Guardian ambulance

Jim Staruk

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I was just reading Tom McPherson's book on the Miller-Meteor professional cars and came across the Guardian ambulance. What a neat ambulance! Are there any of these still around?
 
You wish...

You're going to have to look a long time to find a Guardian. Bruce Biancalana had one that scrapped (still bummed you didn't let me know beforehand - I totally would have bought it, Bruce) and I know of one other that was basically a parts car. Haven't looked for it lately to see if it's still there though. I'd have to do some searching. That's all the luck that I've had with finding one in the last decade.
 
There was a '61 or '62 Guardian in the midwest recently. New Mexico I think. We talked about it here at some point, but I can't find the thread or pictures of it. Anyone remember this car?
 
Midwest?

Years ago, I had a letter from a man in Pennsylvania who had owned one, but lost it in a divorce..........he was in a nursing home when I contacted him, and he had lost track of it. I think it was a '60.

I still have the original '60 M/M factory brochure for the unit, a huge piece of paper.

By the way everyone, New Mexico is not in the Midwest....................
 
Rolling Easter Egg

I was just reading Tom McPherson's book on the Miller-Meteor professional cars and came across the Guardian ambulance. What a neat ambulance! Are there any of these still around?

Apparently, there was a 62 Guardian in a junkyard in Arizona at some point in the past. Who knows if it was saved. Wish I had known about it. I would have snatched it up in a New York second.

http://misterw.com/Hearses/1962CadillacAmbulance.html
 

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I'm tracking one down thats supposedly rumored to be in Western Kansas out on a ranch in a field under a tarp. Possibly used as a hunting camper but overall still in decent shape just missing the lights and equipment. It's south of Dodge City is all I know at this time.

I have an email into a guy in Chicago who is sharp as a tack at 90 years of age who owned the ambulance service where it was rumored through a person who is now deceased that this company which this guy owned had purchased a special "one off" 1969 MM "high-Boy" that had a special bubble roof built by MM and overhanging rear roof lip just like the original MM Guardians did. There is an interesting back story on this car and the guy and his company. He might even have some old MM files and information which is part of the story.

I am waiting to hear back from him after sending him a long list of questions to verify this claim or to dispel it. I also have his phone number but wanted to wait until after the holiday to call him. In my original email to his daughter she shared with me photos of their fleet from the 20's thru thru the 70's with some very interesting vehicles including a really neat carved panel hearse I have never seen before. I also think these images might never have been posted on line before and I am awaiting their permission to post them and their company history.

They did share with me me a neat picture of another one of their new (at the time) 1969 MM which is rather odd since it has the tunnel light configuration and not the standard light configuration or a common color combination. Heck at first I thought it was a Cotner Bevington on a Cadillac chassis. at any rate I am not one of those who is so secretive about the information and as soon as I hear something I plan to post it.
 
I'm tracking one down thats supposedly rumored to be in Western Kansas out on a ranch in a field under a tarp. Possibly used as a hunting camper but overall still in decent shape just missing the lights and equipment. It's south of Dodge City is all I know at this time.

I have an email into a guy in Chicago who is sharp as a tack at 90 years of age who owned the ambulance service where it was rumored through a person who is now deceased that this company which this guy owned had purchased a special "one off" 1969 MM "high-Boy" that had a special bubble roof built by MM and overhanging rear roof lip just like the original MM Guardians did. There is an interesting back story on this car and the guy and his company. He might even have some old MM files and information which is part of the story.

I am waiting to hear back from him after sending him a long list of questions to verify this claim or to dispel it. I also have his phone number but wanted to wait until after the holiday to call him. In my original email to his daughter she shared with me photos of their fleet from the 20's thru thru the 70's with some very interesting vehicles including a really neat carved panel hearse I have never seen before. I also think these images might never have been posted on line before and I am awaiting their permission to post them and their company history.

They did share with me me a neat picture of another one of their new (at the time) 1969 MM which is rather odd since it has the tunnel light configuration and not the standard light configuration or a common color combination. Heck at first I thought it was a Cotner Bevington on a Cadillac chassis. at any rate I am not one of those who is so secretive about the information and as soon as I hear something I plan to post it.


It could be a pinner.
 
I know of 2 (one second hand), and if yours turns out to be one, that will make a possible 3 survivors. It might even be 4 if you count the one that was sold out of the salvage yard in Arizona, that has yet to resurface. The one that I know of first hand, I have chased the person (claimed owner) for a while, and they will only talk in generalities. It is one of those cases of "someday, I intend to restore that old ambulance", but they are running out of time like so many of us old ambulance jockeys. There is only so much one can do in a given amount of time, and I already have 5 ambulances, and keeping them all going, and moving forward with restoration work, is becoming a full time job. It is getting to the point where it is no longer enjoyable to work on these cars, so I am actually thinking of selling.
 
It could be a pinner.

No its confirmed to be a MM but it was just odd when I first saw it is I thought I really looked like a Cotner-Bevington. Then on a closer examination of the image there is a MM tag on the rear quarter panel and another MM person confirmed it was a MM.

This company just ran an interesting fleet of ambulances throughout its history and even during the 60's ran and operated air ambulances.
 
I'm tracking one down thats supposedly rumored to be in Western Kansas out on a ranch in a field under a tarp. Possibly used as a hunting camper but overall still in decent shape just missing the lights and equipment. It's south of Dodge City is all I know at this time.

If you wish, PM me with the location and contact information. I - and/or Mike Burkhart - will be glad to take a look at it.
 
I know of 2 (one second hand), and if yours turns out to be one, that will make a possible 3 survivors. It might even be 4 if you count the one that was sold out of the salvage yard in Arizona, that has yet to resurface. The one that I know of first hand, I have chased the person (claimed owner) for a while, and they will only talk in generalities. It is one of those cases of "someday, I intend to restore that old ambulance", but they are running out of time like so many of us old ambulance jockeys. There is only so much one can do in a given amount of time, and I already have 5 ambulances, and keeping them all going, and moving forward with restoration work, is becoming a full time job. It is getting to the point where it is no longer enjoyable to work on these cars, so I am actually thinking of selling.

If you decide to sell I might be interested in your 1969 MM
 
If you wish, PM me with the location and contact information. I - and/or Mike Burkhart - will be glad to take a look at it.

I was actually going to contact Mike Burkhart "if" the information pans out since he is so close to there and living in Dodge City.

Like I said I am waiting on some sort of confirmation on this "one-Off" 1969 MM and the possible guardians location.

This is what his daughter said in her email to me,

I bet my father will be able to tell you the name of the little town he sold them to; they were always driving the out-of-date models to small towns that had purchased them.

Again as soon as I know more I will share what I know so the cars can be saved. Many of these fleet vehicles were MM and Contner Bevingtons, as they operated an ambulance service and a livery fleet.

I would also like to put a MM expert in touch with this man who is 90 years old as he is a wealth of information. The regional MM sales manager during the 60's was a very close family friend of his. The MM sales rep actually rented an office out of the ambulance service headquarters so this guy knows a lot about MM during the 60's from two large fleet operators in two large cities (Chicago and Kansas City) that operated these MM and their dispositions. He might even have some old MM records and information saved.
 
They did share with me me a neat picture of another one of their new (at the time) 1969 MM which is rather odd since it has the tunnel light configuration and not the standard light configuration or a common color combination. Heck at first I thought it was a Cotner Bevington on a Cadillac chassis. at any rate I am not one of those who is so secretive about the information and as soon as I hear something I plan to post it.

It is not far fetched to think that the 69 M-M has Cotner/Bevington parts, they were both owned by the same company, (Divco-Wayne Corp.)
We would love to see pix, we may be able with more info.
 
It is not far fetched to think that the 69 M-M has Cotner/Bevington parts, they were both owned by the same company, (Divco-Wayne Corp.)
We would love to see pix, we may be able with more info.

I'd love to post the images however I do not yet have the permission of the owner but I have asked them, I am just waiting to hear back from them.

I did however email a copy of the image of the 1969 Cadillac to Tony Karsina several days ago and asked him his opinion but I have yet to hear back from him either. As soon as I know anything I'll post it.
 
As promised I would post information as I got it. Tony Karsnia responded to my information request with the following comment.


The '69 is a Classic 48, which is unique in its own right by the optional tunnel lights.

Then Walt McCall also emailed me with his response which is partially as follows (as I sent him two images);

Your `69 is a relatively stock 1969 Miller-Meteor Classic 48 limousine ambulance: what makes it look different are the tunnel lights fore and aft, and the two chrome trim strips above the windows. These were, however, standard M/M options. Wayne Works, which owned M/M, acquired Cotner/Bevington in the mid-1960s, and there was some sharing of components between them. But your coach looks standard M/M to me -- but an especially attractive one. But those tunnel lights -- more common on Cotner/Bevington Oldsmobiles than they were on M/M Cadillacs -- give it a distinctive touch. Nice car.

But it was the other photo that really grabbed my attention......


The other image in their fleet was one that Walt was very interested in and explained in great detail but should be posted later in another thread once the owner of that image provides permission as I don't think it has ever been posted before on the open internet (but I could be wrong)

Walt went on to say about the second image

This is one of the best photos I've ever seen of one in its original form

I'll leave that as a teaser and will do another thread once I have the permission to post all their information and images.
 
I'm tracking one down thats supposedly rumored to be in Western Kansas out on a ranch in a field under a tarp. Possibly used as a hunting camper but overall still in decent shape just missing the lights and equipment. It's south of Dodge City is all I know at this time.

Any updates for us?
 
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