**The Fascinating World of Hearse: A History and Evolution**

We don't really think about them until we have to. They're weird, oddly specific vehicles used for one purpose - transporting the dead. Name another vehicle that's only for dead people. Why do we need them? Why don't we just use a fancy pickup truck?

Today, we're gonna look at the history, or rather the hearse-story of these vehicles and how they've evolved from horse-drawn carriage to the six-figure luxury chariots of today. We're gonna take a look at the world's fastest hearse, how a JDM hearse differs from the US, and figure out what the heck that curved bar on the back is for.

It's about to get spoopy in here. You ever think, dang, I want to do some cool stuff but I don't have the right hat. Boom, problem solved! Introducing in the first official Kentucky Cobra hat. Perfect for doing anything in. Perfect for doing stuff like this. Perfect for climbing ladders. Heavy metal guitar riff. Perfect for shredding. Perfect for chilling on the couch with your boo.

She's in the bathroom. I've been waiting so long for these to come out. We've been working on them for a while and I'm really, really, really stoked on how they turned out. High quality embroidery on the front. That's the new official Kentucky Cobra logo. Donut hit in the back, also embroidered. Mesh back, I love the fit; it's my new favorite hat. Can't wait to see you guys wearing them.

Post pictures on Instagram, tag me in them. I will repost. House music that's how you're gonna look when you buy one.

Ever since dead people have been buried, there has been a need to transport their body to the burial site. For most of recorded history, the vehicle that transported the body was either a couple of strong boys or a primitive wagon or carriage. Like most things surrounding death, the transportation became a ritual and tradition. As a symbol of respect for the dead and the afterlife, the carriage started becoming more decorative, a tradition that can still be seen today.

Objects like the decorative platform the body was displayed on known as the catafalque and the pall, the cloth that lay over the body became part of the ritual. Drapery, beautiful hardwood, and ornate glass started adorning the coach. The word "hearse" itself comes from the Greek phrase "horse-litter," which refers to a horse-drawn carriage used for transporting bodies.

The use of hearse-like vehicles dates back thousands of years, with ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans using carts or carriages to transport their deceased. In many cultures, the hearse was seen as a symbol of wealth and status, reflecting the importance of the deceased in society.

Today's hearses are often elaborate and luxurious, featuring advanced technology and safety features. They come in various shapes and sizes, from simple sedans to elaborate stretch limousines. Despite their differences, all modern hearses share a common purpose: to transport the dead with dignity and respect.

As we explore the world of hearse, we'll take a closer look at some of these fascinating vehicles, including the world's fastest hearse, how JDM hearses differ from US models, and what the curved bar on the back of a hearse is for. It's going to be a wild ride!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hearses.(spooky synth music)We don't really think aboutthem until we have to.They're weird, oddly specificvehicles used for one purpose.Transporting the dead.(wolf howling)Name another vehicle that'sonly for dead people.Why do we need them?Why don't we just usea fancy pickup truck?Today, we're gonna look at the history,or rather the hearse-storyof these vehiclesand how they've evolvedfrom horse-drawn carriagesto the six figure luxurychariots of today.We're gonna take a look atthe world's fastest hearse,how a JDM hearse differs from the US,and figure out what the heckthat curved bar on the back is for.It's about to get spoopy in here.(Nolan laughing maniacally)(thunder)- You ever think, dang, Iwant to do some cool stuffbut I don't have the right hat.Boom, problem solved.Introducing in the firstofficial Kentucky Cobra hat.Perfect for doing anything in.Perfect for doing stuff like this.(explosion)Perfect for climbing ladders.(heavy metal guitar riff)Perfect for shredding.Perfect for chilling on the couchwith your boo.She's in the bathroom.I've been waiting so longfor these to come out.We've been working on them for a whileand I'm really, really, really stokedon how they turned out.High quality embroidery on the front.That's the new officialKentucky Cobra logo.Donut hit in the back, also embroidered.Mesh back, I love the fit,it's my new favorite hat.I can't wait to see you guys wearing them.Post pictures onInstagram, tag me in them.I will repost.(house music)That's how you're gonnalook when you buy one.- Ever since dead people have been buried,there's been a need totransport their bodyto the burial site.For most of recorded historythe vehicle that transported the bodywas either a couple of strong boysor a primitive wagon or carriage.Like most things surrounding death,the transportation becamea ritual and tradition.As a symbol of respect forthe dead and the afterlifethe carriage startedbecoming more decorative,a tradition that can still be seen today.Objects like the decorative platformthe body was displayed onknown as the catafalque and the pall,the cloth that lay over thebody became part of the ritual.Drapery, beautifulhardwood, and ornate glassstarted adorning the coach.The word "hearse"actually comes from themedieval Latin word "hercia",which translates to"large plow or rake for breaking up soil"because of the iron shape.By the 1600sanything that supported a coffinwas being called a hearse.Ornamentality blossomedduring the Victorian eraas we started to seehearses with lanterns,carvings of things like doves and scrolls,and velvet curtains.The first motorized hearseswere actually electric.In 1895, banker J.P. Morgangifted to the city of NewYork with an electric hearsewhich doubled as an ambulance,which probably meansthat ambulances weren't thateffective at the time I guess.It wasn't until 1909that the first hearsepowered by an internal combustion engineshowed up on the scene.An undertaker in Chicago bythe name of H. Durward Ludlow,let's just take a secondto appreciate that name.H. Durward Ludlow.H. commissioned coach buildersto construct a vehiclewith the coach body ofa horse drawn carriageand the chassis and front end of a bus.(explosion)The first ever automobile funeralattracted a lot of attention,and soon people fromall around the countrystarted commissioning Ludlow's hearsefor their loved ones' funerals.But the idea didn't catch on right awaywith other funeral directors.The cost of building ahearse in those early yearswas around $6,000 or $185,000 today.It was too expensive formost other funeral homesto commission a hearse of their ownconsidering they could have atraditional horse-drawn hearsebuilt for a quarter of the price.The first companyto start commerciallyproducing motorized hearsesstarted up that same year in 1909.Crane & Breed Manufacturingof Cincinnati, Ohiowere like the Bugatti of hearses.They also made these creepy coffins.(creepy violin music)Mmm.C&B took their alreadyelaborate detailed designfrom the horse-drawn hearsesthey were already makingand applied them to these new vehiclesdubbed auto hearses.They dropped in a 30horsepower four cylinder enginemade into a three speed transmission.It was rear wheel drive, chain driven,and could go, quote,"15 miles per hour faster thanany hearse should have to go"which was 30 miles per hour.It didn't take longbefore engine technologyand production streamliningadvanced and became less expensive.Eventually funeral directors realizedthat with these new motorized hearsesthey could host morethan one funeral a day.And hearse building freakingslapped in the 1920s.("Glitz at the Ritz")One hold over from the carriagedays was the color black.Black traditionally signifies mourning,which explains why mosthearses you see are black.Of course there areother colors of hearseslike white which can signify the afterlifeor plum crazy which signifiesthat you're ready to crack open a cold onewith Dale Sr. and Tupacover there in heaven,and gold which you cansee in Asian cultures.In the 1930s the shape of the hearsetransitioned from the tallcarriage derived greenhouseto the longer Landau limousine styleshared with modern hearses.If you remember from ourcar shapes "Wheelhouse"we did a few months ago,the Landau and the landaulet styleshave retractable soft topswhich have a distinct S-shapedbar called the landau barthat supports the convertible top.Most hearses nowadays don'thave a retractable top,but that bar remains astylistic relic of the past.Honestly, hearses lookedkind of weird without themeven though they don't do anything.If you're like meand most of your friendsare funeral directorsyou probably won't catch themactually using the term hearsefor these types of vehicles.The proper term nowadays is funeral coach.People in the death care industry,and yes, that's what they rebranded as,are trying to phase out the word "hearse"because of the grim implications.When I hear the word hearseI think of like Rob zombie(heavy metal guitar riff)They put a positive spin on itby calling it a funeral coach.Kind of like a bus thatoffers a one-way ticketto two very different locations.In the US and Europeluxury car brands supplymost of the donor carsfor modern funeral coaches.You got Lincoln, Mercedes,Rolls Royce, Jaguar, even Maserati.One manufacturerthat has absolutely dominatedthe funeral coach market,at least in the US, is Cadillac.And be honest,when you picture hearse it'sprobably a Cadillac, right?Am I right or am I right?Japan has its own stylewhen it comes to hearses.Oh, you thought we weren'tgonna talk about JDM hearses?(scoffs) Thought wrong.The so-called Japanese style of hearsesare decorated to looklike Buddhist templesand there are actuallya few different types.The Nagoya style has boththe top and bottom decorated,the Tokyo style has just the top decoratedin ornate gold accents,and then there's the Kansaistyle which is undecorated,and the Kanazawa stylewhich is painted all in red.It's pretty sick.SR, can I get a S14 Kanazawa style?(engine revving)(tires screeching)Thanks.Funeral coaches don't come pre-builtfrom major manufacturers.They're built by companiesthat specialize in custom fabrication.These companies most alwaysbuild limousines as wellbecause it's a very similar process.These donor cars are choppedin the middle of the chassisand split apart.Steel extenders are then weldedin to lengthen the frame,extra doors and panels are fabricatedto cover the new extended section.Then a fiberglass shellis attached to the back.Things like the wiringharness and gas linealso have to be lengthened.Wood paneling is addedto the bed in the backand rollers are put into make loading andunloading the coffin easier.When a coffin is inside a funeral coach,devices called bier pinplates keep it securedso it doesn't shift aroundwhen the car's in motion.The name "bier" doesn't mean "brewski".It comes from a devicethat was kind of the precursorof hearses, a pre-hearser.A bier was a wooden platformthat was used to transport a bodyand had wheels or even just planksthat slid over the ground.They're so old they werementioned in the Bible.Nowadays bier lives on in name only.This bespoke Jaguar hearse is builtusing a bunch of custom made partsthat are hand molded by technicians.The amount of workthat goes into each vehicle is tremendous.They're keeping the artand traditional alive.Look at that long boy.Something that really surprised meis that they use stock engines.I would have thoughtthat all the extra weightwould mean that they need them more power,but it only adds about 800pounds for the total weight.That sounds it's like a lotbut these luxury carshave already very powerfulwell engines in them,so it's not really an issue.There is one exception that'sworthy of a small detour.There's a dude named ArneToman that built a hearseto break the world recordfor fastest hearse.It's a 730 horsepower turbochargedsix liter LS powered Chevy Capricefully functional hearse withAC and rollers in the back.Not only that,it's iron maiden themed withan airbrush scene on the hoodand a red leather interior.Arne smashed the worldrecord for fastest hearsewith a quarter mile time of 9.4 secondsat 146 miles per hour, that's fast.This is a nine secondcar and it's a hearse.If I drove a hearse Iwould drive this one.I mean, I already have my S14 hearse,so this is my second hearse.We always say you shouldhave three hearses.You got to have your daily,you've got to have your fun hearse,and then the weekend hearsefor going to Home Depotand getting some deadbolts.It's the only thing I could...There are actually hearse carcommunities around the worldmuch like other niche car communities.Hearse groups like theMichigan-based Just Hearse'N Aroundcruise slowly in they'retricked out hearsesand hold a Guinness World Recordfor the longest parade of hearsesthat they set in thetown of Hell, Michigan.That's pretty tight.If you live in Helllet me know how it is in the comments.Anyway, back to regular funeral coaches.All that fabrication that's neededto lengthen these vehiclestakes an already expensive carand makes it more expensive.A typical funeral coach nowadayscosts between $60,000 to $110,000.For a funeral homethat's just starting outthat's a huge investment.But it's a necessary one.After all,a nice funeral coach canreally do wonders for business.Remember before when I mentionedthe death care industry?Well I know this is a car show,but I thought this was toointeresting not to talk about.The industry surrounding death,like funeral homes, casket manufacturing,hearse fabrication, etc.,are very lucrative.You know what they say,there's nothing certainbut death and taxes.There's a lot of money there,but that means lots of potentialAll those extra things,like the hearse, flowervan, and police escortcome at a premium.It's easy to upsell peoplewhen they're vulnerable,and people are extremelyemotional when they're grieving.It's not their fault.But it gets taken advantage of.Hearses have come a long wayfrom the utilitarianvehicles they once were.The luxurious ride, theornamentality, the ritual of it all,it's a way to honor our deceasedand give everyone that person touchedone last luxurious sendoff.I think hearses are weird and cool.And I hope my grandkidsdon't spare it any expense at my funeral.Hopefully I'll have my S14hearse running by then.I'm just waiting on afew parts in the mail.Thank you for watching this episode.I know it's kind of a morbid topic,but also it's pretty interesting.If you liked it hit that like button,maybe consider subscribingif you haven't already.We put up videos almostevery day here on Donut.I'm really proud of that.Follow Donut on allsocial media @donutmedia.Follow me @nolanjsykes.Be kind, that's what matters.