Alameda Street Sighting - 1972 Cadillac Superior Crown Landaulet Funeral Coach

Second in my Halloween hearse double-feature is a 1972 Cadillac Funeral Coach, which looks to be a Superior Crown Landaulet. Unlike the 1970 Superior hearse featured previously, this one has the half-roof bordered by a stainless roof band. Interestingly, it appears that the roof is not covered in vinyl as I initially thought, but it is actually a textured finish called a crinkle top. It's a 3-way hearse, meaning a casket can be loaded via the rear door or either of the rear-hinged suicide doors on the sides. It is in remarkably good condition and clearly shows pride of ownership. In fact, it's owned by a lady known as Miss Lynda, described by Grimrides.com as "hearse owner and burlesque star" and "Grim Rides Poster Girl". The site gives her credit for doing everything right in finding the perfect hearse, and it shows.

Kensington Street Sighting - 1970 Cadillac Superior Crown Sovereign Funeral Coach

It's something of a tradition for me to feature a hearse for my Halloween post. This year I have two to share. The first is a 1970 Cadillac Superior Crown Sovereign Funeral Coach. That's kind of a mouthful. Specifically, it is a Cadillac Funeral Coach, with coachwork performed by Superior Coach Company, and the model as offered by Superior is the Crown Sovereign. These professional cars were offered as an end-loader or side-loader ("three-way"), the latter of which came with rear-hinged suicide doors to aid in sliding a casket through either side of the car. Other options included the Landau or Landaulet trims, a padded vinyl roof covering which covered the whole roof as on this car, or in the case of the Landaulet, only half the roof was covered. The vinyl ended at a stainless steel band which extended from the C-pillar up and across the roof.

Alameda Street Sighting - 1973 Cadillac Superior Hearse

Last year I marked the occasion of Halloween with a car named after the Spanish word for 'devil', a Lamborghini Diablo. This year I have no Dodge Demons or Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts or monster trucks. What I do have is a vintage Cadillac hearse.