Professional Car Society Car Show - Gettysburg PA, Aug 15

[Peter Gariepy]

PROFESSIONAL CAR SOCIETY

“Dedicated to the preservation & appreciation of 

vintage ambulances, funeral cars & livery vehicles”

 

 40th Anniversary International Meet 

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

Mon. - Sat., August 15th - 20th, 2016  

 

Official Headquarters Hotel: Wyndham Gateway Center, (717) 339-0020

Itinerary/Registration Info:  www.TheProfessionalCarSociety.org or contact 

John Ehmer, (412) 969-7240 or vintagemotors811@yahoo.com

 

Press Release Authored By:  Gregg D. Merksamer, PCS Publicity Chair,

(845) 986-6857 or Email: merks62@warwick.net

 

As the Professional Car Society is celebrating its 40th anniversary as the old car hobby’s premier advocate for authentically-preserved and presented funeral vehicles and ambulances that truly honor the craftsmanship, aesthetic acumen and dedication of the specialist body builders serving the emergency, livery and mortuary trades, a record turnout is anticipated for the 2016 International Meet that’s being co-hosted by the PCS Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Tri-State and Henney Chapters in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania from Monday-Saturday, August 15th-20th.

 

The itinerary and fees are fully-detailed on the official PCS website at www.TheProfessionalCarSociety.org, which also offers a downloadable registration form and a dedicated link for reserving specially-discounted, $109 pre-tax nightly rooms at the Wyndham Gateway Center headquarters hotel that’s conveniently-situated at 95 Presidential Circle (online map search zip code 17325) where north-south U.S. 15 crosses under the historic U.S. 30 east-west Lincoln Highway.  Accommodation-seekers can also phone the Wyndham directly at (717) 339-0020 and mention the Professional Car Society, while Meet Chair John Ehmer can be reached for general queries at (412) 969-7240 or vintagemotors811@yahoo.com.  “We have hit a home run with this historic town,” Ehmer says of Gettysburg.  “There’s so much to do within a 15-minute drive of our host hotel, even the full slate of tours we’ve spent two years planning won’t get to everything worth seeing and doing.”  The official schedule will feature area antique shops and funeral homes on Monday, August 15th; an August 16th Maryland bus tour touting the Pry House Field Hospital Museum at Antietam and the National Fire Heritage Center in Emmitsburg; a fully-guided Gettysburg Battlefield tour on Wednesday, August 17th; the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) Museum in Hershey, PA on Thursday, August 18th; and President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farm on August 19th, followed by a Friday evening cruise-in encouraging local auto hobbyists to join the PCS at their hotel.    

 

The Professional Car Society’s formal Concours D’Elegance on Saturday, August 20th, 2016 should nonetheless stand out as the Gettysburg Meet’s main draw, especially as the PCS’ ambulances, limousines, flower cars, “first call” coaches, hearsesand hearse/ambulance “combinations” - joined by specially-invited delegations of single make car clubs - will be occupying the Gateway Center’s “high ground” in full view of passing Lincoln Highway motorists.  Funeral vehicles, in strict accordance with the PCS Constitution, must be shown empty without coffins, cobwebs, skeletons or other morbid miscellany that would distract from the skilled handiwork of such esteemed specialist firms as Eureka, Flxible, Henney, Pinner, Siebert, Sayers & Scovill, Miller-Meteor, Cotner/Bevington and Superior.  Saturday evening’s Awards Banquet at the Wyndham will feature a keynote speech by veteran coachbuilder Michael Kellerman, after which a dignified lights-only show by the ambulances’ roof and fender beacons will conclude the Gettysburg 2016 festivities and spur anticipation for future PCS International Meets that have already been scheduled for the Lebanon, Missouri Ozarks in 2017; Detroit in 2018; the South Dakota Black Hills in 2019; the Upstate New York Adirondacks in 2020; and eastern Ohio in 2021.     

[John_S_in_Penna]

Aren't limousines part of that society's interests?

 

In the description you quoted above, they called themselves,

 "the old car hobby’s premier advocate for authentically-preserved and presented funeral vehicles and ambulances." 

 

I don't find death, disease, and injury appealing,

but limousines, especially Cadillac 75's and other

factory-bodied and factory-authorized examples,

would be interesting to see.

[Restorer32]

Yes, limos fall under PCS interest. We are finishing a unique vehicle for the PCS meet in Gettysburg. It's a 1954 Pfefferkorn. A what you say? It's a tow behind non motorized hearse popular in Germany after WWII. Picture a rounded off U-Haul trailer with church windows.

[John_S_in_Penna]

Thanks, Restorer 32.

 

Pfefferkorn sounds like some sort of caramelized popcorn snack!

[Restorer32]

German for peppercorn.

[trimacar]

What?  No one has stated that they're dying to go to this meet...sheesh, guys, let's dig a little deeper....

[gruberv8]

now that's funny

[LINC400]

On ‎6‎/‎14‎/‎2016 at 6:55 AM, John_S_in_Penna said:

Aren't limousines part of that society's interests?

 

In the description you quoted above, they called themselves,

 "the old car hobby’s premier advocate for authentically-preserved and presented funeral vehicles and ambulances." 

 

I don't find death, disease, and injury appealing,

but limousines, especially Cadillac 75's and other

factory-bodied and factory-authorized examples,

would be interesting to see.

 

 

 

 

Yes, limousines are included.

 

It is not celebrating death, disease and injury. In fact it is quite the opposite unlike the countless other hearse clubs where the cars usually are in bad condition, and are treated as just one more prop to be shown with the pile of Walmart Halloween decorations.

 

It is celebrating a unique part of automotive history that most people don't think about, know about, or make nasty comments about. It is not my primary interest, but something I can appreciate. Take a look at some of the carved side hearses shown above. You won't find anything that unique from any regular coachbuilt car. Yet they were used as plumbing vans, chicken coops, and stripped for parts for much more common coupes and sedans. Even the ones that were restored were shunned from cars shows and clubs, including AACA. That is why the club was formed.

 

The last picture of the LaSalle ambulance looks like it was taken at the Milwaukee meet in 2013, which I helped co-host. My friend jumped through a lot of hoops to have the 80+ cars shown as part of the Milwaukee Masterpiece Concours. We later heard from several people and businesses with unique vehicles that we invited that regretted not coming after it was shown in local papers. The Milwaukee Masterpiece has invited us back every year since. Unfortunately we have to keep explaining that 2013 was an international meet, and we cannot provide that kind of attendance again. A huge positive change from being banned from the showfield of most car clubs.

Edited June 20, 2016 by LINC400 (see edit history)

[John_S_in_Penna]

1 hour ago, LINC400 said:

Yes, limousines are included.

... A huge positive change from being banned from the show field of most car clubs.

 

Linc, can you tell us a little more about that?

I assume that limousines that weren't factory-built

were sort of "orphans" at shows, without a class to

recognize them.  Actually, someone was asking me

about that just yesterday.

[LINC400]

The club recognizes

 

Limousines that were factory built, such as Cadillac Fleetwood 75 etc.

 

Coachbuilt limousines such as Henney, Hess & Eisenhardt, Maloney, Lehmann Peterson, Ghia, etc.

 

I cannot find anything that specifically prohibits the superstretch, hot tub in trunk, partybus,  current type limos. But I really have not seen these at shows. The newer ones I have seen have generally been 6 door funeral-type limousines.

[Belvedere]

I attended this show yesterday.  I'd estimate maybe 80 cars (maybe someone can give a better tally) from Ontario, S. Dakota, Wisconsin and Florida.  A few pre-war, but as expected, most in the '60's and 70's.  There were many really nice vehicles, but the one thing that struck me was the absence of any indication of AACA membership among the membership of the Professional Car Society.  I only saw 3 AACA awarded vehicles, all owned by the same individual.  As I said, several vehicles present would do quite well in AACA judging.  The AACA  needs to somehow make this club's members aware of the AACA classes specified for funeral/ambulance vehicles.  Traditionally this AACA class is not too well attended, while obviously, beautifully restored, as well as HPOF/DPC level professional vehicles are out there.