The Roadmaster from 1991 to 1996 was the last of Buick’s really big full-size vehicles. Available as a 4-door sedan or station wagon, they were more than 18 feet in length riding on a rear-wheel-drive platform. This 1991 edition either began life as a Roadmaster and was converted into a hearse or was taken one step further and done up as a gloried El Camino pickup. Whatever the case, it appears to be in excellent condition with 59,000 miles. Located in a garage with a round roof, this interesting hauler is in Mooreville, Mississippi, and is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $19,000. Eagle eye Barn Finder Frank Muellersman brought this kind of weird tip our way!
Buick hadn’t used the Roadmaster nameplate since 1958. But gave it a last hurrah in the 1990s. More than 200,000 of these huge luxury cars were built, indicating there was still a market for larger-than-life automobiles. 25% of them were wagons, which is how we assumed this one was assembled originally from the GM factory. Eureka Mfg. was still a coachbuilder in those days, so it could easily have been shipped to them for retrofitting as a “last-mile” means of transportation. I would think converting a wagon into a hearse would be easier than a sedan.
From there, the water starts to get murky. Did Eureka (whose nameplate is on the vehicle) build this as a hearse and then convert it into an El Camino-style pickup or did it get this way through other channels? The seller provides no details about the process (maybe he or she doesn’t know). We’re told there is a fuel-injected 5.0-litre V8 under the hood, paired with what should be a 4-speed automatic transmission. It must run well as it gets north of 20 mpg in highway use.
The body and paint look good from garage dwelling, but for better photos why didn’t the seller simply back it out into the driveway? The interior looks great with seating for up to six live people and at least one of the tires is brand new with the blue tint still on the whitewalls. This is a really cool Buick, but it begs the question what would you do with it if you were to purchase it? The seller is open to a partial trade, but for what?
Interesting. Well, unless you’re an undertaker, I suppose this is slightly more useful than the hearse it started out as. I just knew it had to be located in the south. When it comes to automobiles, there’s no shortage of “creativity” there.
I‘ve never seen a “transverse hearse”, so this vehicle is a bit confusing. The compartment aft of the driver is a new one for me. Cremains urn transport area? I don’t believe that this was ever a traditional hearse, but may have been a mid-priced flower car initially. There are examples online.
Check out “flower cars’ online. They look like a long pickup truck with a “boot” over the tailgate. Typically the flower car bed is higher than a pickup truck bed so the flowers can be picked up easier, and they are on display during the funeral procession. Now, there would be quite a bit of space under the bed behind the cabin. There would be an access door there to store stuff that would be needed gravesite. This vehicle simply extends the cabin to the C pillar, keeping the rear door. You can see it is set up as a storage area. I still have no idea what the roof rack is for.
I would like to see a picture of the whole vehicle..
The Last Ride mobile Dixon🌹⚰️🪦
I would not.
I think it might be a Flower Car – basically a custom built ‘ute to carry flowers to the graveside service, or the coffin under a large flower display. If so, it came from Eureka that way – at least mostly.
One of the few cars on here listed near me and it’s…well, it’s this. Mooreville is 20 minutes away. Better luck next time, I hope.
I’m at a loss to figure out what we’re seeing in that last photo. It doesn’t seem to match any of the others.
I went to Facebook. The car is a four door. The rear seat area looks like storage for whatever was needed gravesite, This was common on flower cars.I guess. Looking at the all around professional workmanship I would say this was built as is from Eureka. However, for the life of me I can’t explain the low drag tailgate, nor the roll cage or whatever it is. These seem add ons, although they are well done. In fact at second glance it looks like that assembly is removeable.
Tow it with a hearse, and bury it.
“Make your last ride, a class ride.”
I would drive it, I would get that ladder rack thing off the back and install a 5th wheel hitch and tow a travel trailer
That might actually be the most practical use for this car.
I’d lose that ladder rack & the “El Chariot” name and conjure up a proper tail gate and drive it .
I don’t want to get any closer to funeral equipment than I have to. And this would definitely be it.
Toss a Lincoln or Miller welder in the back. Add tool boxes and a vise and go out and make an honest living welding pipe.
Who delivers flowers to their dearly departed’s gravesite service anymore? Every obituary says
“In lieu of flowers, a donation to the Texas Chihuahua Rescue Aid Society” or some such nonsense. I don’t like Chihuahuas anymore than I like flowers, but I guess if it’s their last wish..
such poor pic I can hardly tell what it is (esp the boxed area in final pic). Looks like a wrk truck w/the ‘ladder rack’ (blk pipes & stainless or alu ‘ladder’ on top of it…
I went to the OP sales page it was so poorly represented here & saw the best rep as it viewed from frnt along a top-corner-driver’s-1/4 view to show car length of just that top 1/4…
“Such a poor picture. I can hardly tell what it is (especially the boxed area in the final picture). It looks like a work truck with the “ladder rack” (black pipes and stainless or aluminum “ladder” on top of it…
I went to the Original Poster’s sales page. It was so poorly represented here and I saw that the best representation of it as viewed from the front, along a top-corner-driver’s side-1/4 view to show the car’s length of just that top 1/4…”.
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To chrisful: once again, your abbreviations — or “insider jargon” — or whatever it is, have combined anew to defy my understanding: can’t you please simply use straightforward English, such as we ALL could read and understand? Thank you.
I was thinking that this one was his most straightforward one yet!
The trick is, to not read his posts. Thus, saving you the anguish. I myself, enjoy the challenge.
Thanks for the advice, Guys! I just suffer from cognitive-dissonance on chrisful’s posts! NOT STOPPING TO LOOK at them must be the ticket to personal sanity, here… it’s nice to know that I’m not the ONLY one who finds his posts problematic.
To Harrison Reed, Big C & Wademo, Did you ever stop to consider that crisfuls responses add a bit of adventure to everyday language, imagine the world if everyone used the same easy to understand words & phrases . It could lead to boredom ? But sometimes (most times) it is a bit much.
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Like I said. I enjoy the challenge. And I rd ev’ry lst won of thm.
To moosie: I do not find proper English boring or monotonous (or, as Eartha Kitt put it it in 1952, “MON-o-TONE-ious”). But I do find that “challenging” incorrect English waxes stressful.
I find that chrisful’s “creative use” of the English language (which I typically understand and find to be interesting/humorous at times) to be in Position #74,398 on the list of things to be currently concerned about. If you want to criticize the use of poor grammar and spelling, incomplete thoughts and sentences, etc., you will need to address a much larger number of BF posters than just chrisful. We are no longer in 1952, the year prior to my birth. Things constantly change over time, not always for the better (including language and social skills), and undesired or rapid change can make some of us feel “left behind”, including me at times. People my age no longer run the world, and our “standards” don’t necessarily translate across generations. An example: my son works in a research setting, making multiples of my highest income. I have aged out of the expensive suits that I once wore. When I offered them to him, he laughed, saying no one in his field wears a suit and tie anymore- off to Goodwill they go.
@John- I am with you on this one. I have gotten used to “chrisful’s” style and actually enjoy his posts. They are more fun than the standard “When I was a boy, I pushed my dad’s tractor around our 200 acre plot, while Dad beat me and the mule both ways” I notice we are the same age, and I remain amazed by some comments from guys and gals our age who should probably know better. We also don’t know chrisful’s story, nor have we walked a mile in his Doc Martens.
Many funeral homes had vechicles called flower cars that were specifically for transporting flowers to the cemetery. Good chance that’s what this was built for.