A Coincidence? Maybe....

[jeff1956]

While visiting my 55 hearse project today I decided to clean a spot of the original paint to make sure that it indeed was white...it sure did look white(off white).  I cleaned and waxed a spot on the hood that was exposed under the resprayed black paint....to my amazement it looked eerily familiar to me.  Low and behold it wasn't white or off white at all, but looked strikingly like Pecos Beige.  I know this is the original paint because behind the upholstery is all painted this color after i did some inspection.  Here is a shot of the cleaned spot on the hood(as best I could) and a shot of my 56 to compare to....eerily similar I'd say.  Thoughts?

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Sounds like the car was resprayed when converted to the Hearse?

Maybe it wasn't originally sold as a vehicle for converting to a Commercial Vehicle.

Bruce.

[jeff1956]

Bruce,

The car has always been a hearse from the beginning.  Cadillac supplied the commercial chassis with an assembled front end and the rest was fabricated by the coachbuilder...in my case Sayers & Scovill out of Rossmoyne, Ohio.  I had heard in the mid 50's funeral cars were being produced in the vibrant pastel colors that their sedan and coupe counterparts were produced in.  Then by the late 50's black became the predominant choice for funeral cars.  I'm thinking it was produced this color (pecos beige) by Hess & Eisenhardt, the interior panels confirm this, and then sometime in it's life was resprayed black to give it an updated look to go with the changing times.  I read of a 56 Meteor that was painted pecos beige and tangiers tan from the coachbuilder.  I just never expected to find pecos beige hiding under that chalky appearance. 

Jeff

[Carfreak]

Hearses weren't always necesarily black, white or gray. 

Often a coach would serve dual purpose of local ambulance AND funeral car hence being known as a 'combination'.

I've seen them a variety of other colors including blue, green and beige.   

[domer]

Hey Jeff,
Very cool story. Guess its meant to be right!!.  That should give you more motivation to complete your new project.
It kind of reminds me of the story on my 62 Coupe Deville.   When the military assigned me to Colorado about four years ago, I decided I wanted to purchase a classic automobile.  I didn't have any particular model, make, or year in mind. One day, while driving home from work, I spotted a 1962 Cadillac Coupe Deville for sale. Talk about love at first sight!!!!  I knew that was the car for me. I took it for a test drive and made the deal the next day. I snapped some photos of the car and sent them home to my parents.  I decided to give my parents a call to talk about my new Cadillac. When I spoke to my father, he was in absolute shock as well as myself.  My father tells me that his younger brother (my uncle) owned a cadillac in that exact year and that exact color some years back.  My uncle had been murdered a few years back so when my father told me about his Cadillac, I was at a loss for words.  Talk about eerie!!

[Otto Skorzeny]

Imagine how much more eerie it would have been if it turned out to be the same car.

[Otto Skorzeny]

Jeff, you are not going to believe this.

I'm watching that 1960s show on RTN with Robert Wagner called, It Takes a Thief.

Some guy just set off a bomb at the Rio De Janeiro Airport.

The next scene showed a 1956 Cadillac Ambulance rushing to the hospital. It was beige with a white roof. I freaking kid you not!

[jeff1956]

Cool stories!  You were meant for that 62 and well Otto that's kind of creepy  LOL...  Both are eery...  I'm very excited about starting this project. Right now I am collecting parts...I have most of the suspension parts and brake parts minus the master cylinder rebuild kit and booster kit.  I am going to purchase the floor pan patch panels for a 4 door sedan and use those to fix the holes in the floorboard..I'm figuring I should be able to adapt them well enough.  Alvin hasn't made it back from vacation so I have not gotten the things I need to complete the steering system yet, but will get those in about a week and a half, as well as the donor fender from a pecos beige sixty special in his junkyard....kharma...I'm seeing Pecos Beige everywhere these days.  I have a lead on a 55 drivetrain that I am going to be exploring very soon.  This winter I will be making interior panels and covering those since the shop I'll be using is unheated.  I'm hoping by next summer she'll actually be roadworthy, minus some the cosmetics...  I was going to change the color scheme to dark cherry poly with a black vicodec style roof, but I think now I may just keep the pecos beige color with the same black vicodec style roof.  As far as I can tell...S&S didn't offer the victoria landau in anything other than a vicodec roof.  My 56 is still my first love and always will be, but I think saving this old coach is the right thing to do and I thought that eight years ago when it picked me to go home with.  Once I get it moved up to the shop behind my house, from the edge of the horse pasture at the back of my property where I recently moved it to..I'll really be able to dive into it.  I have to get a 20 ft trailer of sheetrock out of the way before that can happen....all the rain recently hasn't helped at all.  I'm going to let the tow guy I originally used manuever it into the shop for me...he still has not forgotten my hearse to this day!

Jeff

[domer]

Jeff,
I look forward to any and all updates on your new project!!
thanks and good luck
dominique

[jaxops]

Jeff,

  Certainly it is unusual in the 1950s or even 1960s to find a hearse in an "off-color" from black, or white, or even the occassional grey.  I think it is really great to have the car in it's original color and also have it match your sedan!  Good luck and keep us posted!

[Walter Youshock]

Most Funeral Homes have their own color scheme where it comes to their cars, or at least used to.  The rolling stock is an extension of the business.  We had white cars where I fist worked and green cars where I last worked.

A home in the Syracuse, NY area had all Kelly green cars.  Every time they bought a car, they had to have it painted THEIR color.

In the '50's and '60's, every color worked. 

[Kevin M. Parkinson]

My 1972 Fleetwood 75 Sedan left the factory painted Mayfair Grey and was then painted to match the funeral home fleet in Washington State where it was placed in service.  The color looks good on the car but if I ever have it painted it will be back to original. 

I'd definitely stick to the original color beige Jeff.  Does your coach have a factory data plate under the hood with the color code of the commercial chassis?

http://www.cadillaclasalleclub.org/cpg132/displayimage.php?album=topn&cat=0&pos=28

Kevin

[jeff1956]

*MODIFIED*  I'm modifying this entry to include all of the info found on the cowl and S&S data plate-Jeff M.

Beautiful 75 series, Kev!  Ive contacted the mortuary that bought it new but thus far no luck on any responses from them...its been three weeks, but they took over in 1984 and Mr. Culbertson died in 1960 and was carried by my hearse to his grave.  I inquired whether or not they could tell me more about it or had pictures of the car during its time in service.  It does have the custom tag from s&s....it lists no paint code just a model number 55 450 mfgr's number 32118 serial 558674855 and custom built for culbertson mortuary of wichita kansas.  the cowl tag is blank except for style 55-80s, Body 192,  and the stamp 32118.  as far as i can tell the color is not recorded on the car. 

jeff