How about a vintage Hearse thread?

Thats tough as nails. Sounds like a good plan too.

 

If you look at mine and compare it, it's about a foot back.

It's even with the front of the wheel wells on the hearse, and about a foot forward on mine.

 

Yowee! Great thread! The '57 Chevys are to DIE for!

The keenest hearse I EVER saw was a running '37 LaSalle with hand carved wooden sides. It was ONE SMART and CLASSY vehicle. Saw it in Athens, Ohio, in 1972. Then I lost contact, as I didn't have two nickels to rub together. Wish I knew WHERE that LaSalle is now.

 

Thank's, I see it much better now.

 

Wow Jimi, I'm from Athens, born and raised there. Wish I would have seen that one. We found a '49 S&S Cadillac in Triplett's junkyard in 1975. It had been used by a fraternity for a while then junked. Wish I would have pulled the trim pieces off the hood and the S&S emblems from the fenders. I know a lot of folks are creeped out by them, but I really like hearses and flower cars.

 

of course i did!

 

My long term project '57 Caddy combination

 

If you haven't seen 'The Boy Who Loved Hearses', you should.

 

I have always thought they should be shorten to give better proportions and maybe some of the crown taken out.. to make them more like a station wagon that never was...

that 57 caddy would be a good example of shortening the rear doors (no crown removal required) and creating a wagon that looks like GM might have built it if they built a caddy station wagon..

 

I'm not sure I'd shorten it at all. Love to see it done up as either a late 50's surf wagon or an early 60's custom wagon just like it is. Big back seat with LOTS of legroom.

 

I'll play, not mine wish they were!.....................................

 

its funny, i was seriously thinkin bout starting thread like this couple days ago. mine little OT but here it is. my dads best friend lost battle against cancer last month. funeral home offered this "last ride". its an old horse drawn hearse converted to attach to harley trike. he was HD fanatic so family & friends pitched in and sent him off in this. we had an all HD procession to his final resting place. it was a beautiful thing & hope my "last ride" will be in something as cool as the stuff on this thread! Thanx! RIP Pat B

 

^^^^^^^^^ I saw this last year at the Chicago WOrld of Wheels, amazing to see in person. Alot of work put into it and it looks awesome.

 

In the mid 60's when I was a wee lad ther was a band from Rochester ny that drove around and was marketed with a hearse. The band was called the Invictas. They still fool around today. There most famous song was suggestive and the cops actually shut them down a few times. They had regional fame but never hit the national grid. Garage rock fans can google. This was a neat time for car culture.

 

Rocky Here are a few more for you it really is a cool old car... I wish I knew the rest of the story.

 

this is my 51 flxible combo hearse/ambulance. now running a 4bt cummins deisel and gets 24 mpg.

 

I have a couple, a 60 Caddy M&M hearse combo that needs to be restored. I also have a 61 Caddy Superior flowercar that needs restoration. Very cool car,when there brought back! I actually decided to sell the flower car recently ,so its up for sale.

 

That flower car would make a very nice custom. Wish I had the time and money.

 

Parkard 1941

 

FYI, for folks that stumble across this post, check this out for more info on your professional cars:

http://coachbuilt.com/

Comes in handy.

~Jason

 

I like a hearse and ambulance, but they "are what they are". It's hard to make them anything else. That being said, Boones offers a few interesting questions above re: body mods.

Stab (pun intended) a new drivetrain in one and enjoy it for the massive hauler it was built to be. 51FH's Buicummins above looks like the prefect parts chaser!

Please spare us the coffins, skeletons, spiderwebs, bats & rats though.

JH

 

Had this for awhile. 350/350 Olds.

 

i hope u like it...

it's located in greece!
just waiting for me to save it!
(actually, i'm trying to convience my father pick it up,
park it in a safe place and cover it somehow!
the owner was a friend of his.. rip his soul..
now belonging to the son, who really asks nothing for it!
otherwise, he'll have to give it away for scraps..
i hope we can save it!!!)



PS: do u think i can fit a modern engine under that hood?
an american v6 or v8...maybe?? hopefully??
something from the 70s-80s-90s.. easy/cheap to buy!

 

Now that Greek one above this post is AWESOME!!!

OK, here's a few pics from my 'random' file, I don't have any details on any of these, just the pics...

The 1st one was on here ages ago, South American perhaps? Frm memory a vintage Cadillac chassis carrying a couple of tons of carved timber, AMAZING!

The 2nd and 3rd ones are 20's big US sedans with coachbuilt conversions, the 3rd one is in Australia, 1929 Chrysler perhaps?

All cool cars anyway, and I know I've got a pic somewhere of a 1933 Ford hearse hotrod from Downunder, I'll see if I can add it too.

Found it, plus a pic of another car from here nobody could identify, not a hearse, not an ambulance, some thought it might be a pickup car for bodies from homes, to discreetly take them to the funeral parlour...

Cheers, Glen.

 

Welcome to the HAMB, start an intro thread. There is at least one funeral director in the US who wants to acquire and properly restore this odd coach. The pictures have been out on a couple different sites for over a year. If it wasn't made by Smit-Joure then a small Greek coach builder did the conversion.

 

Man that is one awesome coach, if that was here in the US I would grab it in a minute. Dont let it get crushed!
Here is mine, oldest one I was able to find so far, still looking for older.

 

Until you get to the REALLY old stuff, older hearses had steel body panels with steel body frame. When the switch to fiberglass happened the bodies weren't as durable. Old ones of those tend to develop separated joint bonds, sagging door attachments, and overall looseness. Hopefully those problems have been minimized since the '70s. Provided rust hasen't taken over you will find that older all steel hearses are more sound than the ones the followed.

 

This thread was ready for a ride in it's namesake so I thought I'd breath a little life in it. This isn't as cool as the Greek Buick, but is was sure fun back in the late 70's. Toured Seattle with 12 people in it one rainy Saturday night. "The things you do for love"! The old 359 Flathead, 3 spd w/ OD got 11 miles per gallon, no matter what, and it cruised at 80 like it was made for nothing else but that. Weighed 7200 pounds dry. Last I heard it was up in Alaska somewhere.

 

Wish my ex wouldn't have made my albums disappear. Back in the 50's there was a So Cal car club called The Undertakers. They had a 40 something Cad Hearse complete with casket in the back that they used as their push car for a hot Model A coupe. They'd sometimes show up at the old Colton drag strip dressed in tuxes.

 

There's a club for hearse owners/fans. Their motto is: "Don't let your first ride in a hearse be your last."