If you’re like me and constantly looking for ways to indulge your interest in vintage professional cars, make visiting ProfessionalCarSociety.org your top priority. According to site’s bio page, “The Professional Car Society (PCS) was founded in 1976 by a small group of hearse, limousine, ambulance, and flower car enthusiasts to further the cause of preservation, maintenance, and restoration of professional vehicles. Since their humble beginnings in 1976, the society has grown to over 1000 members with members in every state in the U.S.A. and many other countries.”
Further, “A professional vehicle,” according to the Bylaws of the PCS, “is a funeral, livery, or ambulance class vehicle having special coachwork executed on passenger-car styling. The PCS also includes horse-drawn vehicles and vehicles taken from station-wagon and light-truck styling.”
If you own a classic professional vehicle, the answer to why you should join is obvious. But what about someone like me, who is merely an enthusiast for classic hearses but will probably never own one? To answer this question, I contacted Paul Steinburg, former society President and current moderator of the site.
Though I don’t own a hearse, and if my wife has her way, never will, Paul was all too happy to oblige me with his time.
Anyone who has the pleasure of speaking with Paul will learn quickly that he has a gift for gab, especially when it comes to professional vehicles. Don’t worry though, he won’t talk your ear off with technical details. Paul Steinburg is a natural storyteller. Before I knew it, I had spent an hour listening to Paul delightfully muse about the society, its history, his personal history, and how he got involved in the PCS. Though it was clear from the onset that what he enjoyed the most was talking about professional cars and the fascinating people that collect them.
Vintage funeral vehicles have a certain charm and sophistication that allow them to be widely used today and explain why they’re very much in demand. According to Paul, one such funeral home in the south has a matched set of 1959 funeral vehicles that are proudly used for funerals to this day.
If you’ve seen the original Godfather movie, you probably remember the impressive funeral scene. In the novel The Godfather, they had 50 flower cars for the funeral. For the film, Paul was hired to find flower cars that could be used in that scene. His search led him to a dive bar in Philadelphia. Upon arriving at the bar, he noticed a yellow flower car parked outside. He went inside to inquire about the owner and discovered it was owned by a biker of all people! Although the owner said it wasn’t for sale, he quickly changed his mind when $300 cash was offered. The film ended up with 7 or 8 flower cars, but due to a shortage, many of the flower cars were converted hearses with their tops cut off.
After many such anecdotes, Paul explained why people should join PCS, but I already knew why. People join prestigious societies like PCS because of people like Paul. He has terrific knowledge of professional classic vehicles and a seemingly endless supply of stories to go along with them.
If you want to know more about PCS, please visit their website at ProfessionalCarSociety.org. Paul moderates the site, so if you contact them through the website you will have the pleasure of conversing with Paul. If he offers his phone number, I heartily recommend taking advantage.