Who was the coach builder?

We recently spotted this car. The wife stated that her husband had saved it from a scrap yard where it was found sitting on its frame. She thought the coachbuilder was located in Kalamazoo, MI. The husband stated he did not know who or where the coachbuilder was. There were no tags inside the car nor under the hood. Does anyone know who may have manufactured this coach? It is on a Chrysler New Yorker chassis and used to have matching tunnel lights on the rear as well as a beacon. Thanks.
 

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I believe that is a combination car with removable tunnel lights. The light pods are made of fiberglas, and the light housings and lenses are 1958 Chevrolet Impala taillamps.
 
those rear door hinges are a give away every time. they should have been a name tag just behind the headlights that most likly has been removed. for what ever reason. but having one all together is a real treat.
 
Richards Bros

those rear door hinges are a give away every time. they should have been a name tag just behind the headlights that most likly has been removed. for what ever reason. but having one all together is a real treat

Pic is not the best but looks like Ed said . Rt ,Lt fenders behind the headlight bucket.
 

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Wow, yet another Briarean surfaces! (And no one called me!) Very cool post - I'd love to compare notes with the owner. What's curious (but not at all surprising) about this '60 New Yorker is that the rear door hinges and rear handle are not like the other '60's I'm familiar with, but looks like the style used on the '61 Briareans. I have never seen this before on a '60. Also, I have suspected that there was stainless trim at the lower rear, and this confirms this. The wing-nut demountable light pods (I haven't confirmed yet if they had a flashing mechanism) were optional, but factory photos and ads in ambulance or combo form show all four light pods and a Model 17D beacon front-and-center. Of course the customer could order whatever they wanted. Even the fiberglass rear door was listed as an option, but I have not seen any Briareans with a standard tailgate. (Update: One of the photos at the EMS Classic site that Steve linked to shows a standard tailgate - Thanks Steve!) The steel roof on these was raised about 6", but the side-glass is all standard. I have seen Briareans in both the New Yorker (413 c.i.) line for '60, and the shorter-wheelbase Windsor (raised-block 383 c.i.) model. Factory A/C; dealer aftermarket A/C; and no A/C variations. (Sitting on its "subframe" is more accurate, as '60 was the first year for unibodies in the Chrysler line.)


(I haven't been posting much recently, but still love to lurk when I can and very much value this forum and its members!)
 
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Now that I look closer, the rear hinges on this one are like I have seen on 60's. It used a weird ball-joint-style upper and lower hinge that project rearward from the body. But I think I still detect variations among the various photos. In 61 and 62 you really notice a more traditional hinge with big, flat bends to vertically align the hinge line on the sloped door. Still, the handle on this one looks like the later version, while other '60's I've seen have a single pivoting handle, somewhat archaic latching mechanism, and a keyhole in the face of the handle itself. I guess they ran out of those, and/or at that point came up with this more sturdy version also used for 61 and 62. There's an odd siren poking up behind the grille, but the one I'm familiar with has a sturdy metal plate, just behind the bumper, grounded and drilled for a four-hole siren base. (Other siren options were listed as being available.) I'm still trying to learn about the siren and horn activation on these. If I remember right, the gold one pictured above has some simple switch panel on the dash, but the 60 I'm familiar with has no such panel, and only has a tiny toggle switch low on the driver's side kick-panel, perhaps for the lights, and butchered underhood wiring that looks like the horn-ring activated siren. I'd love to check out this example. (Sorry - While I haven't thought about these details in a while, I've become a bit geeky about these Briareans.)
 
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it's OK Dave we all have our weaknesses. big breaths hold it in and let it out slowly till your hart rate drops back down. you be Ok just never believe there is only one of anything :4_11_9:
 
Rear compartment of the Briarean

Well, the comparisons between this Briarean and mine of the same model year are interesting The rear handle on his is like what was used in '61, and different from mine. Mine has evidence of cot-bar mountings, and my floor is totally smooth and felt-covered. I have pin-style name plates on the window sills, plus there is an additional pair of screw holes in the top of each wheelhouse for something. What do you guys make of the interior of his? It has what looks like make-shift scuff-plates, and maybe evidence of rollers (flip-type, or wheel cups?), even though a removable skeleton-rack was an option. Look at the spare tire lid. (The huge rear-portion of the floor. It is hinged at the front-edge, like stock, to reveal the tire-well below, and the oval-recess is the handle. The area in front of that is stationary, and ahead of that are the flip-up second-row seats.) Mine is similar and stock, but this one has an additional sideways secondary hinge that allows the right-side of the lid to fold to the left. Could this be to access a church-truck? But he has the demountable roof lights in-place. I told him I'd post the photo and see what you guys think. (The little bud-vases were added recently and are not original.) Once again, mine ONLY has a felt surface covering the floor - none of the extra metal pieces except the handle for the spare tire lid.
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It is interesting that he has the Chrysler build-sheet, and it actually has "AMBULANCE" written on it, I assume before it went to the coachbuilder. Maybe that was to spec the correct generator, tires, etc. Other differences between this one, mine, and the one on ebay a while back are the switches. So far I have only found a toggle on the kick-panel spliced into the horn wiring. His, and the one on ebay a while back have a little switch panel under the dash. What are the most likely used of the pull-switches, given that we have an underhood siren, roof light pods on all four corners (with a flasher built into each one, not one C-H flasher), and a Beacon-Ray front and center?
 
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Oh - too late to edit, but I just realized the additional holes on top of the wheelhouse are for the center-bracket of the lower bar for the airline drapes. I have removed and boxed mine, and forgot.
 
over the years things get removed or changed. sometime to were you really can't tell what it would have looked like when Richard bros turned it out. as with all the small manufactures of the day one more sale was important to them and they would custom the car to the needs of the buyer. unlike the take it or go elsewhere attitude in new car sales now days. so finding the floor lay out different would not be a surprise. you want it to hing from the right to no problem 50 bucks extra you got it had the car been in service a change in covering would have been necessary to keep it in service. so things could have been altered then. the switch plate is a standard home made box big enough to mount any set up you wanted to. yours could have been removed by some one used the car for different purposes. they didn't want it and just tossed it out.
but like I said even the big boys back in the 60's would custom build you a car. if it was going to be used as a ambulance then they most likly added the police type package to the wagon. leaving off most of the interior. you get to talking with Jack or Tom Pinner and they will let you know how it was done. mosley threw a locale dealership who was interested in selling as many cars as they could. locale boys taking care of locale boys. one of the things missing in all of business today. it so need to be able to look at one more and compare. it really brings home the each one is different in the cars
 
standard length?

I'm finding it hard to tell from the photos if these were standard wheel base cars? They were huge even in their original specs. Thanks!!
Kev
 
I'm finding it hard to tell from the photos if these were standard wheel base cars? They were huge even in their original specs. Thanks!!
Kev

All 60-64 with the same green house , Dodge , Chrysler, Plymouth are SWB cars. Roof was raised but wheel base stayed the same.
 

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I love that photo. Well, that's a good question, Kevin. My Windsor-based Briarean has a shorter wheelbase than the other Chrysler models of the same year (Saratoga, NY-er, 300). This was primarily forward of the firewall. So the Windsor and its companion, the DeSoto (and Dodge Polara, Matador, and 880, I think) of that year have a SWB (122") compared to the 126" WB of the 'Toga, NY-er, and 300. So the fenders, hood, bumpers, and I think grille do not interchange. But no matter what was used as the basis for the Richard Brothers conversion, the original WB was kept intact. Most of the change was above the greenhouse with the raised steel roof (so glass is stock and same 60-64) and the fiberglass rear door, if that option was selected. So for the most part, parts are pretty much standard Town and Country wagon or 4-door HT.
 
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I had a fascinating conversation with the grandson of one of the Richard Brothers. Through family lore and articles, he was able to fill in a great deal about Richard Brothers and Allied Products. The three Richard Brothers were Clarence (the engineer), Otis (marketing and business), and Clement (tenacity and drive). Otis started a hardware store with a business partner in 1920, at the age of 23. In 1917 Otis and Clement founded Richard Brothers Sheet Metal Die Works. They had developed an interchangeable and removable die punch system that revolutionized the industry. The original RB logo was an upside-down horseshoe with the name RB Die Works. Later the RB shield logo was developed. By 1930 there were several RB plants throughout Michigan. Allied Products was formed by the merger of RB, Victor Peninsula Company, and Indiana Lamp Co., all serving the auto industry. The plants were used for the WWII war effort, and Allied Products' history turned out to be a series of mergers and acquisitions like White Farm Equipment. (They even purchased the Studebaker Stamping Plant in South Bend). Allied went from the largest manufacturer of heavy metal presses to the 1990's when Richard Brothers Die Works was discontinued, and eventually Allied only retained Bush Hog, Verson, and Coz. Sadly, Allied Products became the largest Midwest technology form to go bankrupt at the beginning of the technology bubble. Although RB punches and dies are still being manufactured under the company named Danly IEM.
So, the stamped steel raised roof of the Briareans would be a simple task (though I wonder who manufactured the fiberglass rear doors). And it is no surprise that '62 seems to be the final year of the Briarean professional cars. 1962 was a troublesome design year for Chrysler, and in 1961 Allied Products was acquired by a group of investors, who in turn, fostered several company acquisitions. Some that made sense, others that did not. Allied became victim of financial and management woes. Or as one writer called it, "old-fashioned greed."

I haven't yet found a location of a RB building Eaton Rapids, the city listed in some of the brochures, but here's the old Detroit Richard Brothers Division Plant and the Hillsdale Plant #3.

I am indebted to the RB family member who graciously shared some of his fascinating and important family history with me.
 
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