Thread: Death for a Hearse

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Hello friends,

the other day, I was on a mission to find something at an auto parts store and something catches my eye.... an old hearse on a car hauler. She was an old 80's model Cadillac. Black in color and aged well with time and neglect. I asked the driver of the hauler if he was taking her to hearse-fest and he said (sadly) "Nope, shes going to the crusher." That sort of saddened me. Although I'm not a hearse enthusiast, i appreciate the haunt and creep factor of a nice old hearse. I just couldn't help but feel sad that the car that had carried the dead to their final resting place was about to be laid to rest. I think what got me was I know that lots of people would love to have that old vehicle to restore it or use it in a haunt or something. It was hard to watch it roll away knowing it was going to be crushed. Although she was old and neglected, it had so much character.

I suppose it might not have bothered me as much if I just had not listened to "Hauntcast" which had a segment on "Hearse-Fest" Oh well....may she rest in peace.

What a waste.......

Jobs, the economy, unemployement, the price of gas, insurance..people won't be indulging their desires as much or as often when money seems to be harder to come up with.
The ones in the sign business might be making money on those "For Sale" signs though.
22 yrs, ago there was a auto junkyard 3 miles from here, 1,200 old cars going from Model Ts to about 1958. After the three day sale they were mostly crushed a few went elsewhere.
A 1941 Packard went for $340, and it looked real solid.
The big old bus was full of Indian motorcycle parts.
That was when I bought 5 of my 6 Hudsons I decorated the house with.

i can't believe they crushed all those old cars. it's kind of sad to think of the hearse now being led to it's final resting place since it has taken so many people to theirs.

What a waste! I think i would cry if i saw my hearse being towed away to the wrecker.

I saw. It had pictures of hearses from the 1930s-40's that had huge tricky carvings on the sides , carved from wood! Very fancy! Imagine seeing one of those in person or going down the road!
Just a few years ago a car dealer 30 miles from me had a 1937? Buick hearse for sale, I told a local car nut about it, the car ended up going to England to a collector. It really seemed small inside for a hearse, like the coffin would have been a squeeze/fit.
I like those big old Caddy flower cars, they look like oversized Rancheros!

wasn't it salvageable? what a shame

They probably weren't even gonna get that much for it's scraps either. That's sad. If you'd have made an offer he might have sold it to you.

One of the biggest problems for people who might save an old hearse is your local government. Mine, like many others, recently passed a "junk car" law. Designed to prevent people from having cars on blocks on their front lawn, it's written in a way that allows the local government to remove it before you'd have a chance to prove (yes, the burden is on you) that it's NOT a junker. The most ridiculous thing is that they declare all cars not inspected, insured, and tagged to be junkers. All three, no exceptions. In Pennsylvania, one does not have to inspect a car tagged as an antique. So, all antique cars, from 1903 curved dash Oldsmobiles to 1928 Duesenburgs to 1985 Cadillac series 75 hearses, are junk under the law. It doesn't matter if the "junk" car is a restored $100k beauty. If it doesn't have a current inspection sticker, insurance, and a license plate, it's a junker and can be taken.

As a result of this law, all the car guys in the neighborhood have replaced their chain link fences with stockade fences, so the local zoning officer can't see what they've got in the back yard under a tarp on his drive-bys. It's kind of ruined one of my favorite pasttimes on the way to yard sales, as well. No longer can I look at the collector cars people would work on in their driveways, had stored next to their houses, or abandoned in the weeds in their back yards.

Craig

Originally Posted by creepyhomemaker

They probably weren't even gonna get that much for it's scraps either. That's sad. If you'd have made an offer he might have sold it to you.

If I could have afforded it, i would have but money is a rare thing these days and I don't know how to change my own oil, so restoring it would not be for me but I knew somebody would have loved that car.

Craig,

The junk law is bogus to those who actually work on old cars. I agree with ya 100%. It seems very few people appreciate classics anymore like we do.