1959 was a busy year for the small Comet Coach Co. of Memphis, Tennessee. 

Comet sold the Comet name to the Ford Motor Company to use on a new line of 1961 Mercury compact cars. At much the same time they 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, (1904-1989) elected to stay in the Memphis area and formed the Pinner Coach Co. while the two remaining owners, Waldo J. Cotner (1909-2001) and Robert Bevington (1911-2000), renamed the firm after themselves - Cotner-Bevington Corp. 

Pinner's business office was located at 4022 E. Mallory Ave. in South Memphis but he maintained his factory in nearby Olive Branch, Mississippi, 10 miles to the southeast on U.S. 78.

Pinner usually built on medium-priced Pontiac chassis but was known to have built on Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler and Ford chassis as well. 

Early 1960s Pinner-Pontiac coaches were available in extended (by 22") wheelbases with a distinctive high roofline, commercial side-glass, airline-style drapes and an unusual wrap-around rear corner windows. from Ambulances could be equipped with an extra-high stepped roof with integral warning lights, but few were built.

Short wheelbase Pinners featured standard side glass and a much lower roofline. Also missing was their attractive and unusual panoramic rear corner glass.

Limousine-style ambulances and combination coaches made up the bulk of their production and although a landau-style coach was unavailable, a few limousine-style dedicated funeral coaches were built.

In 1962 Pinner moved his manufacturing operations to a new factory on US 78 in Victoria, Mississippi, this one 15 miles southeast of Oliver Branch, or 25 miles Southeast of Memphis.

A 1963 ad offered $1,000 high-top station wagon conversions on customer-supplied chassis.  Stock station wagon side glass was used, but a taller side-hinged rear loading door was included in the price.

By 1965 Pinner was also building a few standard and extended-wheelbase Cadillac ambulances and combination coaches, but very few if any dedicated funeral cars. Their last known vehicle was a 1968 Cadillac dedicated ambulance that included Pinner's high-headroom stepped roof and integral warning lights.

© 2004 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com

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