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Guy Barnette & Co. 1948-1955 - Barnett Coach Co. 1958-1960s - Memphis, Tennessee

The Guy Barnette Co. was one of Memphis' "small 4 (Weller Bros., Barnette/Barnett, Comet/Pinner, and Memphis/Economy Coach)" professional car producers that flourished there in the 1940s-1960s. Located at 239 South Dudley St. at the intersection of Dudley & Eastmoreland Streets they specialized in Pontiac and Chevrolet professional car conversions from 1947 through 1955. "Custom-made quality at assembly line cost" was one of their many slogans.

Early coaches had suicide rear doors, although I have a picture of a 1948 Chevrolet with a front-hinged passenger side rear door. The suicide rear doors were abandoned starting with the 1950 model year when GM introduced there first new post-war sedan delivery bodies.

The 600 Series featured 6-cylinder power, the 800 - 8-cylinder. A new 800 Series debuted in 1952 which featured 46" of rear headroom (3 1/2" higher than the previous year), an extra tall (39 1/2" x 36") rear loading door that swung to the curb (hinged on the passenger side), and a spare tire mounted behind the driver's seat.

For 1953 they introduced an attractive flower car on the 8-cylinder Pontiac chassis. It was built on their standard 158" long-wheelbase chassis. The rear doors were left intact and could be used to load chairs or other graveside necessities. Access to the casket compartment was through the tailgate which had built-in casket rollers that matched those on the compartment floor. The height of the exposed stainless steel flower deck was hydraulically adjustable so that different-sized floral tributes could be accommodated. The roof flowed gracefully into the rear of the coach and included GM's new panoramic three-piece rear window.

General Motors stopped building Pontiac sedan deliveries at the end of the 1953 model year and small professional car builders who used Pontiac chassis were forced to switch to the much more expensive Pontiac station wagons. The additional costs involved eventually forced a number of them out of business.

Barnette is supposed to have built coaches during 1955, but I haven't seen any supporting evidence, and I believe the firm filed for bankruptcy early in the year.

Not surprisingly, the name was dormant in the years 1956 and 1957. But in 1958 the firm was reorganized as the Barnett Coach Co. and the "E" was dropped from the name, probably to avoid any association with their earlier financial problems. The new Barnett's slogan was "Quality in creative design". They built hearses, ambulances and combinations on low-priced GM chassis from 1958 at 3631 Jackson Ave. until fading from the industry for good a few years later.

(Guy Barnette is sometimes confused with another Memphis resident named J.K. Barnett (no e) who was the owner and general manager of Economy Coach, Barnette's direct competitor. J.K. Barnett went on to form Memphis Coach in 1955.)

For more information please read:

Banette Ad in 1953 Silver Book pp76-77

The Professional Car Issue #67, First Quarter 1993

The Professional Car (Quarterly Journal of the Professional car Society)

Gregg D. Merksamer - Professional Cars: Ambulances, Funeral Cars and Flower Cars

Thomas A. McPherson - American Funeral Cars & Ambulances Since 1900

Carriage Museum of America - Horse-Drawn Funeral Vehicles: 19th Century Funerals

Carriage Museum of America - Horse Drawn - Military, Civilian, Veterinary - Ambulances

Gunter-Michael Koch - Bestattungswagen im Wandel der Zeit

Walt McCall & Tom McPherson - Classic American Ambulances 1900-1979: Photo Archive

Walt McCall & Tom McPherson - Classic American Funeral Vehicles 1900-1980 Photo Archive

Walter M. P. McCall - The American Ambulance 1900-2002