Thoughts on restomod of mid to late '50s hearse?

[TenBall]

I'm a noob to the pro car world. I've wanted a mid to late '50s hearse since I was a little kid. How does the community feel about doing restomods to them? I know that with the age they are harder to find especially in good condition. If it has a good running numbers matching engine would it be a sin to pull it and drop in a new crate motor? What about a full frame off restoration but building a new frame for modern ride?

I'd like to hear your thoughts. I have found a couple out there and trying to decide what to do.

Another thought was to find the year I want of say a coupe de ville and finding the right shop to turn it into a hearse. I know that means a lot more money and a last resort but maybe it wouldn't push off the purists.

if I posted this in the wrong place, please move as necessary.

Thanks
TenBall

[LMS]

I say it's your car, do what you like.

[rum_runner69]

tough question in hunt of answer

I hate to see any car with given acceptations cut up for no reason
shop around and you might consider giving up on you childhood dream and find something a bit more practical for the money

personally if I could afford to get/maintain a hearse, I wouldn't turn down a decent 70s model myself

[TenBall]

tough question in hunt of answer

I hate to see any car with given acceptations cut up for no reason
shop around and you might consider giving up on you childhood dream and find something a bit more practical for the money

personally if I could afford to get/maintain a hearse, I wouldn't turn down a decent 70s model myself

Rum_runner69 I get where you are coming from and why I pose the question to the community. I don't mean to cut it up, although I guess if a different frame is put under it or changing the engine would fall into that category. If I find one without the engine I would feel much better about dropping a different one in it and doing a frame swap.

Hopefully to breathe a sigh of relief I don't want to turn it into another Ecto. As much as I love Ghostsbusters I'm not going to do that to one of the coaches. I want to restore the interior to full working and as correct as possible. Possibly putting leather seats in the front with custom padding. I also don't plan on doing any crazy painting like skulls or anything other than a clean, deep paint that looks like you can reach into it.

This will counter my previous comments but if I were to make crazy radical changes to a coach it would be to a 60's or 70's era model.