Cadillac was the brand I’d most associate with hearses when I was a kid. Later, RWD Lincoln Town Cars appeared on my radar. Today, without the proliferation of large sedans, we end up having goofy-looking SUVs to serve this purpose.
But that’s an American-centric point of view. How about in other countries? Several years ago, I caught a glimpse while visiting a cemetery outside Buenos Aires.
My elderly mom is preparing to visit family, so I will be accompanying her to Argentina. We’re planning on visiting the cemetery, which reminded me of this hearse I saw almost three years ago. This cemetery also has a place in my automotive history — more on that below.
The hearse pictured above is a coachbuilt Renault Fluence, a vehicle that was produced for 2010-15, though it was produced in other parts of the world through 2020; in Argentina, it appears production ended in 2019. The Fluence was available only as a four-door sedan, so the coachbuilders did not have a “break” to depend on.
The cemetery is called La Tablada Israelite Cemetery and features over 150,000 graves; the people in some of them were part of my life when I was much younger. Many years ago — I’ll guess 40 — I recall seeing a trashed DeSoto Diplomat somewhere on the outside perimeter of the burial grounds. I later learned that this was a special export car and not the usual DeSoto we’d find in the U.S.
The other car I witnessed, perhaps around the same time, was owned by an employee: a c.1960 Ford Taunus 17 M (sometimes identified as “P3”). I caught sight of this car for the first time while visiting Peru in second grade, so I was intrigued because it had the Euro headlights that made me wonder, “Why don’t we have that in the United States?” This one (which may be the last one I’ve seen in person) was covered in bondo and perhaps worse. I was somewhat amazed that a car hanging by a thread was legal to drive. Of course, I remember taking a peek to see those magnificent headlights.
The Taunus was among the first cars to feature headlights that were not round. This may explain why I also like the Citroen Ami 8 (the Ami 6 is a bit more hideous) and some versions of the Maserati 5000 GT.
Thanks to the rate of attrition, I know my car-sightings will be slim during this trip, but I’ll use my Spidey Senses to find something automotively interesting and report back.
