June 3: What a way to go!

At some time or other, each one of us will probably end up in a wooden box or an attractive urn or simply be scattered to the winds. It is a fact, that people in North America are more afraid of public speaking than of dying, so as Jerry Seinfeld once said, if you are at a funeral, you'd rather be in the box than giving the eulogy. Well, I'm a past Toastmaster and enjoy giving speeches, but where I'd rather be is riding in the funeral coach and definitely up front as opposed to the back. And so to the point of today's blog........

Used to be that it was easy to convert a Cadillac into a hearse  -  take one big square Cadillac commercial platform and add on a very decorative box to its back end, like on the older version above. Easy, right? So now all those old style Caddy's have gone by the wayside, with the last of the old style XTS's. So now the designers have had to become more imaginative.

Take a new XTS and add a very swoopy back end. These things look fast standing still, so it stands to reason that funeral processions should move a little quicker. And who wouldn't want to be seen in this S & S hearse, whether it was in the front or back ("Too bad about Uncle Charlie, but did you see that cool hearse?").

All those old styles (another one from the S&S Coach Company), that fit the square Caddy's so well, have taken some work to add to the new ones. And not always successfully in my opinion, but the funeral car business in North America at least, is steeped in tradition. So, if there has always been a landau model, then there must be one for the new body style. Same as the Forest Lawn type design above, with its back side window. Awkward to say the least, but a good way to verify that Uncle Charlie is actually in there.

And every funeral procession needs an accompanying six door limousine for the immediate family. Not quite as stately as the older models, but it stills works and the design flows.

This more traditional landau, an Eagle XTS Ultimate, has the expected squared off side windows, so no attempt to bend and blend this design into the very contemporary lines of the XTS. And as one of the hearse manufacturers states, it ".......imparts a respected presence to the procession......". Ah, that it does, my friend, that it does.

So rest assured, that no matter how different the new car styles become, the hearse designers will be able to adapt those old and traditional funeral coach styles to the new car designs. They might even come up with a style, in which you'd be proud to ride, even if it was in the back.

Until next time.......