Hearse Coloring Page: Free Printable PDF Sheet for Kids

Hearses: History & Fun Facts

From Horse-Drawn Carriages to Motorcars

Before automobiles, funeral processions used ornate horse-drawn carriages built specifically to carry a casket, often decorated with carved wood panels and tall glass sides so the carriage could be seen clearly during a procession. The first motorized funeral cars appeared in the early 1900s, built by adapting existing car and truck chassis to the same basic job. Some of those early motorized models still kept a carriage-style roofline and side lamps, since builders wanted the new machines to feel familiar rather than jarring during such a solemn moment.

Coachbuilders and the Extended Body

A hearse usually starts life as a standard car or SUV chassis that a specialty coachbuilder stretches and rebuilds. Builders lengthen the middle and rear of the frame to create a flat, level floor in back, tall enough and long enough to hold a casket, then rebuild the roof and side panels to match the new proportions shown in this drawing. The stretching process can add two feet or more to the original vehicle's length, which is why a finished hearse often looks like a completely different car from the model it started as.

Landau Bars and Classic Styling

Many hearses carry decorative curved bars on the rear roof pillars called landau bars, a styling detail borrowed from old horse-drawn landau carriages that once had folding fabric tops. Even though modern hearses have solid metal roofs, the bars stay on as a traditional design touch that links the car back to its carriage-era roots. Some models also keep a formal upright grille shape long after the rest of the car industry has moved on to rounder, more aerodynamic front ends, since that boxier look reads as more traditional and dignified.

Big Rear Windows and Curtains

The large side windows in the rear section let mourners and onlookers see the casket during a procession, a tradition carried over directly from the glass-sided carriages of the 1800s. Many hearses include small curtains or drapes inside those windows that a funeral director can open or close depending on the family's wishes. The rear floor itself usually includes a low roller system, letting staff slide a casket smoothly into place without needing to lift its full weight by hand.

Processions and Escort Customs

In many places, a funeral procession still gets a kind of informal right of way, with other drivers pulling over or waiting at intersections as the line of cars passes behind the hearse. Some regions use a police or motorcycle escort for larger processions, a custom that grew out of the horse-drawn era, when a slow-moving line of carriages needed help crossing busy streets safely. Many drivers also switch on their headlights during a procession, a simple visual signal that helps other cars recognize the group and keep the line of vehicles together.

Hearses on the Road Today

Modern hearses are built on full-size sedan or SUV platforms from major automakers, then converted by a small number of specialty coachbuilders who handle nothing but funeral and livery vehicles. Despite the stretched body and reinforced rear floor, a hearse still drives, steers, and parks like the ordinary car it started out as before the conversion. A single coachbuilder may finish only a few hundred of these conversions each year, which keeps hearses a genuinely uncommon sight compared to the millions of regular cars built from the same base models.