How to build a hearse - Wilcox

Paul Steinberg

PCS Life Member President
Staff member
Super Site Supporter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJs...cAF7zJ3xp-OqL-LV4sfc0KIKWh6zh9cM5GEFTcqPcHSc8


All of the hearses that we produce at Wilcox Limousines begin life as an ordinary car, and we use Jaguar, Vauxhall, Volvo and Ford vehicles as the base models from which to create them.

The manufacturing process of a hearse follows several key stages.

First off, the aluminium donor – the base car – arrives at our Wigan factory, which is our aluminium production facility.

Here, the vehicle is thoroughly checked over by a specialist team and any electronics are removed.

It is then reloaded onto a transport vehicle and shipped to our Northampton facility.

The dismantled vehicle is then put onto a jig before being manoeuvred into a booth.

While in the booth the doors are removed and the vehicle is cut in half, before it’s then taken back out of the booth and lifted off the jig.

From here, the centre section is riveted and welded in, with the panelling having been made by hand, along with the hearse doors, which are specifically built and custom fitted.

The frame of the hearse is then assembled and it is sent back north to our Wigan factory, where the hand-crafted body is fitted to the chassis, before being sprayed and polished to perfection.

The vehicle’s electronics are then reassembled, with the electrical systems adjusted accordingly.

Next, the hand-crafted interior is fitted before the vehicle undertakes a final inspection to ensure it matches our exacting standards.

From here, the finished hearse is delivered to its final destination, ready for use as a funeral vehicle.
 
I always thought it was weird the "off-brand" Superior Pontiacs and Cotner Bevington Oldsmobiles would be more expensive to produce, since the Cadillacs already had their own special-built commercial chassis and all they had to do was drop the body in. Wouldn't it have been way more labor-heavy to turn a regular Olds or Pontiac sedan into a professional car?
 
When the body builders were building Professional Cars on other than Cadillac Commercial Chassis cars, labor was cheap, and materials were expensive. Not having to build a complete body was a lot less expensive for the coach builders.
In 1960, the starting wage in the Northeast, was $1.95 an hour. The cost of living was extremely low, so people could do a lot more with less money in their pocket. A small house back then was about $10,000, and you could get a mortgage if you could put up about 15% of the cost. The only thing that I can say, was that it was a totally different time.
 
The 65 has all kind of hand labor , even the frame rails front to back where made by C/B.
 

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1960 a new 1200 square foot house in Henrietta (Rochester suburb) cost $13,000 attached single car garage$500 extra. 30 years mortgage.

Upstate NY starting pay averaged $1.25 an hour for an unskilled employee. Industry was completing transitioning from skilled craftsmen to compartment tasked workers to save on training costs, and the senior man in the department who could do all tasks & train new hires made $150 a week. Employers were rolling out new retention plans to keep skilled hands like Hospital Insurance and Retirement plans that were captive binding men to employers.

November 63 my new halfton Chevy pickup rolled out the dealer's door for $1,700.

It WAS a far different world back then. People knew how to live with colored bedsheets for curtains til they could afford & without convenience stores every mile, TV was 2 Channels and most radios were AM. Possibly most important, MasterCard still hadn't come along to become the MASTER people had to answer to. Stores offered 90 days same as cash and held their own paper and people saved up for everything but houses. America still hadn't fully converted to phones with rotary dials, and direct long distance and TouchTone were still in the future in a lot of the country.

The Social Safety Net back then was the County Poor House where you would learn to garden or shovel snow in exchange for bed & board. County Welfare Inspectors showed up unannounced to make sure everybody on the roll for Home Relief was at home, and twice a month those folks rode the bus or walked to pick up what Surplus Food was passing out from Government storage. Most didn't want to be on Home Relief long and found work.

Definitely a different country back then, better in my book even remembering the down sides. Building a procar back then until the fiberglass parts was a matter of a man shaping panels over a maple block and finishing with a planishing hammer so another man brazed them in place on the car. The shaper was a craftsman, the guys doing the brazing were just task workers, cheap and easy to replace.
 
You guys are right when I worked at Packard Frankford in 1958 I made $2.50 an hour and thought I was on top of the world. I did get all my parts for my cars and the outside jobs I did at company cost. The best story is Jans and my first house. We decided to buy one before we were married and rent it if we could get a good deal this is in 1965. We found the good deal a family was being transfered to out west and wanted a quick sale. Thus a three bedroom rancher on an acre of ground for $21500.00 in a very nice area. My perspective father in law knew someone at Prudential Ins. and with 1/3 down we could get a 4% mortgage. So to raise the 7K time to sell some cars. I had a 39 Packard twelve convertible 36k orig miles never restored bought in 1961 for $1250.00 (no I did not leave a number off) it had developed a rod tap but it ran and looked great SOLD for $2000.00 then my 63 Corvette Fuel Inj convert $3000.00 and some lesser cars for the other 2k. NOW the point of all this we sold this house in 1972 for $42500.00 not bad. Here is the ringer MY 39 Packard twelve sold in 1972 at a Kruse Auction for $67000.00. Jans comment was we should have lived in the Packard. My 1980 Cadillac Coupe Deville was $12850.00 new. I have the invoice for my dads 41 Pontiac 8 $1056.00 and I remember as a kid seeing his paycheck from his job with the state every two weeks (he was a suit a tie guy) $158.00. So yes indeed times have changed
 
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I beg to differ on the man doing the brass work. They had to be skilled labor also. One mistake there and everyone elses job went down the tubes.
 
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