Oct 3: Coupe de Fleur

As I blogged before, I like hearses and other funeral cars, but probably the most interesting (to me) is the flower car or since most were Cadillacs, the Coupe de Fleur (get it, a play on Coupe de Ville). As you can see from the pic above, they were basically Caddy limos made into a kind of pick-up. The rear section was covered in stainless and had railings to which the floral arrangements could be attached.

They used to be much more popular, but even back in the day, they were not overly common  -  I've never seen one. Pretty expensive way to transport flowers, but they sure looked impressive. Take a look at this '58........

Or this '59.........

Now if this pic looks a little strange, it's because this is a 1/18th scale diecast flower car that I have in my office to go along with my hearse and limousine. This is a big heavy model and it cost a mint, but it looks great and gets lots of comments (sitting as it is amongst other '50's and '60's cars, as well as my drag car collection). Hey, variety is the spice of life!

Even today there are a few being made, but count yourself lucky if you get to see one (better if you are not in the hearse following it). This is a new one......

By the way, the rear section is raised, so that other floral arrangements can be stored underneath or it can serve as a hearse with the casket below the flowers.

Now aren't you glad you now know about the Coupe de Fleur?

Until next time........