. Not
only did we have the best events and
publications, but our club was devoid
of all of the politics that were taking
the fun out of the hobby. The mission statement of the club was clear
from the beginning: PCI was designed for those that love these cars,
period. We stand for having a good
time enjoying the cars, and even
more importantly, each other’s company.
We have been averaging anywhere between 35 to 50 new members a month, and that can be directly attributed to providing our
members with a substantial value for
their hard-earned dollars.
A common misconception among
most people is the assumption that
B Y LO UIS C . F A R AH
because PCI is based in California, we
are a regional club. We are not. Our
membership extends across America
with a substantial number of members residing in Canada as well. We
are a national organization that has
brought to the mainstream a new era
in the professional car hobby. We are
not specialized in one area nor do we
limit what cars are welcome. PCI is a
safe haven for everybody.
Mark your calendars. Saturday, July
24th is our annual Summer Meet
2010 / American Heroes Air Show at
the Hansen Dam Sports and Recreation Center in Lake View Terrace. This
year’s show promises to be the largest yet with a record number of aircraft, emergency vehicles, displays
and vendor booths. This show has
grown tremendously in size throughout the past 13 years, and one of the
main attractions seems to be the professional car display that greets everyone when they arrive at the entrance to the show grounds.
The show will kick-off with our annual Code 3 parade that starts at the
parking lot of Rocky’s Café at Whiteman Airport in Pacoima and travels to
the show grounds in Lake View Terrace. The parade is open to fire apparatus, ambulances, police cars and
any other types of emergency vehicle
that are equipped with warning lights
and a siren. Please be staged at
Rocky’s no later than 8:30 AM. The
entrance to Rocky’s is located on Osborne Street just north of San Fernando Road.
All professional vehicles will be
displayed in the front parking area of
the Hansen Dam Sports and Recreation Center located on Foothill Blvd.
just west of the I-210 Freeway. Those
that plan to arrive with a funeral car
are asked to have their vehicles
parked no later than 9:00 AM in the
display area. All participants, whether
they have a car or not, are invited to
enjoy free ice cold drinks and a com-
plimentary lunch provided by PCI
member Michael Foley.
Next month's issue will feature a recap of our Summer Meet, but most
importantly, we plan to have a special feature detailing the restoration
of Professional Ambulance Service’s
Unit KL-16, the last Cadillac ambulance they purchased. KL-16 is a
1977 Superior Cadillac Transport
ambulance, one of only 10 that were
made in that year It’s total restoration will be completed in early July
and this fine classic will be displayed
at our Summer Meet.
Along the road to KL-16’s completion, Professional Cars International
established some great relationships
with various businesses in the Los
Angeles area that not only had a
hand in the restoration process, but
provided a wealth of goods and services to complete the project. As a
result of those relationships we were
able to establish during this joint
effort, these businesses have agreed
to provide their goods and services
at a substantial discount to PCI members that want to restore their cars
as well. Please take the time to patronized our new friends that are
willing to save you a bundle of repairs and services.
Are you looking to sell your professional car? I am re-establishing my
former business of supplying timeperiod professional cars to our local
movie and television studios here in
Los Angeles. I am looking to purchase hearses and ambulances from
the 1950’s through the 1970’s. Give
me a call at (818) 203-9648 if you
are trying to sell a professional car,
or if you know of someone that would
like to sell their car that meets the
above criteria.
Aloha until next time…..
A MOMENT IN TIME
The crash of a Metropolitan bus in downtown Los Angeles back in the 1950’s resulted in a number of injuries. These
ladies were on the bus and found themselves being treated and transported to Central Receiving Hospital on 6th Street.