Tuesday, July 7, 2015

FLOWER CARS, GIVE ME CREDIT I DID NOT DO HEARSES!!

We do not like to face death or the tools related to funerals.
Admit it you have checked out flower cars!!
You know what a flower car is,right?
As usual lets skip past reality and talk cars, coachbuilders specials at that!
 Above a very famous film funeral- Don Corleone- the Godfather , he had a bunch of friends with lots of flower cars!
 In the funeral procession how would you move the flowers to the cemetery without a custom built car that matches a hearse?
Yes I worked, about a million years ago as an apprentice mechanic in a cemetery motor pool, one day a procession rolled in and they had a mid 70's El Camino full of flowers all shiny black and the driver slide it in neutral as he passed me and revved the engine. I noticed a 454 badge on the fender and always thought about that car, remember these cars really never hit high mileage in some cases and were garage kept.
You could not use a regular pick up so many used the El Camino style cars for the budget minded!
Many flower cars were custom crafted from the "higher end" cars like this Lincoln, I am assuming this WAS a flower car?
Many 4 doors were just hacked up and a stainless insert was fashioned
At some point they realized how cool a Caddy or Lincoln pickup would be for a wealthy rancher!
This pair may "special" built as pickups
Some of these may not have been flower cars and I am going to try and sort them out of this blog



I think the 40's and 50's cars were the most exotic

This Caddy is a work of art
100% flower car once, now a lowrider!! 






Some crazy gathering of multi make flower cars, see if you spot the makes of GM cars?




Was a flower car this Caprice is now a???

Packards were very popular funeral cars





The low buck of all low buck flower cars, a Lumina van!
A few more Packards 



Fats BBQ, folks are dying to eat there!
Very rare and unusual Chryslers
Were they flower cars? I believe the one above was, below  oddly mimics an old model car kit





Is the one below, flower car or custom pickup?




  























The Professional Car Society is a club devoted to funeral and ambulance transportation and have several large meets every year,check them out. 

1 comment:

  1. Fun fact: Cab Calloway drove a flower car in The Blues Brothers.

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