Rat Rod Material? 1962 Cadillac Futura Hearse
Is it weird to drive a hearse when it looks this cool? I mean, LOOK at it! This Caddy could make one super cool rat rod. It’s up for sale here on craigslist in San Diego, and the seller is asking $5,500.
Well, the seller doesn’t seem to have much to say, except that it does run. And someone installed a sun roof? Sounds like a strange thing to do, and even the seller advises you get rid of it. Unfortunately, there’s no pictures of the sunroof.
Just from looking at the engine, it doesn’t look bad at all. It’s all there any way. It looks to be the original 6.4 liter? V8.
The interior looks better than I thought it would. I’m wondering if the seats could be cleaned, and the parts with holes replaced? You can see the rust on the floors and it’s hard to tell just how bad it really is.
Well, overall I think this car looks pretty solid. California is good for keeping these old cars free of major rust. I think this Caddy could be a really fun and unique project for someone out there. And since it’s already running, and the interior isn’t too bad, this project won’t break the bank. If you bought this hearse, would you restore it or turn it into a rat rod?
Comments
There’s no such thing as a “super cool rat rod.”
Man I’ll be glad when boomers shove off.
You guys hate everything different.
Wrong ’em Boyo! We started everything different!! Put yer Iphone to good use and do some research.
I don’t remember any Caddy motor in 1962 as a 6.4 liter. Maybe a 390 cubic inch?
Yes, 6.4 liters is the same as 390 ci. Same thing.
in the interest of accuracy, liters meant nothing in 62, dont let the future confuse the vision of the past :)
Thanks John, well said. Pretty much why I made the comment, thank you, take care, Mike.
That would make a very useful family station wagon, especially if your name is Munster.
Yup, this generation of Cadillac was powered by the 390.
I’m thinking that this would make a cool custom, with some decent paint, pinstriping, and some period-correct wheels and white-stripe tires/tyres. Put some fold down seats from a contemporary station wagon in the back and get ready to party!
I think the lack of windshield is the rub. If I’m not mistaken, most hearses of that era had custom windshields that were 3 or 4 inches taller than a standard one. Unless you have a parts hearse with good front glass, you might be SOL.
What makes you think SOL has a parts hearse ?
The windshields were very hard to come by.
Back in the ’90s a glass company made me a windshield for my 1956 Sedan De Ville.
Maybe they could do the same for this.
Time to chop the top
I had a ’64 Superior and I had to have mine custom made. The cost of that piece of glass is going to equal roughly half the asking price of this coach.
I’d do neither. Just drive it as an old nail.
Is it a visual anomaly or does it have rear door handles but the reverse doors have been welded and filled in
It was a side service car probably which means it has suicide opening doors.
Maybe suicide and hearse shouldn’t be used in the same sentence.
….and for a hearse, suicide doors come in handy.
It’s not the correct year but, with paint, the right add on parts, and logos you could make a rather convincing Ecto-1 look alike. The kids would love it.
Stop. Don’t ever say that again.
Too many nice hearses have been destroyed making that car.
Put the exhaust pipe on the inside of this one.
I’ll agree, there’s enough “Ecto’s” out there, but a “nice” hearse? Sorry, hearses represent the end of the line ( which is why there’s no luggage racks on hearses, you can’t take it with you) and we’ll all ride in them all too soon. To me, there’s nothing cool about a hearse.
However, in an unrelated matter, I see a lot of new names for writers. I’d like to say welcome aboard. Word of warning, tough crowd here,( especially that geomechs character,,) good luck all,,,
If you have never owned one or driven one, you don’t know what you are missing.
I love these hand built customs Cadillac wagons.
It is sad to see one as abused as this one has been.
Back in the early eighties a friend owned a ’62 Cadillac hearse similar to this but white in color, previous owners installed a van style roof vent and spare tire carrier on it, one thing I see with this one is the generator doesn’t have the air hose on the rear for cooling of the rear bearing,it ran to the front of the car to bring in cool air to it,we had a lot of fun riding in it back then.
Your a genius!
Fix the sunroof by installing a luggage rack.
Then you can truely take it with you.
Optional flux capacitor not included.
Howard A,
You might not see roof racks on hearses in the USA, but they are very common in Europe, the UK, and the far east, and are used to hold flowers headed to the grave site.
I love it, and if she were a 59, or 61, Id love it all the more. Cadillacs made for some beautiful coaches in the 50s, & 60s. Get it cleaned up, and running right., and drive with pride. Guaranteed you wont see another at your local Cars & Coffee
If they let you in to a Cars & Coffee.
When I was driving mine, I ran across a lot of superstitious people.
This thing looks like it drove out of the grave. Wash the #%*! car….
When I was a kid bands used to use an old hearse to move equipment around. Now I see one cruising around town every Halloween with a fake corpse in the back, waving out the window. Great fun.
When I was in college I had a friend who thought rent was expensive, so he got a hearse for use as a residence. I’m not sure how it worked for dating….
I’ve always liked 62 Cads,…The hearse part,not so much..! LOL.
These are pretty scarce,and can really be made nice,and would be cool to
customize.Somewhere there is a funeral parlor director who loves old cars,
and realizes that this car is his “dream”project,and can’t wait to put it back into service..! haha….could happen..?
Come on guys let up and enjoy yes the young guys are different but we all love old cars and yes there is a place for a funeral coaches and commercial cars a seat for everyone. I am 73 and would love the last ride in this thing. What I remember about these is as a High School Senior I worked for the local Mortuary in a small town where we did double duty as the local ambulance service as well and the coach companies made what was called combo’s which you slipped a bubble gum macine on the top siren was under the hood and an oxygen bottle a cot in the rear and got folks to the hospital ASAP and the old 390 did a good job. We had 2 a new 62 Caddy like this for funeral coach and a 61 Olds Combo either could be used and the olds was usually used in more austere funeral processions and the Caddy upscale. The interesting thing was the combo’s had sliding weights in the frame from side to side that balanced the roll in curves. It had NO Power Steering but Power brakes. The reason I was told for better control no easy slip like race cars you felt the steering. It was quite interesting to drive and that bid sucker would move and hold the road. The caddy was like this one and as I remember it had P.S. and brakes and both had A.C. a must in the south. Mostly I remember you had to pick your weekend dates pretty carefully it wasn’t the same as being the Football team Jock!! LOL
Mark, you’re right about bands using hearses to haul their stuff. One of my
many road trips as a musician was with
a local band whose lead singer quit them
in the middle of a tour. The leader of the
band took a ’63 or ’64 Superior hearse and turned it into a 9-passenger wagon of
sorts to transport the group from place
to place. As I recall, the arrangement
worked out great as he used a large
utility trailer to carry the instruments and
all our luggage and that old hearse never
left us stranded. If it was good enough
for Sam The Sham & The Pharoas, (wooly
Bully) it was good enough for me!
As for this coach, I’d restore it back to
factory spec on the outside, redo the
interior to Caddy specs as well, then,
after updating the mechanicals to meet
FDOT standards, and use it as part of
a cadaver transport business hauling
bodies from morgues to medical schools.
I’ve checked it out and the job pays very
well but I can’t get my SIL talked into
working for me by becoming a driver.
She watches too many zombie flicks
as she always tells me she’s afraid that
the body in the back of the coach would
come alive and eat her brain! I’ve even
told her that this would be like Uber for
dead people with no luck at all. Maybe
some syrius XM might sweeten the deal.
Great find! I hope it finds a good home.
Good one Kenneth! Maybe you could get a Zombie proof divider for your SIL. Stay cool down there Buddy, Mike.
I see a Ghost Busters ECTO-1 Copy Begging To Become a Reality
I’ll take that under advisement Mike! She
still refused the offer even when I added
Syrius XM radio to the list. I’ve got it! I’ll
install a solid devider about 5″ thick between the cargo area and the driver’s
compartment. To compensate for the
huge blind spot, a 360 degree camera
system could be used to feed the driver
real time images of what’s going on around them through a heads up display
that would appear on the windshield.
That’ll fix it! And yeah, it was a real scorcher today too. So much so that
I didn’t feel much like working on a non
running power chair I’m using to test a
theory I have concerning solar panels
and how they could provide extra range
and use for the owner and the device.
Oh yeah, my neice made a big pot of
Chili for supper. By the time she and her
mother are finished, I’m sure to weigh
somewhere around 900 pounds! Take
care Mike, see you soon.
Hot Wheels did a nice replica of this, tho might have been a 63, in a series of custom ambulances/hearses back in the 90s. A 59 ambulance was made into a woody wagon. Not sure if there was a 1:1 scale counterpart used to create the toys.
Since you would need to have a custom windshield made anyway. Then chop it about 6″ and make a 6 passenger Caddycamino!
Ok, I will go back into my cage now.