VW? I wouldn't know what else in your market would have been used as a parts source. I bet there is a fair number of factory parts from something there.
Last Ride For You Formal Guys
- Thread starter azblackhemi
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cm23uoc
Old Man with a Hat
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That's a regular closed Panel Trailer that was available for all kinds of applications by the manufacturer Westfalia (they invented the now usual design car Trailer hitch AFAIK) with added cutouts for the Windows and some sliding mechanism for the coffin. And talking about VW, Westfalia built the bodies for the VW "the Thing" (for German postal Service) as the model is called in the US.
Edit: the Thing is not the Panel van I was talking about, seems to have no Name in the us, is called Fridolin in Europe.
Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
A local funeral parlor has one of these in their "display" window... I think the owner is into antique funeral stuff, he also has some old hearses. For those of you in the southwestern US, this device is made to slide on a mix of oxygen and ice crystals that naturally form outdoors during the winter months.
With the increasing number of people opting for cremation, fewer people practicing any sort of religion, I'm imagining hearses in general will become increasingly rare going forward. Although my family still attends church, I can think of four family-member (4) funerals in the last five (5) years where people born in the early 1920s were cremated, thus no coffin, no hearse.
The world and traditions of my childhood is rapidly disappearing. I'll probably opt for cremation myself, but that's more out of "distaste" for what becomes of your corpse over time, not because I view myself as a soulless meat-sack. Cremation seems more dignified when I compare it to cold, wet earth. Or maybe it's just because I hate being cold and wet.
With the increasing number of people opting for cremation, fewer people practicing any sort of religion, I'm imagining hearses in general will become increasingly rare going forward. Although my family still attends church, I can think of four family-member (4) funerals in the last five (5) years where people born in the early 1920s were cremated, thus no coffin, no hearse.
The world and traditions of my childhood is rapidly disappearing. I'll probably opt for cremation myself, but that's more out of "distaste" for what becomes of your corpse over time, not because I view myself as a soulless meat-sack. Cremation seems more dignified when I compare it to cold, wet earth. Or maybe it's just because I hate being cold and wet.
polara71
Old Man with a Hat
Last edited:
Carmine
Old Man with a Hat
...well the last sentence was more a dig at MI weather than a deep thought, lol!
There was a mortuary - Doughty, Calhoun, O'Meara - that had a Buick-based hearse. There are other makes, they just are rare.
75LandYacht
Yank Tank
Now that you mention it!! I do remember seeing Buick Electra's or LeSabre's Used as well. I wonder why with so many full-size car brands back in the day, that mainly Cadillac and Lincolns were used.
azblackhemi
Old Man with a Hat
Sometimes the cheaper brands were used to transport bodies from the morgue and other places to the funeral home instead of using the top of the line hearses when nobody would see them.
Cost plays into it as well. The Buicks, etc. were cheaper. But, they also told the viewing public, "We're cheap." DCOM bought a used Caddy hearse when they got rid of the Buick.
They actually gave it to me to pass on to someone who could use a car. I gave it to a 19 year old who needed a car. He stripped the padded top off - HUGE mistake!!! I am sure all of you can guess what he found underneath.
Now, that Caddy was HOT!! It had the hot 350 Chevy motor in it that came in 'Vettes - that sucker screamed!! I loved driving it to funerals!! When we would arrive at the Cemetery I had t slow down, turn off the radio, and look serious....
They actually gave it to me to pass on to someone who could use a car. I gave it to a 19 year old who needed a car. He stripped the padded top off - HUGE mistake!!! I am sure all of you can guess what he found underneath.
Now, that Caddy was HOT!! It had the hot 350 Chevy motor in it that came in 'Vettes - that sucker screamed!! I loved driving it to funerals!! When we would arrive at the Cemetery I had t slow down, turn off the radio, and look serious....
stubs300
Senior Member
With the increasing number of people opting for cremation, fewer people practicing any sort of religion, I'm imagining hearses in general will become increasingly rare going forward. Although my family still attends church, I can think of four family-member (4) funerals in the last five (5) years where people born in the early 1920s were cremated, thus no coffin, no hearse.
The world and traditions of my childhood is rapidly disappearing. I'll probably opt for cremation myself, but that's more out of "distaste" for what becomes of your corpse over time, not because I view myself as a soulless meat-sack. Cremation seems more dignified when I compare it to cold, wet earth. Or maybe it's just because I hate being cold and wet.
Burial is like 3 times the cost of Cremation, why spend the coin on something your buried in? I just don't see the logic.
Amen - my sentiments exactly.
I will tell you from 32 years of Pastoral experience: there are many Morticians who will use this emotional occasion to get as much as they can from a family. There's a cliche called "The onion in your pocket." It is squeezed often an followed with, "Your'e going to put you Mom in... that???" (snif, snif, snif) That's why I really liked my friends at Doughty - never saw them do it, never heard them accused of it. I miss them.
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