Thread: Looking for an old hearse. Seriously!

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I'm selling both my motorcycles in the hopes that I can buy (and possibly restore) an old hearse. I missed an opportunity to buy a beautiful 1952 Cadillac hearse. It looked nice and ran, and he was only asking $4,200.


A moment of silence for a purchase not made.

I'm still bummed that I missed that one, but I have to sell my motorycles first!

Anyway, I've been searching things like eBay and CraigsList, but I'd like to know where else I might be able to find an older hearse. I'd really like something from the 1960s or earlier.

So, friends, haunters, lend me your links!

I have found this 1947 Cadillac Hearse on CraigsList for only $3,000, but it has no motor, needs a lot of body work, and probably all new interior.

Hey TK I have seen a few for sale in the past in your area so next time I see one I will PM you the info

I know it's not a hearse, but it's a beautiful 1941 Chrysler Winsor sedan with, yes, suicide doors!!

No engine, but seller is asking only $1,200!!

TK, you and my husband are two peas in a pod. He showed me the one on craigslist. No hearses at our house. They creep me out, and I like creepy.

Tk, you could try Hemming's Motor News. Pre -1960 hearses are really hard to find in great shape. You might have a better chance if you broadened your search to include ambulances as they used to do double duty prior to the 70s. That '47 Caddy would probably be a good car. It would take a bit of work but the old school look is pretty awesome. A big block Caddy motor and a TH400 automatic transmission would really make her scoot! You could replace the rear axle wtih a 70's GM axle. Add a dual master cylinder and upgrade the front brakes to discs. The body work wouldn't be too bad on that. Lots of flat panels with a few simple curves. You could do the interior yourself. Industrial sewing machines occassionaly show up on Craigslist fairly cheap. They're are quite a few good books out there on auto restoration. Almost every state has a professional car club. Maybe put some feelers out and see what's available in your area. Just my humble 2 cents

I think about looking for a hearse to use as the team van for a Ragnar Relay. I think it would be pretty cool to carry out the fresh runner in a coffin, then after the exchange is made, to have the not so fresh runner lay down in the coffin so we can carry him/her to the hearse.

The fun one can have with lots of disposable cash!

There is one on CL for $800 here in MN. It said it needed some tranny work and tlc. Though it would run and drive. Small body work. It was an 86 buick I believe but, to me, they just don't scare me. I really like the older ones.
Remember that finding the interior parts are going to be a lot harder then finding exterior parts. I mean, really hard in some cases. They did small production runs of the hearses and a lot of hand crafted material went into the interior. If you are not looking for numbers matching cars then go with one that has a really nice interior over one that has the engine. You can swap in an engine from a sedan of the same model, just will not have the low mileage most hearses would have. Try to stay away from young guys who own hearses. They tend to beat the hell out of them, customise the back interior to the point that isn't hardly safe to even look at.

oooooh. I really love the older cars - all that style and chrome.

I've come across several hearses on craigslist, and if we had the place to park it, we might have actually gotten one last year... it was a restored replica of the Ghostbusters Ecto 1, which is actually was 1959 Cadillac ambulance/hearse combination. So cool!

But we live in a house with a tiny driveway, and I can't see paying storage fees.

Good luck on your hunt!

TK look north Bham always has hearses for sale. Here is a Caddy one I found:

http://bellingham.craigslist.org/cto/2524416066.html