With a family history in the St John’s
Ambulance, Paul Dowdy felt duty-bound to resurrect this one-off machine.
The world of classic cars is as varied
as those who frequent it. Some owners opt for the fun of an MGB roadster, while
others desire something with a little more presence, a Jaguar MKX perhaps.
Other-choose something with sporting heritage, but how often does one choose an
ambulance! “We’ve got a family history of being in the St John’s Ambulance,”
begins Paul, when we meet at his Oxford-shire home. “It goes back to my
grandfather. I’m a member now and my father was in the division based at
Cowley’s Pressed Steel Company. It was there that the division identified a
need for a small vehicle, which I believe came about as a result of the funeral
of Winston Churchill. The divisions were tasked with covering the route from
Long Hanborough to Bladon, where Churchill's coffin was to be placed in the family
plot. It was realized that a means of communication along the route was
required. Being based at Cowley, it wasn't hard to find a suitable van, so they
spoke to a couple of people and got permission to use it. Keen to keep costs
down, someone hit on the idea of putting a stretcher in the back, calling it an
ambulance and then getting it re-taxed." Built in 1963, but not registered
until 9 December 1964, it is assumed that the van was simply used around the
factory up until that point. The half-ton commercial variant retained the
frontal profile of the pre-Farina A55, and the old shape remained in production
until 1973, with the 1622cc B-series used in the Farina A60 being fitted from
1962 onwards, explaining the ambulance's A60 designation.
Some owners opt for the fun of an MGB roadster, while others desire something
with a little more presence, a Jaguar MKX perhaps.
Having their own garage at the plant,
some members of the St. John’s Ambulance set about transforming the turquoise
van of the Pressed Steel Company into an ambulance. “They replaced the side
panels with the windows,” he explains, “then liberated the stretcher from an
old ambulance before managing to get hold of a seat from a crash-test MGB. That
was fitted in the back for the attendant, who would ride with the casualty to
keep an eye on them.”
“They replaced the side panels with the windows”
Swinging open the rear doors, Paul
climbs onto the rear deck and points to the faded writing on the attendant
seat, the word 'BUMP' just discernable. “They finished up by adding the blue
light and the two-tone horns, which were quite a new idea in those days, and it
served the division for a good few years. I can clearly remember going along
with Dad when I was only small and riding in it, which was very exciting for a
young lad.”
With a replacement ambulance arriving
in the mid 1980s, the A60 was retired and was subsequently bought by the Chief
Fire officer at Cowley for a relative, before being offered to Paul a couple of
years later as payment for some mechanical work. Agreeing to the deal, Paul
then started to wonder what he had let himself in for. “I was about eighteen
when I got it,” he laughs, “it had been stripped of the ambulance equipment,
light and horns, but still retained the racking and the attendant seat.”
With a replacement ambulance arriving in the mid-1980s, the A60 was retired and
was subsequently bought by the Chief Fire officer at Cowley for a relative, before
being offered to Paul a couple of years later as payment for some mechanical
work.
