I’ve had a long, passionate love affair with cars, with constant fascination adding fuel to the fire. I’m not a discriminating man, most cars are my type, and that goes for hearses as well. My wife, on the other hand, has a more utilitarian view of cars. She doesn’t share my interest in them, and that is especially true of hearses.

  A few days ago, the topic of hearses came up in conversation (probably a result of me gawking at one). This prompted a simple question from my wife, “Where do hearses go that are no longer used by funeral homes?” I explained that some are bought by collectors, some are used as parts cars, and some are bought by those with a strong interest in the macabre. The real question though, where do the rest go?

  Hearses, as a group, are luxury vehicles that often have low mileage, are well maintained, and have rarely been in an accident. They are always garaged. For any other car this would bring premium prices. Not true for hearses. Several examples of this can be found on HearseHub.com. Hearses that were built in the early 1990’s have well less than 100,000 miles and are only in the $2,000 to $3,000 range. Quite a bargain! However, most people will never consider them for their transportation purposes. So, what do you do with them?

  Instantly, I thought of converting them into campers. You see campers on trucks all the time, why not on hearses? Sure, you’d have the unenviable task of cutting off the back, enclosing the cab, and beefing up the suspension, but they do have a long wheel base, making them the perfect candidate. A simple Google search confirmed that that many shared my Frankenstein idea, but much to my surprise, there aren’t any companies actively taking on such endeavors.

  Converting a hearse to an El Camino-type truck also came to mind. Again, the same process as converting them to a camper would be required. I was sure I’d found the perfect second life for hearses. When I did a second Google, I found a few examples, but far fewer than camper conversions. In that same search, I discovered a Pinterest link boasting of thousands of pictures based on my search. The link mostly lived up to the hype. While there were fewer pictures than advertised, I did find something called a “Rat Hearse” that kind of looked like a truck, but not quite. There was an Airstream Hearse, a Tank Hearse, many hot rod hearses and other unique hearse examples, but not one picture of a hearse that had been converted into a functional truck.

  To me, truck conversion seems like a straight forward project, but there are few examples of it being done, and not a single mention of a company offering this service.

  Truth be told, I don’t fully understand what it takes to make these projects a reality, nor the money it takes. This may explain the lack of results in my searches. The old adage of “lipstick on a pig” came to mind as well. In the end what you’ve produced still looks like a hearse.

  If anyone can answer my questions as to why conversions are not being done, or if you know of a cottage industry converting hearses into something functional, please let me know at HearseHub@gmail.com.