This particular Centennial Victoria was built for Vander Plaat Funeral Home of Wycoff, New Jersey. Subsequently, the car made its way to Indiana and did service at the Carmony Funeral Home in Shelbyville before I purchased it. It is historically interesting to note that the Vander Plaat firm cared for the body of former President Richard Nixon when he died. Although I already owned this car by the time President Nixon died, John Vander Plaat confirmed to me that my '76 sat in the same spot in their garage as the coach seen on national TV carrying Nixon's body to Newburgh, New York, for the final ride on Air Force One to California.
The "Victoria" was their version of a hearse in landau styling, that having the back panels filled in, as compared to having windows all around, as was common with ambulances. S&S was founded in 1876, so the 1976 Victoria was called "Centennial". The Centennial Victoria had special markiings and features exclusive to that year. Among them was a special seat material showing little embossed horse drawn hearses, a special Centennial emblem on the side of the car, and the reprisal of the "Angel of Memory" bass-relief carving gracing the side panels of the rear compartment.
