January/February 2019 CP V D Clu Klan B Int Oa Er C- Na Ia Tio P T N N O a P L PCPV Officers C
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The Newsletter of the PCPV Chapter of POCI January/February 2019 CP V d Clu klan b Int Oa er c- na ia tio P t n n o a P l PCPV Officers C H R A E P T President PCPV News Gary Minor 357 Warwick Avenue January/February 2019 San Leandro, CA 94577 Volume 22 ~ Number 1 Phone: (510) 636-1951 [email protected] The Newsletter of the Pontiac Commercial and Professional Vehicle Chapter of POCI Vice-President Wayne Guy 331 Kings Highway The PCPV News is published six times Clarksboro, NJ 08020 a year by the Pontiac Commercial and Phone: (856) 423-3073 Professional Vehicle Chapter of the Pon- [email protected] tiac-Oakland Club International (POCI), a nonprofit organization. Secretary, Editor & The PCPV Chapter (chapter #79, found- Web Site Administrator ed in 1998), is dedicated to the preserva- Paul Bergstrom tion, restoration, education and enjoy- PO Box 68 ment of commercial and professional Maple Plain, MN 55359 Pontiac, Oakland and GMC vehicles, Phone: (763) 242-6734 past and present. These include: lim- [email protected] ousines, taxi cabs, hearses, police and fire cars, ambulances, sedan deliveries, station wagons, trucks, vans and SUVs. Treasurer Pontiac and GMC produced military Terry Columbus items and other special interest items are 7516 Xerxes Avenue N. also included. Brooklyn Park, MN 55444 Phone: (612) 356-8295 Dues are $20 per year (U.S. funds, $25 [email protected] outside of U.S.); $12 for electronic membership. We recommend member- Deadlines for PCPV News ship in the Pontiac-Oakland Club Inter- articles/want ad submissions: national also - see www.poci.org. Send change of address notices and ar- January/February issue: January 1st ticle submissions to the PCPV News edi- March/April issue: March 1st tor. May/June issue: May 1st July/August issue: July 1st September/October issue: Sept. 1st November/December issue: Nov. 1st Honorable Mention 2016 Page 1 President’s Message This is a very unusual time of the year for us. We are finally having a break from the rainy days of the past month and a half. Of course, I can’t complain because it hasn’t gone below 30 degrees above zero and it isn’t flooding. To you people in the Midwest and East, stay warm and be careful shoveling all the snow and ice. I think that was the main reason I moved from Maryland to California. It has snowed once here since 1970, and it melted by noon. Enough weather reports and on to Pontiacs. My first engine rebuilder still doesn’t have the motor done after it’s been in his shop for a year. So I bought another rebuildable Pontiac 400 and gave it to another rebuilder. It should be back next week, and I can finally get my ’61 Ventura on the road. Which means, with a little crankshaft work, my Ventura motor will go into my ’61 Catalina wagon and I will be able to get started on it. So this spring looks pretty good if it ever gets here. Again, stay warm and dry and maybe one of the cars will make it to Gettys- burg which, by the way, is a great place to have a car show. I’ve been to many KKOA shows there in the past. Gary Minor, PCPV President CP V d Clu klan b Int Oa er c- na ia tio P t n n o a P l C H R E A P T Page 2 CP V d Clu klan b Int Oa er c- na ia tio P t n n o a P l C H R E A P T VP REPORT My 1986 Parisienne Hearse Usually, we include a photo of my 1986 Parisienne hearse as the header for this column. So, I was very happy to see a photo of Ray West’s 1986 Parisienne station wagon on the cover of our last newsletter. Thanks, Ray, for submitting your photos and story about the car. Love the vanity plate, btw! Your article made me think again about the modifications which transformed a basic wagon into my hearse. Eagle Coach Company started with a standard wagon. Funeral directors could specify any options that Pontiac dealers offered to the general public. Unfortu- nately, the original purchaser of my coach, Brooks Funeral Home of Turbotville, PA, did not order the optional 60/40 six-way dual power seats that Ray’s wagon has. The major body modifications are the raised vinyl roof with landau bars and the lengthening of the rear end. Sometimes called a “tail stretch” design, the rear section has been extended 10” and air shocks were added to handle the heavy load of a casket. The tailgate has been modified to swing open to the left (away from the curb), and the hinges allow for a wide opening to make room for pall- bearers. It’s important to note that the wheelbase and window glass are unchanged from the basic wagon. This could be helpful in finding replacement parts. Older Pon- tiac hearses built by Superior Coach and others had longer wheelbases and larger glass than the standard passenger cars. continued on page 5 Page 3 Looking Out The Back Door The PCPV Chapter annual meeting will 2019 be held at the POCI Convention in Get- POCI Convention tysburg this summer. See details on page 10. Give me a call or email me if you are Gettysburg, PA planning to attend. We are looking for July 16-21, 2019 your input on the meeting agenda. POCI’s 2019 Convention announce- Thanks to the PCPV Officers and Tom ments are being published in the Young for article and photo submis- Smoke Signals. See pages 60-61 in the sions. December issue for the latest update on events and tours being planned. Until the next issue... let’s all do our best to keep the PCPV Legacy Alive! Registration for the event is available on line ($65) at www.poci.org. Paul Bergstrom, PCPV News Editor The two host hotels (Wyndham Get- tysburgand the Courtyard Marriot) ON THE COVER: are sold out. There is a list of over- A couple of ‘58 Pontiac pro-car flow hotels and campground informa- images found on the internet. tion on the poci.org website. Activity Packet Guides will be mailed out March 15th to all members who are registered for the convention. Page 4 VP REPORT continued from page 3 Interior modifications complete the transformation of the wagon into a hearse. A partition with sliding glass window is installed behind the driver seat. The wagon seats are removed and replaced with a floor containing rollers, bier pins, etc. Side lighting is added. The wagon’s rear passenger compartment, originally designed to hold six passengers, now can accommodate only one. That rear pas- senger, however, now rides in a private and more lavish setting! I enjoy learning about the conversions which were done to make Pontiacs into professional cars. This appeals to me as an engineer, although I am not a big fan of those highly modified and customized cars, which I consider more as works of art. I try to keep my professional cars original, meaning just as they came from the coachbuilder. Wayne Guy, PCPV Chapter VP PCPV CHAPTER DUES If your chapter dues are due, we have enclosed a renewal form for you to use. We hope you are able to continue supporting the PCPV Chapter! Out and About As you venture out and about, or as you explore cyber-space, let us know if you come across any interesting Pon- tiac professional cars, station wagons, sedan deliveries, etc. Email the link, photo or story to the PCPV News editor at: [email protected] Attention PCPV Chapter members! Please vote in POCI’s 2019 Board of Directors election (ballots were mailed with the 2/19 Smoke Signals). Indi- cate that your Chapter Affiliation is “PCPV Chapter”. We may win a $100 award for the chapter with the highest # of members voting! Page 5 Pontiac Pro-cars in the safari News Reprinted from the “Safari News” Fall 2018 Page 6 PCPV eMail-Bag Paul: Inspired by your chapter’s newsletters, I decided to expose the Custom Safari Chapter members to a feature article on ‘55-’58 Pontiac professional vehicles. Although ‘55-’57 Pontiac Safari Custom 2 door and 4 door wagons are very unique, the true custom wagons are made by Superior, National and other coach buildings. Using Dennis Statz’s wonderful ‘57 Pontiac Regency ambulance as inspiration, Custom Safari Chapter members get to see these some really unique professional vehicles in their newsletter for the first time ever! Tom Young Reprinted from the “Safari News” Fall 2018 Page 7 1957 Pontiac Pro-Cars TheThe 1957 Superior Coach Coach Corporation Corporation offered offered several several ambulance ambulance configurations configurations for for theirtheir 19571957 Pontiac Pontiac models. models. Many Many came came with with 4-speed 4 speed automatic automatic transmissions. tranmssions.. This 1957 Pontiac ambulance was parked near Sacramento, CA circa early 1980s. At the time, it was a running vehicle that had a 3 speed manual transmission. The owner was Richard Grob of North Highlands, CA who recently recalls that it was last known to be in the SF Bay Area in the 80s. Where is this ambulance now? Submitted by: Tom Young Page 8 Custom ‘51 Pontiac SD For Sale For more details on the chopped-top ‘51 SD visit: Looking for FEATURE STORIES on members and their vehicles, contact the editor at : [email protected] Page 9 Winter Wonderland PCPV Chapter Annual Meeting The PCPV Chapter Annual Meeting will be held at the POCI Convention in Gettysburg on: July 17th 10:00 - 11:30 a.m Wyndham Hotel (Salon A) Please email Paul B.