Electrical: 1916 Studebaker Hearse coach built in St. Louis MO

[kwoodyh]

Purchased a dashboard about 15 years ago and it had a data plate that said it was a Studebaker and had a coach built body from a company in St. Louis (I have a picture of it on a floppy disc somewhere). Man I purchased it from said it was a Hearse used by a Funeral Home in Ft. Smith Arkansas and that it was a 1916 model. I removed all the goodies and sold the dash with the data plate to a gentleman out west who was building a "T" Bucket based on the cowl of a Studebaker and he thought it would fit. Anyway I was cleaning up and organizing my shop and ran across some components and thought I would share them with the community and see if anyone had seen something like them or ID.

[kwoodyh]

If you look close in the center of the Master Power/Light switch you can make out a little Snidley Whiplash looking face complete with scarf and goggles.

[55 56 PREZ 4D]

Are the letters "A" and "B" behind Snidely ?

[kwoodyh]

Could be? Never looked at it with that eye. AB kinda like the AA in the 82d Airborne patch. Does AB have any manufacturer meaning to you? The dash also had an oil pressure gauge graduated in 1-6 (10-60) with a Tecumseh looking emblem. I'll post a picture of that here in a couple of days.

[dpson]

I believe Mr. Whiplash is better known as Mr. Bosch and AB stands for American Bosch.

[Dwain G.]

[tempestan]

Where do people get this "hearst" thing........if it's a vehicle for transporting the dear departed, its a hearse. Is the pronunciation, a regional thing?

[kwoodyh]

yep and my car has a hearse shifter too! Didn't really think about the spelling when I posted, victim of spel chek I guess?

[altair]

I believe these models were ww1 military order spec for ambulance use. There was a great number of this style of car/truck used after 1918. Here in Vancouver there were large fleets of 1916, 1917 and 1918 Studebaker cars and trucks some converted for funeral use, grocery delivery, service vehicles and many remained as touring cars for the rich and famous. All the "18" as they were referred to, are identical to the military models. This leads me to suspect that Studebaker carried on with same model well after the war and referred to them as the new model "18"s. I believe they were a military spec.