The Ultimate Vintage Police Car Thread

Wailer said:
It looks like the siren has some kind of guard over the rotor/stator assembly to protect it from rain and snow. The guard faces backwards, so I'll assume that it would throw the sound backwards too.
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That looks like an old Sireno R5R with the weatherguard, and I seem to recall that's the way hey did theirs, but I'm not sure how that affected the sound of the siren. Federal's WLRG, if I remember correctly, had the guard facing the front, but I may be wrong there.
 
JazzDad said:
Another ambulance in the vintage police vehicle thread. Sorry.

View attachment 69017
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Nice old rig, except for the lack of emergency equipment. That appears to be an old 28 siren roof-mounted. Any idea where this one is from? Hard to see the license plate.


The panel truck ambulances were popular in this part of Texas in the '50s and '60s. I "cut my teeth" on Ellis Funeral Home's 1961 Chevy Panel that was way ahead of its time. It had two full size cots in the back and could hang to folding stretchers from the ceiling. The earliest ambulance that they had that I can recall was a two-tone blue '48 Chevy panel that had a Federal lighted doubletone siren on the roof.....period!
 
Federal's faces rear also, (otherwise it would catch and direct the rain and snow in where you don't want it) and they also call it a weatherguard.
 
Mercury.jpg


I can't tell you anything about these photos. I stubble upon them at various other sites where I hang about.
 
I know, NOT a police car, but if he^ can do it........


Not sure what's with the gazing ball. Anyone?

fire engine art deco.jpg
 
Torpedo said:
I know, NOT a police car, but if he^ can do it........

Not sure what's with the gazing ball. Anyone?
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That's an old Fox-Ahrens pumper. All of their trucks had that big ball, but I've never known what they were for, either.
 
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Thanks guys. An air pocket buffer, Seen similar on home construction too, that 6" stub of capped pipe above each faucet supply. Very good then. I'm edumicated!
 
I looked at some of their old advertisements and it says "Our trucks have huge balls" ... maybe related? :D
 
Cocoa Beach.jpg
 
I wish somebody would have told ME, when wearing a Speedo, the potato goes in the front? ^


:rolleyes:
 
JazzDad said:
View attachment 69292
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I love the '58 Chevy wagons. One of the neatest ambulances I worked out of at Rix Funeral Home was a '58 Chevy, and it drove like a dream. The only downside was the emergency equipment: a 6-volt Model28 siren roof-mounted with a pair of single-faced lollipops flanking the siren and no beacon. I was always afraid that running that 6-volt siren on 12 would "fry" the poor thing, but it held up for many, many years with no problem.


I just took a look at the larger version of the picture of the '58 Chevy. That's a WLRG siren, not a Sireno.
 
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The other way around would be bad: running a 12V siren on 6. It would sound like a Chevy Luv starter motor.
 
JazzDad said:
The other way around would be bad: running a 12V siren on 6. It would sound like a Chevy Luv starter motor.
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I've actually seen that done. Chapel of the Roses Funeral Home in Odessa many years ago had a 1955 Ford Sedan-delivery as their first-out ambulance. It had a roof-mounted Q, two red Federal FS3 single-faced lights, one on each side of the siren, and a PropelloRay light on the front center of the hood. The car was originally 6-volt, but it had an 8-volt Jeep battery. Downside was that the Q was a 12-volt siren. If they let loose on it, it would get just above 1/2 speed and then taper off.


When I worked for their competition, Rix Funeral Home, from 1963-66 that old Ford was Chapel's 3rd out ambulance. In November of '63 we were on our monthly police rotation. All three funeral ambulance services had been running crazy that day because of an explosion at a Phillips gas plant north of Odessa. Three serious burn victims had been taken to Medical Center and were undergoing surgery in preparation for flying them to the Sealy Burn Center in Galveston, which was the only major burn center in those days. So the first-out ambulances from all three funeral homes were stationed at the hospital to make the transfer from there to the airport. Just after noon my boss and I ran on an MVA in downtown Odessa right next to the Central Fire Station. When we got about a block from the scene we could see Chapel's old '55 Ford sitting in the intersection. Mr. Rix made a sour look and said, "Well hell, looks like they've beat us!" But we looked closer and it was Chapel's old Ford that had been in the accident. They were transporting from an industrial accident and had gotten hit in the intersection. The guy who hit the ambulance claimed that he neither saw or heard them. I could understand why he didn't hear the Q if it was only at half-speed; but the guy got the ticket for failure to yield to the ambulance. I used to tell my boss that we needed to trade our 6-volt 28 for the 12-volt Q on Chapel's Ford. We would've had a good 12-volt siren and Chapel would've had something that could've been heard! Never happened!
 
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Torpedo said:
I know, NOT a police car, but if he^ can do it........

Not sure what's with the gazing ball. Anyone?
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That is one weird looking fire engine.
 
Flxible.JPG


This is becoming the old ambulance thread. Sorry. :eek:
 
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dmathieu said:
Federal's faces rear also, (otherwise it would catch and direct the rain and snow in where you don't want it) and they also call it a weatherguard.
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You're right, Dan. I had to re-visualize what a WLRG looked like. :bonk:
 
Hoser said:
Augliaze Co Sheriff's Office Ohio
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I love that old panel truck ambulance and the Plymouth wagon; but what really caught my eye was the '55 or '56 Plymouth police car. My first car was a '55 white over black Plymouth Belvedere.
 
Wailer said:
Nice looking pro-car ambo. That looks like a Federal C series siren on the roof.
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Roger that. It's a Federal C6 with the original PropelloRay light. The C6s and the 78 Doubletones were very popular on the Flxible ambulances back then.
 
I guess I'm challenged, can't seem to locate the vintage fire rescue apparatus photo page other than the one that's locked so here goes. Let the warnings and search function admonishments fly but this is a nice damn ride!

ambulance, red whine.jpg
 
Torpedo said:
I guess I'm challenged, can't seem to locate the vintage fire rescue apparatus photo page other than the one that's locked so here goes. Let the warnings and search function admonishments fly but this is a nice damn ride!
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Looks like a compact Henney pro-car ambo decked out as a battalion chief car.
 
Remember when you could actually read the graphics on the side of a police car?


graphics.jpg
 
SirenWorld.com said:
I looked at some of their old advertisements and it says "Our trucks have huge balls" ... maybe related? :D
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I wonder if the balls (the chrome ones on the front of the trucks) were made of brass?
 
Mndlm said:
A Adam-12 drag car. No Trio can lights, just turn signal light type lights.
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Anyone catch the door lettering on the sly,.... "Polease".


Priceless.. :haha:


:cool:
 
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