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Expansion in 1999

In 1999, PNC Equity Management, through a subsidiary named Superior Holdings, Inc., acquired certain assets belonging to CCE, Inc. The acquisition added two esteemed names in the funeral coach business, each with rich histories rivaling the legacies of S&S and Superior. The older of the two brands was Eureka, which started business in Rock Falls, Illinois, in 1871 as the Eureka Manufacturing Company. Initially, Eureka manufactured desks, chairs, and church furniture, a line of work the company later abandoned to focus on making horse-drawn vehicles. Like S&S, Eureka had to contend with the invention of the automobile, which prompted the company to apply its woodworking talent and equipment to producing carved wooden bodies for hearses and ambulances. In the early 1920s, the company introduced a style of hearse that became ubiquitous, the limousine, an innovation followed later in the decade with one of the first three-way hearses, which featured a casket table that moved along a Y-shaped track to emerge from either the side or the rear of the coach. Despite the company's solid reputation and its contributions to its industry, Eureka struggled during the post-World War II era, eventually closing its doors in 1964. The brand was resurrected in 1980, when Thomas McPherson used the Eureka name to open his own funeral coach manufacturing company in Toronto, Canada. The brand name enjoyed success during its second life, drawing the attention of a group of investors at the end of the decade. The investors, represented by their company, CCE, Inc., acquired Eureka in 1989 and moved the company to a new manufacturing location in Norwalk, Ohio. Several years later, in 1993, CCE's management followed through on its goal of expanding operations in Norwalk by purchasing another funeral coach firm, the Miller-Meteor Company.

Miller-Meteor began business in 1915 as the Meteor Motor Company. Meteor's first funeral coach, introduced the year of its formation, was built on a Model T chassis and became instant sales success. One year later, the company introduced a combination pallbearer's coach and ambulance, a model that also proved successful, selling more than 200 cars during its first three months on the market. Meteor became the first company to design and build chassis designed specifically for use as a hearse and ambulance. In 1954, after nearly 40 years on its own, the company was acquired by Wayne Works, Inc., a manufacturer of school buses and delivery trucks. In 1956, Wayne Works purchased A.J Miller Company, an enterprise founded in 1917 in Bellfontaine, Ohio, that manufactured complete cars. After purchasing A.J. Miller, Wayne Works's management merged it with Meteor, believing the two companies would benefit from the exchange of technical information and shared operations. The decision led to the creation of the Miller-Meteor Company in 1957. For the next two decades, Miller-Meteor operated in the funeral coach business, eventually expanding its product line to include 34 models. Like Eureka, the company struggled financially, however, shuttering its operations in 1979. Also like Eureka, the company's brand name was given a second life when Collins Industries began using the Miller-Meteor name, beginning in 1984, on its line of funeral coaches and limousines. Roughly a decade later, CCE purchased Miller-Meteor, using the company to expand its manufacturing operations in Norwalk.

When PNC Equity Management completed its purchase of certain CCE assets in 1999, its funeral coach business comprised four venerable brands: S&S, Superior, Eureka, and Miller-Meteor. S&S/Superior stood as the oldest and largest maker of funeral coaches in the United States, but its corporate title no longer reflected the breadth of the company. In 2000, the company changed its name to Accubuilt, the new corporate banner that controlled approximately 70 percent of the U.S. market through its four distinguished brands. After the operations were absorbed into the facility at Lima, 200 production workers were employed at the 160,000-square-foot facility, making 1,500 funeral coaches and six-door limousines each year.

1. Introduction
2. Origins
3. Expansion in 1999
4. Diversification in 2002
5. Principal Competitors
6. Further Reading
7. Copyright Page
8. About Page