For several years I have driven one of the rarest vehicles in Canada. It is a 1980 ex BC Ambulance which was built on a Dodge C300 Chassis by the BC Government. The Ambulance number is 048. When it was decommissioned from Ambulance service the original 360 motor was removed and replaced with a rebuilt 318 and a propane conversion was performed. Note ambulance has been painted flat black since these pictures were taken.
The reason that it is rare is that due to the following story which I heard about several years ago. Apparently there was a landmark court case in the USA where a company had converted a truck chassis and the court held the company responsible for any problems as a result of the conversion absolving the company that manufactured the chassis. Up until that time the BC Ambulance service decommissioned their ambulances and sold them to the public. After that time they sold the ambulances for scrap only because they did not wish to take on any legal liability for the vehicles. Additionally they closed down the department converting Dodge Chassis to ambulances and purchased them instead from commercial firms.
When I was living in Victoria there was only one other ambulance like this that I saw on the local highways. My guess is that there are likely less than ten ambulances like this left on the roads and in fact it may be less than five. I know there are two for sure. Also I happened to talk to an Ambulance driver at the Victoria hospital after he had delivered a patient and when he found out we had one two the first thing he asked for was the number. When we told him it was #048 he was shocked and said he had driven that ambulance on Cambie Street in Vancouver when it was in service.
So this vehicle has a history. It would be fun to contact the BC government and try and get some additional information on it. It is an vehicle with excellent karma as it has likely saved the lives of thousands of patients. After it left ambulance service a lawn maintenance company in Victoria purchased it and placed the rebuilt 318 and propane conversion into it. Then i bought it and have been driving it for over 15 years. When I moved to North Bay I loaded it up with well over a ton of household goods and drove it over the Rocky Mountains with absolutely no problems at all. In fact the more of a load you put in it the better it rides as it has super heavy duty suspension.
The vehicle is now approaching 32 years of age and there is still a lot of life left in her. She does require a few decisions to be made. For example I was considering changing her back from propane to gasoline mainly because of the difficulties of finding propane in Northern Ontario. Propane is cheaper but the propane system itself is from the 1980's and there are newer systems available which work better. Also the propane Mixer is an OHG which is no longer being manufactured so replacement parts are a problem. The shut off valve is a standard VFF-30 and parts are still easy to find for it.
The tires are 16.5 X 8.75 and this is an obsolete tire type. Ideally one would switch to a standard 16" truck wheel and tire and then there would be no problems. (I have four of these 16" truck tires ready to be installed) Note that a standard 16" tire does NOT fit on a 16.5" rim. Another thought is to go back to duals for the rear tires. This would be an advantage if you were considering carrying a really heavy load. I believe the transmission is a A727. I was working fine but over the last couple of years I noticed a hesitation when putting it into gear. This year I dropped the pan and checked it for metal flakes and changed the fluid. That seemed to solve the slipping problem but what I suspect is that the seals on the pump are wearing and that a rebuild will eventually be necessary. Note that it does work at this time. My local Mister Transmission shop suggested a rebuild using top quality borg warner parts would be approximately $1100 and it would be "as good as new." So these are the types of repairs that you would only make if you had decided to keep the vehicle for a few years and at this time I've decided that one option is to sell it to someone who will appreciate owning a rare vehicle with some terrific advantages.
For more info just email Ron. Viewings can be arranged.