Anyone here have Australian Bodied Coaches???

[Weirdo]

Hey all,

Im usually more of a lurker due to not having an input in most things more than just a smile and the occasional jaw drop. haha.

Anyways, Was just wondering.. ..Seeing as this is an American site, Are there any Australian Hearse owners here?
I know a few people in Australia with Hearses, 'Cept two of them have American Coaches, And one has all Australian Coaches(Still has the hearse which was his first car!)
I can post some pictures of Australian Bodied Coaches, Or does anyone here have any? Would be interesting to see what people dig up!
I use to have a 1955 Ford Customline Hearse (See albums) but had to sell it due to unforseen circumstances, Which sucks, But hey.. Thats life.

Anyways, Let's see some pictures!








Jackson

[LMS]

I would love to see the pics of Australian coaches.

[Uncle Dinosaur]

Here are a couple of my old car, a '68 Dodge Polara... P.S It's a New Zealand hearse, but hey we're pretty close
Was just a standard station wagon converted in the back with rollers, and the rear loading door was modified to hinge at the top. The grainy photo is of the car in service in Whangarei in the 80s
I sold the car a few years ago.
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[Weirdo]

Here's two 59's built by a Company in Victoria called 'Bodycraft' This 60 Fairlane (59 to US readers) was converted from a 4 door Ranchwagon. These photos were taken in Adelaide in 2001. These big Fords were very popular with Australian funeral directors, as they could be easily and fairly cheaply converted to hearses.



This is the 1935 Dodge hearse of Classic Funeral Coaches Tasmania, taken in the late 1970s or early 1980s, at Derwent Bridge in Tasmania. Within a few years of this photo, the car fell into disrepair, and sat neglected in a paddock until purchased and restored by Geoff Cuthbert. Built by Cramp Brothers in Hobart, the hearse is powered by a six cylinder side valve engine, with a 3 speed manual transmission.



This is an AP3 Chrysler Royal. The ‘AP’ series Chryslers were uniquely Australian, and were very popular cars in the late 50s and early 60s. They were big and powerful and were an extremely popular basis for a hearse conversion. This 1961 model was last used in Tasmania, and is now in the hands of a Sydney hearse enthusiast. The photo was taken in Tasmania in 2001.



This is an Aussie 1956 De Soto, built by Weber. It was originally powered by a flathead 6 cylinder, with a 3 speed manual transmission. In recent years, it has been
repowered by a Ford 302 CI V8. The car was last heard of in Melbourne’s outer suburbs. These photos were taken in the early 90s.


This 56 Dodge reminds me of a Cadillac




W.G. Smith was located in Lidcombe, in New South Wales. They built hearses on a variety of different makes and models, and their hearses were mainly sold in NSW, although we’ve seen Smith cars in other states. This is a 1961 Chrysler Royal built by Smith. Originally powered by a flathead 6 cylinder with a 3 speed manual transmission, this car is now powered by a 318 Chrysler V8 with an automatic transmission. This photo was taken at a classic car display day in 1990.




This 1968 Dodge hearse was advertised for sale in 2000. Although it hasn’t been confirmed, it’s been rumoured that this car has been converted to a “bash” vehicle.

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Note the very long extension in the wheelbase. first thought was that this was a Smith bodied car, but the bevelled glass and lack of brightwork around the side glasses would indicate otherwise. This particular car attracted a lot of publicity in the late 1990s when it was reported as being stolen, with the newspapers being very interested in the story.

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[Weirdo]

Will post some pics of some friends hearses later on when i get the time, American Bodied cadillacs, Another friend has All australian bodied hearses, A cadillac too. Packard, etc.
Another friend of mine also has a 55 pontiac superior, too. End loader.

Will get pics soon.

[Weirdo]

Just noticed the pics didnt work. Damn it!
i'll fix that up soon.