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When I remember an ambulance from my youth (I was born in 1959), this is the type of vehicle I remember; majestic and imposing. Great ride, of course, but maybe not the most practical vehicle for the task (how many ambulance attendants must have hit their head on the roof while loading or caring for patients?)
Precision Miniatures ambulances are the 1959 Fleetwood industrial chassis-based Crown Royale Cadillacs built by Superior Coach. They have all the exuberant styling you’d expect from Mr. Earl’s space age Caddy: unapologetic fin-age, bullet tail lamp housings and generous helpings of smoothly sculptured chrome sporting a magnificent sheen.
These models have all the right stuff to transport your eyes and ears back to the Kennedy era. Start with the siren and light pods mounted on the roof in just the right places. The medical logos and striping decals transparently applied to the windows. The front interior includes radio under dash and a bench seat outfitted in an oh-so 50s red and white upholstery.
Open the rear door and you get further insight into a past age. Precision Miniatures has really thought of everything. There’s formica flooring, chrome side rails, oxygen bottles and cabinets. The gurney has real cloth sheets and is real metal. The area with the attendant and jump seats is recreated complete with foot well. The rear of the ambulances is a separate compartment, complete with partition. Even the lock downs for spare tire compartment are captured. [Flat tire in an ambulance, now there’s a sobering set of circumstances.]
Everywhere you look there is marvelous detail. On the exterior, thoughtful inclusions are valve stems, period-accurate white wall tires, chromed key locks, and a high definition black-washed grille. The Superior and Cadillac logos are accurately applied. The paint is a rich high-gloss finish and the shades are perfect. Parked within your collection, one of these will become a treasure!
(04/26/2005)
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