pretty common to find panels converted for ambulances, emergency fire vehicles or school buses, by the purchaser, sometimes with dealer help ... burbs likely less commonly converted because they were more expensive, tho' I'm sure they could have been special ordered without the rear seats .... usually the modifications were done, or contracted, by the buyer, I'd expect the military would pretty much get the plainest models and do the work on them 'in-house' .... the extra tail lamp was an option, and the roof vent was a common aftermarket thing, not factory
I had a 57 panel that was ordered new by a major logging company for a camp ambulance - the factory just installed a fixed side window each side and painted it 'emergency yellow' and the company mechs did the rest, including an add-on roof vent - it had 4 sockets in the floor for a type of 'shock absorber' support for the old style stretchers, a fliptop wooden bench down the driver side for equipment storage and a very funky passenger seat that could be rotated to face the rear, otherwise, just a panel truck
they didn't use 'gurneys' back then in ambulances, especially military, and there were no 3/4T panels OR burbs, just 1/2T and one ton
Bill
Last edited by squeeze; 05/17/2010 9:52 PM.
