Although Halloween is quickly becoming a distant memory, there are still some vehicles out there ideally suited for creating a spooky ambience in your garage. This 1966 Cadillac ambulance here on eBay is a remarkably well preserved example, although it is perhaps a bit too authentic for some enthusiasts (myself included!)
I don’t know about you, but this was perhaps a bit too over-the-top for me. Now, I am not the squeamish type, and I realize what ambulances are used for; however, a mock patient strapped down in the treatment area is a detail I can live without. Still, to the seller’s credit, it helps drive home just how well-equipped with lots of rare, original equipment this Cadillac still is.
The seller notes that he found two of these ambulances and decided to restore the other car, which is why this one is up for grabs. It remains quite solid, and the desirable (and very hard to replace) emergency lights are still attached and functioning. The body appears to be quite sound as well, with just some hood fading as the most obvious flaw with the paint. These Miller Meteor Cadillacs are becoming hard-to-find in any condition, especially preserved.
Right down to the keychain, this Cadillac remains a loyal servant to the medical community. The interior looks great, and given the seller’s claim that it was used in parades and exhibits up until recently, I’m guessing everything works. The buy-it-now is a strong $18,950, but I suppose you’d spend near that much trying to bring a rough example up to this level of condition and equipment. Although Halloween is over, does anyone find this vintage ambulance appealing?
What a neat find! It deserves to be kept original, If it were stripped out or in less than complete condition it would make a fun project for a business vehicle, camper, rat… but it’s too complete. Hope someone saves it and enjoys it.
I agree, cool find, glad it exists, but what do you do with it?
Given that there’s a whole branch of the hobby devoted to professional cars, I would think that this should/will go to such an enthusiast. I hope so. Be a shame to hack it up now.
Wow…My parents have the sister to that car, a 64 Miller Meteor high top ambulance in their barn. Same roof lights and all.
Guess it might not be a bad time to sell theirs. Looks like it’s in rougher shape than the one for sale here, still, cool cars. That thing is MASSIVE.
Massive is a great word to describe both the size and the weight.
A college friend had one, and I got to drive it as compensation for fixing some mechanical faults. My brother worked at a local tire store, with lifts meant for cars and pickup trucks, circa early 70’s. We put the Caddy on one; I swear we both heard it groan while raising the ambulance to service height. Anyone know the actual curb weight? We were guessing in the range of 2.5 – 3 tons.
This is a ’65 Miller Meteor Volunteer, not a ’64.
Hi i am John looking to buy a ambulance like that one are you going to sell it . Please let me know. Thank You
Cars like these have the same problem as fire trucks there kind of useless after there done with there purpose
Trifecta! You’re 0 for 3 on there/their/they’re.
Mark S: I would disagree with you. I’ve seen a number of those old coaches go back into service years after they were retired by the original owner/agency. That was really to my advantage, because I ran a standby ambulance service many years ago, and we managed to find a lot of good bargains with used ambulances back then: I mean real bargains. I had become acquainted with an ambulance salesman in KS back in the mid-70s and bought a very nice 1967 short-wheel-based Buick ambulance from him for $100 + a trip from TX to OKC to pick up the car. But it was worth it and we got a lot of service out of the ambulance. As someone noted above, there are a lot of collectors out there, too, which keeps organizations like the Professional Car Society (PCS) and Professional Cars International (PCI) up and running. Check out their web sites and their pages on FB!
They most definitely are not useless, this is a piece of Emergency Medical Services history — they tell a story that the newer units cannot!!
I was a driver/attendant in 1963-64 in these behemoths of the avenues. Nothing more exciting. Our training was minimal, mainly common sense. Get there, grab em, go like hell.
Speaking as a dinosaur career paramedic, there is indeed a strong market for any Caddy type ambulances. This in blue is very striking and it being complete is a big selling point
If the interior wasn’t in such fantastic condition I’d want to rip it out and re-do it as an ultimate station wagon/ limousine Munsters style! Since it IS in such great condition somebody oughtta get it for a museum or parade car. This one needs to be preserved.
Will make a cool ride
Seems like it would be useful as a Hollywood car for movies set in that era!
Gumball!!!!
Wow! That one sold in a hurry. I’ve been away from the computer most of the week, so I’m just now seeing this one. Where is it, I didn’t see that mentioned. Dudley Hughes Funeral Home in Dallas ran a number of those M-M Cadillacs, and this one is their color scheme. Hughes maintained the ambulance contract for Dallas County for many years…until 1972, when they were beat out by Sparkman-Hillcrest.
This is a nice one. I’m surprised that it only went for a little more than $9K. That pretty ’70 low top Suburban ambulance that was at an auction in WA or Oregon was sold and is now on CL for $24,000. Ridiculous!!
It now resides in Westlake, La. only 38k miles and runs like a top. Will begin ECTO restoration this winter.
Do you still have it? Is it for sale?
Nooooo! Please don’t butcher that car! That would be like painting a moustache and clown costume on the Mona Lisa!
Well, Spyphish, glad to see it’s not too far from Texas! But don’t you DARE make it into an Ecto! There are too damned many of them out there already; and that Cadillac could still service a small volunteer department as a backup or non-emergency transport unit (or first response). If it were a hightop ambulance it could still be certified in most states. A lot of states don’t even require licensing or certification for non-emergency ambulances.
The Ambulance collector world is very enthusiastic. It’s getting very hard to find Caddy’s still intact with all equipment still there. It would be a shame (IMHO) to see yet another ECTO1 clone made from a beautiful relatively unmolested ambulance.
Thanks, Carl. Basically what I was trying to say above. Not to mention the way these are becoming rare. This one is an M-M. While there were a lot of M-M ambulances and coaches out there, so many of the Caddies were Superior or other makes. Personally I preferred the short-wheel-based coaches: Superior Pontiac Consorts; Flxible Flxette and National Buicks, and Cotner/Bevington Seville Oldsmobiles (of which I have two).