October has arrived, so it’s a prime time to consider scoring a hearse, whether you’re looking for a fun prop, an unusual ride to be seen in on Halloween, or just something affordable that has excessive cargo room in the back. This 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood here on Facebook Marketplace might fit all of those needs, and although it’s nowhere near perfect, the $4,500 asking price is probably within reach of most buyers who have been dreaming of owning a final-destination-type vehicle. It’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and we’d like to thank Barn Finds reader Zappenduster for sending in this unusual and spooky tip!
One of the period’s popular coach builders was Miller-Meteor, and they turned this Fleetwood chassis into the hearse we see now. MM also built ambulances and limousines, with their products debuting in 1957. This one gives the impression it’s been retired from the undertaker’s fleet for a while, and it has a few rough spots on the body. However, the exterior appears mostly complete, and the seller mentions they still have the fender skirts and wheel covers. This one could probably be driven around and get plenty of attention as-is outside, but it also seems worth performing some sheet metal repairs and a fresh coat of paint.
The ’75 Fleetwood came with a monstrosity of an engine as standard. It measures 500 cubic inches, and there’s good and bad news about its mechanical condition. On the plus side, the V8 still runs sporadically, and the mileage is listed as 77,000, which isn’t excessive for a car now more than 50 years old. Unfortunately, it’s reported that more bodies have been under the hood trying to adjust the carburetor than have ever been carried in the back, so something’s not right here. That’s the sole reason the seller provides for wanting to sell, so he’s obviously frustrated enough with this issue to get it into someone else’s hands.
While the interior isn’t too bad, it’s not entirely great either, and the front section in particular could stand some attention. The cadaver area has turned into a storage unit, but the headliner looks surprisingly good, and the casket stops are confirmed to be included in the sale. I get that there’s a limited pool of buyers here, but for those seeking a large oddity that still runs (periodically) or an unusual promotional piece, this might be a rewarding project. Any thoughts on this 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood Miller-Meteor funeral coach?
The tow strap wrapped around the left front wheel should tell you every thing you need to know about this one. Backup plan to get it to the crusher maybe?
Photo one shows the Cadillac parked next to a recycling bin, they couldn’t fit the hurst into the bin so they posted an ad on Facebook.
Excuse me, but Hurst or hurst as you wrote it makes the Jaws of Life(R). This Hearse looks like the Jaws of Death.
Hearse, thank you.
HEARSE HEARSE HEARSE not Hurst like the shifter!
Yes. I’m aware, thank you.
“WWGAHD”
What would Grandpa and Herman do?
It could be Eddie’s first car. A father/son project. Grandpa could help too, with his potions. Thing could pass ’em the tools, as they needed them. What an episode that could have been.
Roof is molting, paint is shot and get an eye full of under the hood. Being a Hearse has nothing scary on this.
Never liked hearses. Take me home in the back of an old pick up, hopefully with most of the manure hosed out first.
lots of rust shown and more probably hiding. from the sound of things, they have been throwing darts at this to get it run right. i would say a bad vacuum leak from how rough its running or a burnt valve or just plain not knowing what they are doing. the answers there just need to find it. is it worth it? most likely not looking at the condition. good for yard art.
Make a great pesticide treatment advertising gimmick, and work truck.
Yes!!! Killem Dead Pest LLC! And park this out front with a wrap in black with neon colored dead bugs all on their backs with legs up! Let’s go into business!!
Lol!
If you look to right in the back picture, it looks like they’ve included a body wrapped up in possibly a rug with all of the junk. It looks so big, that it might be Herman Munster. LOL
Just in time for Halloween …. This could also be used for a tiny home too.
Good luck with the sale and hopefully someday it can carry its new owners to their final resting place. :-0
FYI: What was the hearse doing at the gym?
…dead lifts
What’s a Mortician’s favorite candy?
Hearse-y Bar
Driving behind a hearse, my wife asked “How fast do you think a hearse can go?”
Me: I don’t think very fast at all
Wife: Why not?!
Me: Well I mean they have all that dead weight in the back…
😂
I knew a guy who had one. For Halloween he put green lights under it, speakers playing eerie music, and a dry ice machine in back. He was freaking everyone out. 😃😃😃😃😃. He was a good machinist and mechanic, but a bit warped……
People buy cars for Halloween?
Ok, who is volunteering to buy this for me?
Well, maybe Hard Luck Harry Hinthorne would buy it if he’s still
with us. For those of you who haven’t heard the story of Hard Luck Harry Hinthorne, pull up a chair, get your favorite beverage 🍷, and I’ll introduce you to that
poor bastard who had to have the
worst luck of anyone I ever knew
Harry Hinthorne was a band leader in my hometown in the ’70s. He was a really nice guy, but his luck was downright atrocious. And as the song goes on Hee Haw, if it weren’t for bad
luck, he’d have no luck at all. And
that was totally true of him. He and his band used a ’60 Cadillac
hearse to haul his band equipment, while his band rode in
a ’60 Cadillac 75 limousine. In the days before tour buses, you
packed your stuff into a surplus hearse, and the band followed behind you in another car. Not the greatest thing, but it got the job done. Well, Harry booked this
very ambitious tour in late ’74 and
lived to regret it. From the day I met him in ’72, I knew he was a small potatoes band leader who should’ve stuck to playing around
the state and not doing tours that
went out to LA. Things started out fine at first, and then the 💩
hit the fan! First, the tranny in the
hearse took a dump and then, his
lead singer quit him in Denver with 4 months to go on his tour.
And that’s where I came in. I was
working for Midwest Entertainment then and they gave
their people two weeks off to be
with their families over the Holidays. Christmas was great and New Year’s Eve was even better. I was at this young lady’s
place ringing in the New Year with her and having a grand old time doing it. New Years morning, my date made coffee while I took a shower and got ready to go home, pack, and he ready to meet up with my guys that day to start a tour across the
Midwest. I didn’t have a bathrobe
so I had to borrow one of hers. I’m sitting there drinking coffee in
her kitchen when there was a knock at the door. It was our union rep. He walks in, looks at me in that frilly robe, and says “Put your pants on lover boy, you’re going to Denver”. So I go
home, pack a bag, and hop an Ozark flight to Denver. It took us
4 months to wrap that tour up. I
finally got home, took a week off,
and met up with my guys and finished the ’75 tour with Midwest Entertainment. And Harry? He kept playing into the &80,, when he retired from playing. I played a
A few dates with him til my wife and I moved to Florida in ’86. Four years later, I retired too with
enough stories to last a lifetime.
And this car, I think I could do something with it if I had the time
and money to do it right. Would take a lot to make a cadaver transport rig though. Maybe that
young lady at the Caddy Girl Garage might want this one. Her
Dad sure has a way with those finicky Cadillac engines. But at least you got to meet Hard Luck
Harry Hinthorne!
@Angel:.And yes dear, if I had the cash and time, we’d build this one
together. Other than being at my
store, I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather have fun with than
you. Who knows, we could turn
this car into something like that
’57 Cadillac hearse we all saw last year. And to the gentleman with the hearse jokes. I can almost hear the snare drum behind you as I read all the jokes.
Reminds me of all the comedians
I toured with on the package show circuit in the ’70s. Now lessee, what would I do with it…
About $2000 is the most I could Muenster up for this coach.
This Cadillac needs a DeadHead sticker on the back window.
I would definitely buy that car if it were closer and as far as the carburetor goes take it apart and rebuild it properly then you should have no trouble. If you can’t adjust it then get an Edelbrock very simple solution.
I wish I had a dollar for every so-called mechanic the thinks he knows what he’s doing working on a Cadillac and I wish I had $10 for every time I worked on it after them got it running and drove at home!
A few times I did have to put my special boat gas tank that I modified with magnets and sat on the roof with a fuel hose feeding into the carburetor to drive it home, but I did what I had to.
You’re a stand up guy Cadillac Kid! If anyone can get this thing
running, you could. But in so doing, you remind me of either Vice Grip Garage or the guy on the Jennings Motorsports videos
up on YouTube. Those two fellas
are very entertaining and when it
comes to cars, they really know
their onions when it comes to all
things automotive. And if you can’t get the carb to work right, then what about EFI or TPI? I’ve
both heard of and seen guys that
bolt these things into a 472 or 500 cube engine with mind blowing results– figures like up to
500 HP and over 600 foot pounds
of torque. Both of these engines
were over engineered to comply
with military use in mind as the Army approached Cadillac in the
late ’60s to build a whole new generation of engines to power its vehicles much the way they did with tank engines during WWII and Korea. And when all that came to naught, Cadillac had
one of the most bulletproof engines of all time. Saw the guys
on Engine Power build a 500 cube Caddy V-8 that pumped out
an obscene and insane amount of power and torque. That thing
put out OVER 650.and 900 foot
pounds of torque. Just makes you wanna build a hot rod around
something like that.
I’d hav.no.problem, fixing that Caddy cadaver. Hauler, I’ve Fixed way worse than that ! Caddy’s are Xcellent Cruisers !!