“You will approve of its dignity, stature and economy…” especially the latter, for you cheapskates who want a limo with dog dish “poverty” hub caps. But it’s got trim rings! Actually, I rather like the look, but then these have been “in” for some time now. But in 1963?
These came from the factory with 14-inch wheels.
Maybe Cotner/Bevington fitted these with 15-inch wheels? That might explain why they used Oldsmobile hub caps instead of the full wheel covers.
Agreed. Due to weight, GMC half ton brakes hubs and wheels may have been fitted. Chevy had a Limited Production Option for racing that included the six lug truck setup.
I think Cotner-Bevington was known for moderately priced Olds based funeral cars, if so this starts to make sense. The setting in the picture looks like it could be a cemetary, and the word ‘dignity’ appears in the copy. Talk about a niche marker…
That seems valid. If a funeral home wanted fancy, it would have been a Cadillac. Not everyone had Cadillac money, there is certainly a market for less costly funerals, and I doubt the mourners would notice hubcaps vs. full covers.
Yes, I think Cotner/Bevington marketed these to funeral homes that wanted all of their vehicles to match. So the firm would sell both an Olds hearse, matched to a similar limo.
Love factory built limos. Unfortunately this looks pretty sad! Especially the hub caps and open greenhouse! Most Limo owners wanted privacy. This seems suited to government use for officials who wanted to be seen. But doubt those types would go for this! 😎
I like the dog dish/trim ring look on this
I think with the beauty rings, as commonly seen as an upgrade on 1940s cars, the look isn’t spartan but conservative. Dictated by the use of half-ton pickup wheels it may have been, but it works.
Way to ruin sales with a seriously bad air brush job .
-Nate
Are the carpets in the back dirty, or just shadows etc?
If it’s the same kind of carpet my ’62 Bel Air had, with black and greenish-gold flecked fibers, it didn’t photograph well. Always looked dirty in pictures. But not in person.
Interesting that it claims to be the roomiest limo built in America at the time!
Cotner Bevington built these moderate-priced limousines as an adjunct to their hearses for funeral homes that wanted to have their fleet of professional cars match. They were essentially livery cars to be employed as mourner’s coach and even funeral director’s family sedan, so the dog dish economy image fit the sector of the market C-B targeted. Note too that it’s based on the 88 and not the Ninety-Eight. It’s large, roomy, plenty of passenger capacity but not especially luxurious.
I briefly owned a 1965 C-B 9 passenger sedan [no division window] that came out of a funeral home in downtown Baltimore that had a matching hearse that I also purchased when the company closed about 1983.
If I remember correctly, I think Buzzdog is correct, both were equipped with 15″ wheels, but not 6 bolts like used on GM light trucks. Both had aftermarket wheel covers fitted, without any marque identification. I always assumed they had been purchased by the funeral home at a later date. As for My C-B limo didn’t even have a cigarette liter in the back area, much less ashtrays! It had crank windows and a radio delete panel in the dash.
The reason the roof line may look out of place is because it’s the same raised roof, side windows and windshield as used on the C-B Hearse and Ambulance vehicles, they just shortened it and added a rear window. This car had plenty of headroom, that’s for sure.
C-B also marketed these cars as a special vehicle that could be outfitted for wheelchair access, especially with the rear door width [it’s the same as on the hearse & ambulance bodies]. These were basically the same concept as the Checker Medicar.
I’d be interested to know whether the rear end is that of a 98 or 88.
Surely, as a limo, the wheelbase is stretched.
The regular 98 sedan’s WB was longer than that of the 88.
Super-imposed on this, the tail-lights differed on the two.
From this angle, it looks like it has 88 tail-lights…. which seems to confirm The low-budget nature of this limo.
The rear cabin is fabricated, so the extra wheelbase of the 98 doesn’t make the conversion easier.
What a shame that Oldsmobile had their scary, fade prone brakes. They should had used the much better Buick brakes.
Why does it look as if this limo has been lifted a couple of inches? Something’s just wrong with the artwork.
Those hubcaps and trim rings look like the same ones my parents’ 1962 Olds wagon came with from the factory. The wagon was white and the wheels were black. I thought that treatment looked good on Mom & Dad’s car and I like it on this one,too. I’m not generally too fond of a lot of bling where wheels are concerned.