My apologies to all of you faithful CC Cohort posters; I’ve been so busy this summer that I’ve neglected you. These two, posted by Foden Alpha, caught my eye, mostly because of the their similar noses. Well, there’s no doubt that Pontiac was by far the most influential design leader in Detroit during the early sixties, most often for their stacked headlights.
This 1962 Pontiac is a Canadian-market Parisienne coupe, meaning it sits on a shorter Chevrolet frame, including the narrower track, as well as Chevy power trains.
Meanwhile Mike Hayes found this 1962 Superior ambulance in South Bend, WA. The wire wheels obviously aren’t original.
Raymond is a very small town on Willapa Bay. Back then, ambulance services were typically private services, often operated by funeral homes. These operators were not rained in any real emergency medical services; just a ride to the hospital; or the funeral home, if you didn’t make it that far alive.
Love those bullet-shaped red lights on top.
Always love to see old Pontiacs, especially ones that were in commercial use.
An infamous example below, the 1963 Bonneville Navy ambulance performing its grim duty on November 22, 1963.
CPJ,
I was watching that moment real time on a B&W TV, and when Jackie reached for the left rear door of that Navy ambulance door to get in next to the casket, and it was locked. There was some mad scrambling behind the scenes and the door was quickly unlocked, but when it happened, we were all seeing it in slow motion.
Frankly, the whole weekend, and for months later, life went in slow motion.
In B&W.
Truly, a “You had to be there” moment.
Time, lots of it, smooths out many off the wild swings in one’s life so that in retrospect, the extreme bumps and depressions we experienced become like the gently, barely felt swells of a boat’s wake long after the boat has passed.
But show me a picture like that above, especially in B&W as we all experienced it, and I get a chill in the back of my head and my eyes get wet.
Sorry for the interruption, back to your regularly scheduled CC reading.
I know what you mean. From the time they sent us home from school early that day(Portland, Or)until the end of the funeral procession time did seem to almost stand still. I still have the newspapers after all these years. The whole nation was glued to thier TV sets watching history unfold bnefore thier eyes in real time like never before. It was also the only time I saw my dad openly weep.
And after all the ruckus had started to die down, with the nation going from a state of shock to loss…
My brother ran into the kitchen as we were having a late breakfast, shouting, “LEE HARVEY OSWALD HAS BEEN SHOT DEAD!”
Truly an unforgettable weekend…and that was the week I got my first television set, which had been abandoned by a neighbor when he moved out of his apartment. My Dad rescued it and gave it to me. The horizontal oscillator would drift off as it warmed up and the picture would collapse. I learned where to reach in and turn the adjustment slug on a coil, to straighten things out; but I’d have to turn it back again when starting the TV back up, cold.
RL, I get the same chills whenever I see an image from that horrid weekend or hear the Navy Hymn. On November 22, 1963 the universe changed, and not for the better.
If you haven’t done so already, visit YouTube and look up a Speed Channel “Behind the Headlights” episode about JFK’s 1961 Continental limousine. It’s an incredibly moving tribute to the man, and to the car so inextricably linked to him.
Canadian Pontiacs of the 60s…aka “a Chevy by any other name…”
The ’62 remains one of my favorites.
I do kinda like those 62 Ponchos. But maybe the CCognoscenti can help me with something: This Canadian Pontiac that was mostly Chevy has parallel action wipers, just like the Chevy. I get that. Most American Pontiacs of the 61-64 generation sported opposed wipers (like my Grandma’s 64 Catalina). But when I look up pictures of these Pontiacs, there is a smattering of supposedly American Pontiacs with parallel wipers. What gives?
Oldsmobiles had both kinds too, but it looks like (at least in 1964) the Dynamic 88 got parallels and the Super 88 got opposing wipers. But on the Pontiacs, I cannot find any kind of distinction of body style or model – Catalina 2 door hardtops are found with both kinds. Production plant possibly?
Like these two 62 Catalinas.
Maybe at that point, one is vacuum and one is electric. Just a guess.
I didn’t realize that about the ’62 Pontiac Catalinas having different wiper setups. I’m pretty sure GM switched to electric wipers across the board in 1958.
The full-size Chevy got parallel wipers in ’61 and my aunt’s Olds Dynamic 88 of the same year had parallel wipers. However, you are correct that Super 88s and 98s had opposing wipers up through ’64.
The story I read somewhere was that the 2-speed option was parallel, the opposed version was the standard 1-speed. Re: The Dynamic 88. That blows my mind, I just verified it by checking brochure illustrations. AFAI knew, all US BOP B&C-bodies had opposed wipers before ’68. The I found out about the handful of US Pontiacs with parallel ones, and now this revelation about the Dynamic 88. But why? The Super 88 shared the same body!
I know for a fact that no Buick B&C-bodies had parallel wipers before ’68.
That would mean two different cowl stampings for a difference most folk would never notice – production costs must have been horrendous. There had to be a good reason to get that through accounting.
Roger, I almost wonder if your 1 speed/2 speed theory is correct. However, I would have guessed the other way around. 1 speed electrics would have been fairly common on low end Chevys, but rare in the BOP cars. Given that opposed wipers were on Bonnevilles and upper model Oldsmobiles and all Buicks, I would suspect that maybe cars with single speed wipers shared the Chevy setup. Or were some US Pontiac bodies built in Canada alongside the Canadian models and the Chevy wiper system was used in all of them for production reasons?
Anyway, we have a mystery.
This. This right here. This is why I love this site! Going back through to pick apart a small mystery from 50 years ago on the hows and whys of a small detail like the wipers.
Don’t think so. The 1963 Pontiac accessories brochure describes the two-speed wiper option as “extra large, overlapping 18″ wipers … electrically powered and operated at two speeds”. This was a popular option and part of the “basic group”. Also, I’ve never seen a Super 88 without 2 speed wipers, and every one had the opposing, overlapping action.
The mystery continues …
SWEET ! .
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I’m loving the Ambulance more than the other two .
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I hope he makes it road worthy .
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-Nate
It used to “scare” me back when regular ambulance service was performed by funeral homes: What incentive did they have to get you to the hospital in a hurry? LOL!
Potentially more repeat,future ambulance business if the ambulance service gets you to the hospital in a timely fashion for successful treatment and for a subsequent successful hospitalization discharge.
The Cougar has the split grille but not much else similarity. Overall I’d say the biggest influence of the Cougar’s nose is the also hugely influential car, the 61-64 Continental. Just split the grille and cover the headlights
I’d be more inclined to believe Ford got the idea for the Cougar’s grille from the 1966 Dodge Charger, whose ‘electric razor’ front end may, in turn, have been lifted from the Studebaker Sceptre concept car.
Well it’s definitely a mixing bowl of a design, most of the front end profile (bladed fenders, convex grille, flush U shaped bumper) were lifted off the Continental, the split grille/hood bulge from Pontiac and the Electric razor grille from the charger.
I know they arent but the Ambulance looks like it has PA Vauxhall tail lights a favourite with customisers here back in the 70s, they got grafted into everything.
The sight of a late 50s or early 60s Pontiac makes me feel nostalgic.
So does the sight of a late 50s or early 60s Chevrolet. Ah youth.
Here is the USA.
But a Canadian Pontiac of that era gives me the creeps. It’s not, well, it’s not natural.
Like seeing your grandfather’s head on your grandmother’s body.
I’m sure they had their reasons, but really, a 61 Ventura with a 283 V8?
With those itty bitty wheels way inside the fenders?
That’s Stephen King territory.
No Ventura’s here, it was Parisienne, Laurentian and Strato-Chief in ’62.
’63 Parisiennes offered buckets & console, but there was no dedicated sporty model until ’64, the Parisienne Custom Sport.
If a 283 bothers you, how about a six?
BTW, Canadian Pontiacs used the 261 Stovebolt truck six, finally replaced by the 230 thinwall in ’63, just like Chevy.
I get where your’e coming from riplaut! As a Canadian kid growing up we went to Washington state on vacation. Seeing the big American Pontiacs was always a treat…they just looked better! Big and sleek compared to ours. Funny thing though, the 2 Ambulances I remember here in a suburb of Vancouver were Bonnevilles. A 63 and a 65…I guess they only made the professional vehicles on the larger American chassis.
“That’s Stephen King territory.”
If I ever own another Accord, I’d be tempted to re-badge it “Takuro Spirit”.
Ever see a Canadian Ford Frontenac, with maple-leaf hubcaps (Falcon without the maple leaves in the US) or a Mercury Pickup?
My uncle had a Frontenac as a second car for my aunt – I remember it as a small boy around 1967. I also used to see the occasional Mercury truck in the ’60’s and ’70’s. I’ve photographed a few, and I know where there’s an old one rusting away in an auto graveyard on Manitoulin Island
Mark D.
I had no idea the Ford Frontenac existed!
Thank you for the revelation.
But, I may not sleep well tonight. Once seen, it cannot be unseen.
My Godfather had a Frontenac wagon…hows that for a rare one!!
… and not to forget the Plodge, a cross breeding of a Plymouth and a Dodge:)
First Cougar is a much underrated shape. Nice catch on the ambulance, Foden Alpha.
I’m the one who took the photos of the Ambulance! I grew up in the Raymond/South Bend area, and I saw that ambulance on a recent road trip with my brother. I vaguely remember that particular vehicle from my childhood, mostly because it was a Pontiac instead of the usual Cadillac. If I recall correctly, it was still in use in the early 70s. Those old-fashioned hot rod ambulances will always fascinate my inner child. Ambulance Driver was very high up on my list of Cool Jobs when I was young. Your job requires you to drive like a maniac? How cool is that? Looking at the ambulance again as an adult, I was really impressed by the quality of the workmanship. Like every other commercial vehicle that I’ve seen from Superior Coach, the whole thing just had a “factory” look to it.
Too right. I’m torn with professional wagons; I love the longroof form and you’re right about the best of these having a factory feel about them, but I just can’t get past their relatively gruesome origins – particularly the black varieties. Not for me personally but gee they look fantastic.
These ambulances introduced Canadians to the Pontiac block, because before 1967 when we got the Firebird, they were very rare. US versions were available, but rarely ordered because pre-Autopact import duties put them in Olds and Buick price territory. People here referred to them as “Blue Blocks”, and were under the mistaken notion that every one of them was better than a Chevy.
I had a ’72 LeMans with a 350 Chevy, and an acquaintance had a ’71 LeMans with a real poncho 350. Sorry, a Chevy 350 wipes a the floor with a Pontiac 350. Now, the big ones, 400-455, that’s a different story.
I have to ask: what’s your connection with English Foden trucks then? There could not have been too many of them in WA and certainly not the Alpha which was the last of the breed before PACCAR decided that DAFs, Kenworths and Peterbilts were quite enough brands to have.
No connection. Two people contributed photos here: Foden Alfa with the Cougar and the Cheviac, and me (Mike Hayes) with the ambulance. I love seeing my photos used here!
@actually Mike- Migod, I have not thought about this for so many years- An excuse to drive illegally fast to save someone’s life….until I actually talked to an ambulance driver and learned what the job can sometimes entail. That fantasy ended quickly and forever…
All our locally assembled Pontiacs were the Canadian variety with a few built up imports from the US, a few two door hardtops would have been nice we got mainly four door sedans.
Such a stark difference between this Ambulance and today’s medium duty truck-based units. It never occurred to me until mentioned in the article *why* though–I wasn’t aware that back then, they were drivers only and not a team of trained paramedics like today! Very interesting, and that rather definitively explains why they all became truck-based in the 70’s. That must have been when the transition occurred.
Yep, in the 1970’s as paramedics with medical training took over from the “grab and fly” ambulance services, room was needed for medical equipment and supplies, Initially van based,later truck based ambos replaced car based platforms.The car based units were left doing “less life threatening” cases (today there are Basic and Advanced life support ambos depending on the nature of the “call”) I believe the last Cadillac based ambos were built ’78-79. Pittsburgh had a paramedic service as early as 1967 (and IIRC a Chevy Suburban based ambulance.) Interestingly, Paramedic/EMT services rose in number in the era of the TV show “Emergency!” which spread the paramedic “gospel” early (1972)
In the late 70s, I had a summer job with a funeral home. It had just recently ceased offering ambulance service, and every single person there was giddy about it, from ownership to the lowliest staffer. It was a money loser for them, but was seen as a necessary service for PR/community relations reasons. They had run two full dedicated red/white Cadillacs and had two hearses that were “combination” units that could have the black C pillar panels removed for ambulance duty.
The two combinations (1977 Superior Cadillacs, as I recall) were still in service when I was there. I talked one of the guys into hitting the siren once and boy you should have seen the lights dim when that big old mechanical siren kicked on.
The ’67 Cougar is the same color as my late friends ’68 XR7 w/390, minus the hood scoop. Never connected the Pontiac similarity before, now I won’t be able to un CC it.
On the “parallel vs. opposed” wiper issue…a friend bought an early ’65 Catalina convertible, which was delivered with parallel wipers. When he complained, the dealer checked and was told that the newly developed articulated arms designed to sweep the corners of the windshield were not ready and the first cars would have parallels until the problem was sorted out. The ’65 Pontiac brochure clearly showed all big Pontiacs with the opposed, articulated wipers.
Funeral home “ambulances” here (Chattanooga) took victims to small clinics rather than hospitals equipped to handle major problems. Rumor was that if the patient died or required transfer to a major hospital, the clinic would call that funeral home to pick them up. The clinics may have paid “delivery” fees, too.
The Superior Pontiac was built on a US based chassis. Back then, an ambulances and funeral cars were either imported from the states, or were built on Canadian production cars, depending on the desires of the end user.
The picture that I am posting is of a 1962 Pontiac station wagon funeral coach conversion that was built by Cottner Bevington of Blytheville Arkansas. They also built ambulances on Chevrolet station wagon chassis.
I just came across this picture of another 1962 Pontiac Consort Ambulance. I believe that this is a Superior Coach publicity photograph from 1962. Hopefully the one at the top of this page, will be restored, and returned to its former glory. Every one of these vehicles was hand built, and there were not that many of them built. They represent an important part of the history of the automobile. Unlike a assembly line production car that was built from start to finish in a few hours, these custom built ambulances took weeks and months to build, due to the complexity of all the changes that were necessary to modify the chassis into an ambulance. In 1962, a Superior Pontiac Consort 40.5 inch headroom ambulance cost $8467. They manufactured a total of 43 of this type ambulance. How many survive today would be pure speculation, but my best guess would be probably not more than 2 or 3, if that. The one at the top of the page, is the only 1962 Pontiac ambulance that I presently know of.