The Dark Wob

8BAK465 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:37 pm

Hooli wrote: ↑Thu Apr 11, 2019 5:05 pm My word, that looks like an inverted BDSM club inside...

Sounds like you might be talking from experience?

Just what I've been told

Nah not creepy at all. Nobody died in it. My house is about 120 years old, I'm sure at least one person must have died here in that time!

There is nothing creepy about hearses. Ambulances however...

Oosh, that R21 is unbelievable... I wouldn't really class myself as a 'hearse person', but I do like that 'un.

Load bed looks actually quite pleasant and comfy; nicer than the trad wood veneer and silverplate of UK coachbuilds.


Here's a knackered Mk3 Z-car hearse in an Irish scrappy, just to stay in keeping with the thread.

Have another Irish Z hearse.

^^^ Fantastic handles on the rear tailgate, there!!!

Interesting that the one up top opted to extend the rain channels, whereas the one above chopped them off at the B-pillar.

Someone asked me the other day why these Irish hearses seem to have a much lower roofline than GB-built hearses of the same era, and I had to confess I didn't know. Do they? Any thoughts?

Sandra from the classic hearse register would know the reason for the low rooflines, but hearses are a bit specific to where they were built. Most of the Spanish stuff is low roof line with a slightly lowered deck. These can only take one coffin at a time, maybe it's a bit of a catholic thing ?. Most of the UK ones have the deck at window height so need the higher roof line. They are also double decked so you can carry 2 coffins at a time. Apparently this is really handy when the funeral directors is about 30 miles from the nearest crem. According to one I spoke to the double decks are great as you can "go down to the woods and swap em" Funeral directors do tend to have a wicked sense of humor. The French tend to just have rather boring converted vans, but the Italian ones are more ornate.

Aha, that probably answers the question nicely.

I believe Ireland still is quite a bit behind GB when it comes to cremations - there's still only one crematorium to serve the whole of Northern Ireland, and it wasn't built until the late 1950s (Roselawn).

I understand that some people of faith still hold cremation to be anti-Biblical, as it destroys the body and precludes the Church doctrine of bodily resurrection at the Day of Judgement.

Therefore it's correct that most funerals at the time would probably have been single burials, often to a rural churchyard. So there was no particular requirement for a double-deck function, or the extra build costs entailed. Fascinating. I did not know that was 'a thing'.

Here's another low-line Irish hearse, as a token of thanks!

(pic courtesy of Budget Funerals (Ireland) Ltd)

Hearses vary vastly from country to country due to numerous reasons. The Irish hearses mostly have low rooflines because this didn't require changes to the windscreen area and front doors, even the front portion of the roofs can be retained. It's also deemed more elegant than raising the roofs, which IMO is correct.
The one I posted with the abbreviated drip rails is characteristic for Duffy's of Dundalk, who built the majority of Ireland's hearses.

The Germans traditionally also tend to retain the windscreen and doors from the saloon, but alter the windscreen header to allow for a raised roof.



Also note that German hearses always have panels in the rear side windows to prevent the casket being visible. This makes the hearses suitable for Jewish funerals as well as Christian ones.

Southern European coach builders used to notch the beltline to allow for big windows in conjunction with non raised roofs.





I think Dario Casale in Italy started it and many others in Italy and Spain copied it.