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MILLER-METEOR:
THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED HISTORY BOOK |
NOW AVAILABLE!
[CLICK
HERE FOR A PRINTABLE PDF DOCUMENT OF THE PRESS RELEASE]
Published in 2010, Miller-Meteor, the Complete Illustrated History is now
available from these sources as of July 1, 2010:
Enthusiast Books, the publisher at
this
website. In stock, and $79.95
Amazon.com, at this website. In stock,
and $53.96
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Miller Meteor - The Complete Illustrated
History
by Thomas A. McPherson
In the spring of 2010, Iconografix, one of
America’s most highly respected publishers of transportation books,
will be launching the biggest and most comprehensive professional
car history book ever. This tome documents the history of one of
nation’s largest and most admired professional car manufacturers and
is actually a trilogy documenting, in detail, the story of three
separate companies that had an extraordinary impact on evolution and
development of the American professional car.
In 1957, two of the oldest and most illustrious
names in the North American funeral car and ambulance industry
merged to form a professional car manufacturing powerhouse. Right
out of the gate, Wayne Corporation’s
Miller-Meteor Division charged
into the front rank of this specialized, highly competitive niche
industry. The Miller-Meteor chronicle is a most compelling one but,
Miller-Meteor is really the story of three companies - one of which
could trace its roots back to the days of the horse-drawn hearse the
other to the dawn of America’s motor age.
Founded by Amos Miller in 1853, the
A.J. Miller Company started out
making a wide range of hand-crafted, buggies, surreys, wagons,
hearses and other horse-drawn vehicles eventually became an
automotive body builder and then evolved into one of the most
prolific manufacturers of funeral cars and ambulances in the
country. Miller was a styling leader, an innovator and a respected
name in this highly competitive segment of the American automotive
industry. Through the years, Miller-Built funeral coach and
ambulance bodies graced the chassis of some of America’s most famous
brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, LaSalle, Nash,
Oldsmobile, Packard, Pierce-Arrow and Studebaker. Inspired styling
and mass-production techniques made Miller funeral cars and
ambulances among the most popular in the country.
Established in Piqua, Ohio in 1913, the
Meteor Motor Car Company was
founded by a dynamic individual who had become involved in the
development of the automobile at an early age. Employing unorthodox
marketing, production and sales techniques and turning out
high-quality, well-priced equipment, Meteor dominated the American
professional car market for over a decade and quickly became the
world’s largest manufacturer of ambulances and funeral cars – at the
same time dabbling in such diverse products as phonographs and
sleek, wooden speedboats! Like Miller, over the years, Meteor’s
coachwork could be found on the chassis of some of America’s most
prestigious marquees.
Acquired by industrial conglomerate the
Wayne Works of Richmond,
Indiana in the early 1950s, A.J. Miller and Meteor
were soon forged into a single, powerful entity that would brazenly
challenge rival professional car manufacturers for industry
dominance over more than two decades. Miller-Meteor rocketed
into the front ranks of the highly competitive professional car
marketplace of the late 1950s and on to a leadership position by the
end of the 1960s by employing innovative engineering, quality
craftsmanship and advanced styling elements combined with
intelligent marketing and pricing policies.
The
only definitive book ever
published on Miller-Meteor and its illustrious corporate
predecessors, this tome is an unprecedented trilogy – a
multi-faceted history of three fiercely independent companies, the
unique segment of the motor industry in which they were involved,
their charismatic leaders and, most of all, their unique products.
This volume showcases hundreds of never-before published original
factory photographs covering three truly remarkable, yet interwoven,
company histories.
Thoroughly researched and authored,
Miller-Meteor: The Complete
Illustrated History is a fascinating, genuinely exciting
corporate and product development saga conceived to illuminate a
largely undocumented -- and underappreciated – chapter in the annals
of the American automobile industry. This volume will be a vital
reference source for libraries, funeral directors, ambulance
operators, automotive historians, professional vehicle enthusiasts,
and anyone involved in or enamored with America’s funeral car and
ambulance industry. |
About the Author
Thomas A. McPherson is one of the best-known and
most respected professional vehicle historians and authors in North
America. In addition to his landmark American Funeral Cars and
Ambulances Since 1900 – still considered the “bible” of the
professional vehicle hobby – Tom McPherson has authored four other
corporate histories of American funeral car and ambulance
manufacturers with his definitive volumes: Flxible Professional
Vehicles – The Complete History, The Eureka Company – A Complete
History and Superior – The Complete History and The Henney
Motor Company – A Complete History. McPherson has also written
numerous feature articles on professional cars, their manufacturers
and the history and development of these specialized vehicles for
funeral service and antique vehicle publications throughout North
America. His extensive knowledge of the vehicles and the
professional car business has earned him the title of being the “official
industry historian” from the manufacturers themselves. As such,
he has been the recipient of many company's photographic and
literature archives over the years which he has made available
through his many books and other published works. McPherson resides
in Toronto, Ontario.
About the Publisher
Iconografix was formed in 1992 as a publishing
company specializing in books for transportation enthusiasts.
Publishing in a number of different areas, the massive Iconografix
catalogue includes books detailing the histories of automotive
marquees, automobile racing, buses, professional vehicles,
construction equipment, emergency equipment, farming equipment,
railroads and trucks. The Iconografix imprint is constantly growing
and expanding into new subject areas and currently contains books
authored by many of the leading experts in specific transportation
fields.
With rich, well researched texts and outstanding
reproduction of original and often never before seen photographic
images, Iconografix has quickly become the number one source for
photographs and reliable information for transportation enthusiast’s
world-wide. Enthusiastbooks.com is the consumer sales division of
Iconografix Inc. This popular website was established in July 2005
with about 300 titles and now contains over 6,500 titles from over
400 publishers. Iconografix, Inc. is also the parent company of The
Transportation Book Service. For more information please contact:
www.enthusiastbooks.com
About the Book
Miller Meteor - The Complete Illustrated History
by Thomas A. McPherson
Published by: Iconografix, Inc P.O. Box 446 Hudson, Wisconsin 54016
Hardbound, 320 pages, 8.5" x 11" (portrait)
Approximately 1,000 photographs including a color gallery
Price: $79.95 Available: April 15, 2010 Contact: info@iconografixinc.com |
Here's a
sampling of the never-before-seen pictures in this book:
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