2012 Federal Lincolin.

Jeremy D. Ledford said:
One would think that Q.C. would have made sure the coach was finished before it went out for a photo shoot!:pat::3_7_11v:
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These must be early examples. Perhaps they are NFDA show cars photographed just to get something into the hands of dealers so that they would hae something to show prospects - or with which they could frighten small childeren. What Q.C.? We're talking about an Eagle here. Is it my imagination or is the drip molding above the side windows on the white car not properly aligned" It seems to weave up and down or sag a bit. Just doesn't look straight. May be the angle of the photo but, I've seen other Eagle products where this molding seemed to sag in places. The company seems to lack a real Q.C. department or maybe they can't see the obvious flaws because the whole vehicle is so downright ugly.
 
Adam Borkat said:
You mean Prinzing?

http://www.prinzingmc.com/hearse.php

They're not in the south, but they make the coaches like what you're thinking of.

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Yes Thank you for the help, I think a deco coach is going to be in the works in the future. I just cannot swallow the new Lincoln Pill. I feel sorry for the coach builders who have to try and make ugly, pretty when powder and paint cannot hide the (for a better loss of words) that vehicle.
 
As contrived as this thing is, at least it isn't quite as ugly as those new Lincoln-based monstrosities from Federal, Eagle and Accubuilt. While this thing attempts to replicate classic professional vehicle styling the new Lincoln hearses from the above named "builders" are completely devoid of even a minute semblance of traditional professional car style and grace. There's certainly no styling balance or design flow to be seen in any of them.
 
This is not the first time the builders have had to deal with difficult base cars. When GM showed the '59 Cadillac styling to the trade, the reaction was one of disbelief. How on earth could one make an ambulance or hearse out of a grounded rocket ship? Only Superior really tried to make its '59 styling blend in with the bizarre Cad motif. The other two pretty much just sat their tradional 4-square styling atop the space ship base, at least with the landau hearses.

That California company that rebuilds older cars is on to something, I think, and it would seem that the same approach could be taken with pre-jelly bean hearses.

How much does a Prinzing cost compared to one of the main stream jobs?

Finally, someone said the '65 Galaxie had a unitized structure, but I do not think that is correct. I believe all the full-size Fords, right through the just-discontinued Crown Vic, have used body-on-frame construction. Weren't the '58 through '69 Lincolns the only big cars from FoMoCo that employed the unitized method?
 
Jim Tighe said:
Finally, someone said the '65 Galaxie had a unitized structure, but I do not think that is correct. I believe all the full-size Fords, right through the just-discontinued Crown Vic, have used body-on-frame construction. Weren't the '58 through '69 Lincolns the only big cars from FoMoCo that employed the unitized method?
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Jim, you are correct. The 1965 Fords were body-on-frame as were most of these cars right through the now defunct Crown Victoria. You're also correct regarding the 1958-1960 Lincolns. The 1958 Lincolns were the first North American Ford porducts to feature unitized construction and they were a nightmare to design and build because no one in the industry had ever attempted to build a unitized car of that size. The problem plagued story of the development of these cars is truly fascinating.
 
1936 Lincoln Zephyr and the 1934 Chrysler Airflow were both mass produced unitized body cars. The 1935 (some say 1936) Olympia was Germany's first mass-produced car with an all-steel unitized body. The concept dates back even further, but none were mass produced. Many concepts that we think are new, actually have their beginnings in history, but were not put into production because of technical difficulties until recent history... i.e. Unibody construction
 
Paul, you're right. Sorry. I had forgotten the original Zephyr and Airflow. The engineering of the '58 Lincolns were a massive undertaking as no car that large had ever bee built with uitized construction. Ford had huge problems making the bodies of these big Lincoln cars solid and without flex - a problem never cured with 100% satisfaction - especially with convertibles.
 
When GM produced the 1960 Chevrolet Corvair, they used spot weld every 1/2" on all welded seams. By 1961 they realized that that many spot welds were not needed. The 1960 Corvair is the most rock solid Corvair that they ever built... It also was the quietest. Unibody construction is good, however, when they rust, that is extremely bad. Not an easy fix, and many times they can't be fixed economically. Too many areas that are not protected by any rustproofing. For this reason, I don't believe that we will be seeing these unibody cars that are cut, stretched, and welded back together holding up in the long term, unless they do a super job of rust protection. Unfortunately, I doubt that is being done, since it will cost a lot, and the return on investment doesn't favor the body builder.
 
Jim Tighe said:
This is not the first time the builders have had to deal with difficult base cars. When GM showed the '59 Cadillac styling to the trade, the reaction was one of disbelief. How on earth could one make an ambulance or hearse out of a grounded rocket ship? Only Superior really tried to make its '59 styling blend in with the bizarre Cad motif. The other two pretty much just sat their tradional 4-square styling atop the space ship base, at least with the landau hearses.


How much does a Prinzing cost compared to one of the main stream jobs?

?
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Dont forget the troubles they had trying to make the very small '85-92 Cadillacs into a hearse someone will want. I have one and love it, but it is very small compaired to any of my other ones. I know alot of funeral directors hated them.

As for the Prinzing, they run around $100,000 which really isnt much more than any cookie cutter hearse being produced today. I know if I ever will the lottery the first thing I would order is a new Prinzing.
 
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