I just bought a 1950 F-1 that served as a paddywagon in the city of San Gabriel, CA. Just from looking at it, it appears to have been extended about 3 feet between the seats and the back wheels to add a second set of doors. It also had some side windows so it looks like it resembled a [font=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif][font=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif]suburban[/font][/font]. Those doors and the side windows were sheeted over (maybe in the 60s) to make it a long panel. You can see the doors and windows from the inside (the windows don't have any glass, but they still have the original bars to keep the crooks in). Still has the siren and a hole in the roof where the light was. It has the original running gear too.

I haven't been able to find any information or pictures on old paddies. I would love something from San Gabriel (a letter from the city came with the truck saying it was theirs, but no pictures. We called the police dept, but they don't have anything from that far back. Does anyone know where else I could look. The historical society is on my list, but they are only open on the weekends I think. Maybe one of you is an old policeman that would know firsthand...<!-- / message --><!-- no sigs except when logged in -->

 

Pictures!!!! Got to have pictures in your Gallery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

Hey man, this is my first try at it. I am trying to find my way around the site. I put some pictures in an album. I hope I did it right.

 

It looks great! You going to unmask the second set of doors and barred windows?

Just wish you lived in Northern California - your truck would make a great parade vehicle!

 

Ya, it's even got historical plates which would be fun for the parades. The siren is cool too. As far as opening the doors and windows, not immediately. I am a general contractor and plan to use it as a work truck w/ my logo on the side. I think in a few years when my son is older it would be a good project to restore it. I am trying to find pictures so I don't stray too far with the paint. I want to keep it as close to the way it was without fully restoring it yet. I'm even thinking about putting something on top where the light was rather than closing up the hole.

 

Great looking old truck! Here's another old 48 - 50 Paddy Wagon pic that I got from Bob Jones. It's not quite like yours. Looks like this one's overseas somewhere. Stu

 

Nice looking Panel! My holy grail would be a stretched ambulance or a paddy wagon like yours. I remember seeing a Panel like yours for sale about a year or so ago in SoCal. It's likely the same one.

What you have was likely built by Shop of Siebert. They converted Panels into ambulances and paddy wagons. Additonally, they stretched Panels to make them ambulances and paddy wagons like yours. There weren't that many made. Yours is the second one in real life that I've seen. There are a few more out there like yours, but they are rarely seen.

There's a guy in Alhambra that has a 51 Siebert Ambulance that he uses to advertise his business. I believe that it's called "Post Alarm". It's mostly original, but missing the interior ambulance equipment. I've spoken with him a few times and he'd be happy to show off his ambulance. Below is a picture of his Siebert ambulance as found on the internet.


Here's a picture of the Shop of Siebert ambulance taken from Autolit's eBay auction.


What you have is very rare and should be restored to its former glory, in my opinion. At least that's what I would do! I would bet that your Panel would look the same as pictured above if you unmask the extra side doors and windows.

I would love to see more pictures of your Panel, especially the interior and how the stretch was made.

Ilya

 

Me too! (interior pictures)

Also I agree "What you have is very rare and should be restored to its former glory, in my opinion."

 

Welcome to the board!!

That sure is a cool old paddy wagon. What a great find! I hope you are able to track down some of the history of the old girl.

I think it should be restored also since its in such great shape and that it is a fairly rare item.

Good luck with it, have fun
Bobby

 

You can quote me on this, ''I am in favor of the restoration'' (although a big block and some a/c would be nice!)

 

another option is to check out old newspaper clippings from that era, as they might have pics of it in use. Most libraries keep old newspapers on microfiche. It would involve a lot of sitting and staring at a screen, but they might have a pic or two of the truck in use.


Good luck with that project.

Rgds
Mike

 

What a cool truck!

 

Thanks for all of the responses and advice. I was excited to see the picture of the ambulance and the Seibert ad. I have only had the vehicle for about a month. I was looking for a panel and found this one in San Bernardino. I left it with a mechanic for a week while I went home because I couldn't find an inexpensive way to tow it behind my suburban since it is bigger than the burb. When I went and picked it up, I drove it to Palm Springs and then all the way to San Diego, not bad for an old original. The idea of restoring a paddy wagon is new and I am still just trying to figure out what it looked like, but the more I find out about it the more excited I get. The old wood door frames are still in the walls, but would need some serious work to restore. I'll try to throw some pictures of the inside, but it may not happen until next week.

Kevin

 

Very interesting truck with a lot of history. A great find, indeed!

I, too, would agree that a restoration would be the way to go. Or at least a restoration of the body.

An interesting custom idea, however, would be to mount the body on a Marmon-Herrington 4wd chassis. That would be way cool!

 

Awesome Truck Love to see a few more pictures of the inside maybe...