Most vintage ambulances and hearses that pop up here on Barn Finds are usually customized Cadillacs and other high-end vehicles. This 1956 example is the first time I’ve seen one as a Ford Fairlane (or more appropriately a Country Sedan as Ford had different names for wagons in those days). Other than the lights on the roof, it looks like an ordinary 4-door station wagon. It has a Y-block V8 (that replaced the flathead) that might run with a little work. Stored indoors, this dusty Ford is in Paso Robles, California, and is available here on Facebook Marketplace (or it was four weeks ago) for $6,500.
After a major refresh in 1955, the Ford lineup was mostly unchanged in 1956 (it takes a sharp eye to tell them apart aside from turn signals). The portfolio had three basic trim levels, Mainline, Customline, and Fairlane. And within the Fairlane, the station wagons were Country Sedans and Country Squires, with the latter being “woodies” with imitation wood paneling on the sides (the real woodies ended in 1951). So as best we can tell, the seller’s wagon is a 4-door Country Sedan that’s been converted in some fashion to carry the sick and/or wounded.
This dusty and dirty project is said to have a Y-block V8, but they came in three displacements in 1956: 272, 292, and 312 cubic inches (so take your pick as to which one is in the seller’s wagon, original or not). It’s paired with an automatic transmission (Cruise-O-Matic?), There were a lot of these running around when new as Ford built more than 87,000 Country Sedans that year with a variety of door and seating configurations.
We’re told the exterior and interior are brown in color, but white for the outside sounds more logical. And some cosmetic work is needed in the rear (no taillights, for example). If this really was an ambulance and not just a station wagon with extra lights, this could be a cool conversation piece at Cars & Coffee. Hail to “Zappenduster” for another cool tip!
I don’t recall ever seeing a 55-56 Ford wagon ambulance conversion, but I have seen a number of similar 55-57 Chevy wagon conversions. I’ve seen a 59 Ford wagon converted to an ambulance too.
A friend of mine has a black 55 Chevy wagon with a red light on each corner of the roof and white stripes and red crosses on each rear side window. If I remember correctly it came out of a small midwest town where it was owned by the local funeral director and served as both the town’s ambulance and hearse (which is why it was black). I also know someone who use to have a 57 Chevy wagon ambulance. I think the wagon conversion ambulances were probably more popular or common in small towns and rural areas. Generally places that couldn’t either afford, or justify the expense of a Cadillac conversion would buy something like this Ford wagon instead.
A funeral home in Clarksville, TN still has a ’57 Chevy ambulance/hearse (red) in flawless condition and uses it when requested by the family
Don’t need a sharp eye to distiguish a1956 from a 55 if you were a car nut kid in the 50s. The main exterior difference was the grill/turn signals and side. trim, interior was the major dashboard redesign and “optional seat belts—lifeguard design). Pretty much the same with Chevrolet. Sympathy for all of us “born yesterday” when seeing recent car designs.
This doesn’t look like a standard issue Country Sedan. There isn’t a good side view, but it seems to have a small stretch. An interesting car for sure. I would hope it gets saved by a member of the Professional Car Society, but other than that I don’t know what you would do with it.
Not a Fairlane as Ford wagons were marketed as a separate series from ’55-’68. Automatic would be a Fordomatic as Cruise-o-Matic wasn’t offered until ’58.