Hearse

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Funeral carriage, Museum of Funeral Customs

A hearse is a funeral vehicle, a conveyance for the coffin from e.g. a church to a cemetery, a similar burial site, or a crematorium. In the funeral trade, they are often called funeral coaches.

1 Name
2 History
3 North America and Europe
4 Japan
5 Motorcycle hearses
6 Hearse enthusiasts
7 Cultural references
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] Name

The name derives from the Old French herce "rake, harrow", describing the temporary framework on which candles were placed above the bier. This also held banners and armorial bearings and other heraldic devices. Verses or epitaphs were often attached to the hearse. Applied to vehicles since the 17th century.

[edit] History

A horse-drawn hearse with driver, circa 1900. Courtesy Neil Regan Funeral Home

An antique limousine style hearse from Volvo

Hearses were originally horse-drawn, but motorised examples began to be produced from 1909 in the United States, and became more widely accepted in the 1920s. The vast majority of hearses since then have been based on larger, more powerful car chassis, generally retaining the front end up to and possibly including the front doors but with custom bodywork to the rear to contain the coffin.

[edit] North America and Europe

Cadillac hearse

Normally more luxurious brands of car are used as a base; the vast majority of hearses in the United States are Cadillacs and Lincolns. In Europe, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Opel, Ford and Volvo are common contemporary bases, and in the past, even Rolls-Royce limousines were converted, though their cost is generally considered prohibitive.

Cadillac produced what it termed a "commercial chassis". This was a strengthened version of the long-wheelbase Fleetwood limousine frame to carry the extra weight of bodywork, rear deck and cargo. Designed for professional car use, the rear of the Cadillac commercial chassis was considerably lower than the passenger car frame, thereby lowering the rear deck height as well for ease of loading and unloading. They were shipped as incomplete cars to coachbuilders for final assembly. A commercial chassis Cadillac was little more than a complete rolling chassis, front end sheet metal with lighting and trim, dashboard and controls. Rear quarter panels and sometimes the front door shells were shipped with the chassis for use in the finished coachwork. Today, most hearses are made from converted sedans on stretched wheelbases. The fleet division of Ford Motor Company sells a Lincoln Town Car with a special "hearse package" strictly to coachbuilders. Shipped without rear seat, rear interior trim, rear window or decklid, the hearse package also features a heavy-duty suspension, brakes, charging system and tires and was once offered on a modified Ford Expedition SUV chassis with the Triton V10 truck engine. Since the working life of a hearse is generally one of light duty and short, sedate drives, hearses remain serviceable for a long time; hearses 30 years old or more may still be in service, although some funeral homes replace them at least once a decade. As of 2004, a new hearse in the USA usually costs in the range of $40,000 to $65,000.

Two styles of hearse bodywork are common. The older style is the limousine style; these have narrow pillars and lots of glass. These are more popular in the United Kingdom, among others. More popular in the United States is the landau style, with a heavily-padded leather or (later) vinyl roof, and long blind rear quarters, similarly covered, and decorated with large metal S-shaped bars designed to resemble those used to lower the tops on some horse-drawn coaches. It is common practise in the USA for the windows to be curtained, while in the UK the windows are normally left unobscured. Hearses resemble station wagons strictly because of the shape of the rear ends of conventional ones.

Until the late 1970s, it was common for hearses in the USA to be combination coaches which also could serve in the ambulance role; these were common in rural areas. Car-based ambulances and combination coaches were unable to meet stricter Federal specifications for such vehicles and were discontinued after 1979.

A Buddhist-style Japanese hearse

[edit] Japan

In Japan, hearses can come in two styles: "Foreign" style, which is similar in build and style to an American hearse, or a "Japanese" style, in which the rear area of the vehicle is modified to resemble a small, ornate Buddhist temple. This generally requires the rear of the vehicle to be extensively altered; commonly, the rear roof is cut away from the front windows back and all interior parts are removed from the rear as well. The ornate Buddhist-style rear area, generally constructed of wood and in which the casket or urn is placed, is built on top of this empty cavity and most often is wider than the base of the vehicle, so that it sticks out on the sides, over the rear body panels. Popular bases for these are not limited to large sedans, but also minivans and even pickup trucks by companies like Nissan and Toyota.

"Foreign" style hearses are mostly similar in appearance to their US counterparts, although their exterior dimensions and interiors reflect the Japanese preference for smaller, less ornate caskets (this in light of the national preference for cremation). This means that, in contrast to American hearses, the rear quarter panels require less, and sometimes no, alteration. These are generally built from station wagons such as the Nissan Stagea, or from executive sedans such as the Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS430 in the US) and Nissan Cima (Infiniti Q45 in the US). Interestingly, American market vehicles such as the Lincoln Town Car and Cadillac DeVille, which are otherwise fairly uncommon in Japan, are often converted to hearses in both styles.

[edit] Motorcycle hearses

In recent times, the Motorcycle hearse has become more popular. This type of hearse is a motorcycle with a special sidecar built to carry a casket or an urn. These hearses are often used during the funeral of motorcycle enthusiasts.

[edit] Hearse enthusiasts

Perhaps owing to the morbid nature of the hearse, its luxurious accommodations for the driver, or both, the hearse has a number of enthusiasts who own and drive retired hearses. Celebrity hearse enthusiasts include rock singer Neil Young and double NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart, who had his hearse customised for a television show into a play toy.

[edit] Cultural references

The 1971 film Harold and Maude features a unique Jaguar E-Type, converted to a hearse by its owner, Harold.
The 1984 film Ghostbusters famously features the "Ectomobile", a white 1959 Cadillac Miller-Meteor hearse.
In the TV series Six Feet Under, which is about a family that runs a funeral home, the character Claire Fisher drives a retired hearse painted lime-green.
In The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Mayor (The Nightmare Before Christmas) is seen driving a "mayormobile," the only car shown in town, which is based on a hearse.