224 Mile Oddball: 1993 Cadillac Fleetwood Ambulance
This is said to be the last Cadillac Fleetwood Ambulance ever built! That claim may or may not be able to be verified but it sounds reasonable, regardless this is certainly an unusual find. This 1993 Fleetwood was converted when new but never finished and put into storage, subsequently, it was never used and only accumulated 224 miles since new! Find it here eBay in Irvine California for $19,900 BIN.
The ambulance is being offered for sale by a car dealer in Orange County California. According to the ad the conversion was done; at least partially by S&S Coach Company. S&S is a well-known coach company that specializes in hearse and limousine conversions. The Cadillac Fleetwood was a very popular model for hearse conversions. After the conversion, the car was shipped to California where the owner sent it to a local Indy Car shop for more custom work.
Apparently, money ran out and the project was put on hold. The ad states over $150,000 was invested before work stopped. The interior is basically a blank slate. The custom fiberglass roof is supported by a steel framework. Some exterior lights were installed but never wired to operate.
With nothing more than a plywood floor, this thing is far from being an ambulance. Considering the $150,000 investment so far, finishing the interior and adding medical equipment would make this an expensive ambulance in ’93. I wonder if this was supposed to be some sort of movie prop or advertising vehicle, the ad mentions making your own modern Ghostbusters Ecto-1.
After work stopped, the car was stored indoors for years. The amazing thing is the car was never used, so mileage is only showing 224. The ad does not say how the current dealer acquired the vehicle, documentation shows California ownership since 1994 and a passed emissions test in 2007 at 169 miles. The seller replaced the fuel pump and performed some maintenance to make the car roadworthy and reports it runs and drives perfect but not surprisingly the A/C needs some work.
This model rear wheel drive Fleetwood was produced from 1993 until 1996. These full-size cars were either equipped with the throttle body injected 350 like we have here or the 350 LT1. These cars were the end of an era for Cadillac being the last full size, rear wheel drive V8. I would love to see this unique creation be used for a useful purpose, but I am not sure what that might be. Is there anyone willing to drop 20k on a new, empty ambulance/hearse?
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Comments
Cool vehicle for a mobile paintless dent/detailing business to operate from.
If I had this thing I’d chop the top down to something that looked more like a normal wagon and refiberglass the roof. I’d than install a year correct caddy interior. ( of course there would need to be some customizing ) It’s basically a new car and the way it is it is always going to look like an old ambulance so this is why I say the roof line has to change, I personally don’t like driving around with a paper bag over my head and the way this sits thats what you’ll be doing. Or better yet maybe the way to go is to find a car like it that isn’t cut up and is in good condition. And transfer as many new parts as possible from this body onto a good used pre-chopped equivalent.
I’m quite glad I don’t have space for this…or else I’d do my best to own it.
Cut the roof down to a semi-normal height, finish the interior properly (Fleetwood, not hearse or ambulance), drop in either a crate 572 or 502, and go trolling in the monster wagon.
Remove all the unwired side lights make the holes windows and turn it into a camper
Perfect for a “professional car” collector, who would either want to keep it as is for the story, or build it back into an ambulance. Probably is the very last car based ambulance, after about 50 years of them, so it’s a real piece of history. On the ‘net, I couldn’t find a Caddy based ambulance built after the late 70’s.
Hmm I have thought about the possible chances of a ambulance or hearse being haunted by a former “occupant”.
I guess you wouldn’t have to worry about that on this one!
I don’t think a spirit can haunt a hearse, if you believe the spirit stays where the body dies.
A hears is made to take a box from one point to another, nothing more.
I am curious why the car only has 224 miles on it but it has had plates for years.
It made it 17 years before they let the tags expire.
Today I went to the Nomad first, then the Toro, followed by the Classic and finally the Caddy. No LT-1? Why not?
LT-1 wasn’t until 1994
I thought the car was from south Flordia at 1st LOL.Bruce.
Bruce..LOL? South Florida? What no references to Ghost Busters?
Nice basis for a sweet camper conversion! It is sure to ride better than the modern F350-450s commonly used by most agencies! Reminds me of a funny story…My 80 y.o. father recently had to take a ride in one. Farm to market roads aren’t know as being the smoothest, but he realized quickly that when he was loaded, the rear of the ambulance was lowered to make loading easier. When they were underway, he surmised that the driver had inflated the air bags to the max setting, not knowing any better (dad knew about airbags having been a truck driver in the 50-60’s before getting into pipeline welding. He adapted air bag “helper” systems for his personal trucks in order to tow campers.) He yelled at the driver to let some air out. The did so shortly after, greatly improving the ride quality. When they got to where they were going the driver told my dad that she had never been told that there was the option to run the bags anywhere between fully deflated and fully inflated (!)
A few days ago had the unhappy chance to ride in the back of a Collier Co. EMS
550 Ford(Florida) ambulance, was surprised, it rode well, comfortable, but I had no broken bones grinding together, this didn’t lower as the gurney did most of the work.
They might have invested $150,000.00 Mexican dollars
Phil, I like your idea. (I already had the idea before reading your post.) I believe that if you removed the plywood floor from the rear wheels back you would actually be able to stand up in this vehicle. (Think Toyota Mimi motor home style and extend the length/height of the back door down to create a more pleasant entry experience.) So set it up like the Sundowner, Sun Rader, etc. It would probably get the same fuel mileage (would not have to work as hard to carry the load) and would be much more pleasant to drive.
I like it! (the paint scheme would have to go.
Ghostbusters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Ftc_2iu7s