A combination car is a vehicle that can serve either as a hearse or as an ambulance, [1] and has the capability of being swapped between those roles without much difficulty. [2] In use in the United States until the late 1970s, this hybrid usage of the cars reflected an era when funeral homes offered emergency ambulance service in addition to their primary trade, especially in smaller towns and rural areas.
Combination cars were often built on a Cadillac Commercial Chassis [3] and were customized by coachbuilders such as Superior, Miller-Meteor, Hess & Eisenhardt and Cotner-Bevington.
![]() | This section needs additional citations for verification .(December 2018) |
Combination cars often include:
In the US, usage of passenger car or station wagon derived vehicles as ambulances began to decline in the early 1970s due to federal regulations and a major downsizing of the passenger cars that were used.[ citation needed ] The state of New York began in 1969 to require ambulances to carry certain equipment and to have trained personnel, limiting the use of combination cars. [4] The use of combination cars became impractical in the US around 1979.[ citation needed ]