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There are few pictures and little information provided on this Ambulance “pajarito” found listed in Phoenix here on craigslist. The engine is not frozen and there is “some rocker and floorboard rust”. The asking price of $2,800 seems reasonable, so there would seem to be lots of possibilities for this old Caddy. Some would drop it on air with custom wheels, some might even restore it. I’d just do the mechanicals to get it running well and do the interior. Better brakes and suspension improvements might also be on the list of needed upgrades. What would you do with this ambulance?
Would be a interesting project and kind of cool ride but “OMG” the gas mileage on a road barge such as this, not to mention the parking hassles.
There’s no doubt this would cause some grief for the reasons you mention, but it would also make the world’s coolest station wagon if redone with a rear seat and period Caddy-style interior appointments!
Of course I don’t know what making that conversion would entail in terms of floorpan modification, etc., and the thing may well be a lot rattier than it looks. But I’d dig to have a Cad station wagon of this vintage….
You’d just have to restrict your driving to times of cheap gas and no parallel parking,
Gas mileage is not that bad with these. Engine is only a 331 big for the day but small by later standards.
In the pro-car world, the title of this post would have the purists’ dander up! Ecto 1 was a 59 Miller-Meteor combo. Any attempt to make something like this an Ecto clone would be labeled “Incorr-Ecto”.
I’m no purist. I’d love to get running and use it as a double bass hauler for local gigs, maybe put a bench seat in the back as long as it can be done in such a way that it can be reversed to original if a future owner wishes.
What I would do?! my head starts spinning with ideas!
I would make it into the best roadtrip car ever.
Total restauration, making it into an 4×4, but keeping it look all factory original.
more fender clearence for off road activity, by adding an air system.
Adding a rear seat, (or 2) which can convert into a bed.
suicide doors on an ambulance – o the irony!
this would be really cool to use on long camping trips where you needed room for kids and a roof rack that bolts on to the rain gutters.
standard 2 or 3 row configuration that lays flat for sleeping. that would be traveling in style on the cheap!
don’t like the reliability of the mechanicals for long distance travel? sbc swap ftw.
My father loved ’50s Cadillacs and he owned a few of them during the ’60s when they got affordable. One was a green ’54 4-door that the whole family did a 2500 mile holiday in. The back seat area seemed enormous to a kid, and we sometimes slept laying crosswise on the back seat one at a time during long segments at night.
If we had this car the kids could have all slept in comfort in the back, probably lined up longitudinally. I don’t think I’ve ever seen even a photo of one of these except in a brochure. It’s good to know that a decent restorable one still exists. If you’re after one of these the asking price seems very fair. But the market is probably limited and you might not get much of the resto cost back when you sell.
It would be a classy looking Cad to be brought back to ” as new” I am clueless as to any modifications to it ( ie: early to mid 70s V/8 ) tint the windows out, a deep red bottom and maybe a pearl white top . hey, you’d be the only one at an auto show to have one ( even a huge event) as for gas mileage as some ppl have stated, you wouldn’t be using it that much, maybe a couple of thousand miles a season , that could be dealt with
Looks like a red hearse.
Looks like a Superior not a Miller Meteor