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Comet Coach Co. 1955-1959 Memphis, Tennessee 1959-1960 Blytheville Arkansas - Cotner-Bevington 1960-1975 Blytheville, Arkansas

1956 Oldsmobile Comet Limousine

1957 Oldsmobile Comet Combination Coach

The Comet Coach 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.

Founded by Waldo J. Cotner (1909-2001), Robert Bevington (1911-2000) and J.W. (Jack) Pinner (1904-1989) in 1955, it was located at 3723 Lamar Ave. (or US 78), and specialized in Oldsmobile and Chevrolet conversions but is also known to have built some DeSoto and Chrysler limousines (1956-1959) plus a handful of Buick, Plymouth, and Imperial ambulances (1957-1959).

I've seen a picture of one of their early 1955 Oldsmobile long wheelbase ambulances and it's one of the ugliest coaches I've ever seen. It features an awkward stepped raised roof that starts at the B-pillar which is at least 12" wide. They didn't bother to fabricate extra-wide rear doors and inserted an ugly sheet metal panel between the front and rear doors which are obviously sourced from a wagon.

At least one Comet flower car still exists. It's a 1957 Oldsmobile and is owned by the P. Jay Kraeer Funeral Home of Deerfield Beach, Florida. It was one of three built on stretched (by 26") 1957 Oldsmobile Starfire 98 chassis' and features an aluminum flower tray with integral casket compartment.

For the past few years, I've seen a slightly modified 1957 Chevrolet Comet Junior hearse in the chocolate field at the AACA Fall Meet at Hershey, Pennsylvania. Comet built both three- and five-door versions of the Chevy in their Junior Series and this one is a three-door version built using a standard wheelbase sedan and features a raised fiberglass roof, landau bars and a side-hinged rear cargo door. Although it's slightly modified, it could definitely be returned to stock condition. The problem is every time I see it, the owner is nowhere to be found.

Comet advertised an attractive line of DeSoto and Chrysler limousines and coaches from 1956 through 1959. The also built a few Oldsmobile and Chevrolet long-wheelbase limousine that were built using the same rear doors that were used in their ambulances and funeral coaches.

1959 was a busy year for Comet. They sold the Comet name to the Ford Motor Company to use on a new line of 1961 Mercury compact cars and moved into a new modern plant they had built in Blytheville, Arkansas, a small town located just west of the Mississippi River, 65 miles to the north. Comet's third owner, J.W. (Jack) Pinner, elected to stay in the Memphis area and formed the Pinner Coach Co. in nearby Olive Branch, Mississippi (10 miles South of Memphis) while the two remaining owners renamed the firm after themselves - Cotner-Bevington Corp.

Before the 1959 reorganization, Comet built a special one-off 1959 Crown Imperial ambulance in the Blytheville plant that was know as the Blue Guardian. It was built on special order for the Mullen Ambulance Service of St Louis, Missouri and was designed by Mullen's owner, Guy Mullen.

Two young Memphis brothers with last name of Henry worked for the Comet Coach Co. part-time during high school. By the late 1970s they had moved to Manila, Arizona and produced a number of stretch limousines on Buick and Cadillac chassis as the Henry Bros.

Please see Cotner-Bevington Corp. for more information on Comet's direct descendent.

For more information please read:

SIA #172, July/August 1999 pp55

The Professional Car - Issue #44 Summer 1987

The Professional Car, Issue #64, Second Quarter 1992

The Professional Car - Issue #99 First Quarter 2001

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