This is a recently purchased project. I have been trying to figure out information about the vehicle. I will state what information I know about it then you are welcome to view the different photographs. For ease I have catagorized it by certain parts. It appears to have been a horse-drawn hearse from the late 19th century. I do not know the maker and I have not located a manufactures tag. I would welcome those that are familiar with horse-drawn hearses to give me your comments on the age and maker. It was originally adult size, painted black. The seat was lowered when it was motorized. There is evidence of this in the top molding. The seat now sits on what was a section of the inside bed of the hearse. Some rollers are located under the seat. When it was motorized the hearse may have been painted grey and used as a child's hearse. The hearse was motorized by being placed on a Ford Model T chassis. There are no records that the Ford Motor Company commercially made Model T hearses, however there are a number of Model T examples were it was done outside the company. I would imagine that an underatker who had a new stock of hearses and who wanted to convert to a motorized fleet could do so without the large expense of buying a commercially marketed motorized hearse. Since the Model T chassis could be purchased at a resonable price it made the transition from horse-drawn to motorized more economical.
Now for the Model T part of this. It seems that the car originally was one of the first 2500 Model T's produced in 1909. This is what I have been told because there is an extra re-enforcement plate on the chassis. That was done on only the first 2500 cars. The gas tank, chassis, steering column and other minor parts also date to 1909. The fenders, radiator, front and back axels are around 1914. The engine serial nuimber is 1923 and is an obvious replacement.
The hearse was originally owned by a funeral home in upstate New York. In the 1940's & 50's it was owned by a collector in New York State. He took some of the 1909 parts of this car for use on a 1909 speedster he was restoring. (This is what I have been told by a previous owner). The car remained in New York State until around 1997. It was then owned by a collector in Pennsylvania. I puchased the car in July of 2000 and I am currently restoring it.
Please drop me a line with your comments.
Thank you!
