I have a 68 olds ambulance based on an olds 98. I know it has a 455...but which version? The engine and air cleaner are red-reddish orange. I have info from the Cotner-Bevington tag.

i bought it for the engine, but the car is very complete (has the stretcher!), and I'm wondering if it is worth while to sell it as a numbers matching car.

 

seems to me it would be a shame to take the original motor out of it...it probably wouldn't affect value of the car if you were to swap in a different 455, but why do that ? just making more work for yourself.

just get a different 455 for your other need.

 

Why wreck what looks to be a straight and complete car?

As Viking says, I'd roll it over if it's not your cup of tea and get a motor somewhere else.

As far as the 455 goes, I'm pretty sure that all the 98s came with a 365hp (old rating system), 10.25:1, 4bbl motor. If it was in an ambulance, it probably saw some hard use, especially back in those days - guys used to treat those rigs like their personal hot rods, with their boss buying the gas and rubber.

- Eric

 

Even the bosses beat on those cars. Back then, the whole theory behind ambulances was to get the patient to the hospital as quickly as possible, not to stabilize him and transport him gingerly.

I used to work for a guy who in a previous life owned an ambulance company (in the late '60s and early '70s). He told incredible stories. Not only would they race the patient to the hospital, but if they even wanted to get that patient in the first place they had to race the other ambulance company to the scene. There were no pre-agreed territories. So they'd listen to the police scanner, then race to the scene of the accident. He told stories of racing the other company side-by-side at triple-digit speeds. Sometimes he'd use downtown sidewalks to avoid traffic. One time he went barreling down a sidestreet not knowing it was a dead end. He launched off the drop-off at the end and landed on a football field, his oil pan digging a groove as it went.

Oh yeah, his ambulances were Oldsmobiles, and he loved them.

 

Reminds me of this; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074923/

Thats a neat old ride. Not quite sure I'd want to drive it to work.

 

The same companies that built ambulances also built hearses, they were very similar. Hearses were driven a bit more gently. Superior and Miller Meteor (sp?) are two names that come to mind.

 

Whoa, this is bringing back memories. Anyone ever see the movie Mother, Jugs, and Speed with Bill Cosby, Rachal Welch, and Harvey Kietel?

What a flick!!

Keep the original motor in it.
Jmo.

 

That's a very cool lookin' car. Could you post some more pictures? Maybe you could even list it in the For Sale section?

Jaybird