When a person passes away their coffin’s journey/cortege to the place where they will be buried or cremated can widely vary. Here we will go through the most popular types of vehicles for transporting the coffin. If you are struggling to decide, it helps to think of hobbies and passions of the deceased and see what transportation can be related to them.
The most popular and traditional one is a black motorised hearse. These can vary with the make of vehicles from Mercedes, Jaguar, Ford, BMW and Volvo. Some families like to have the same make of car the person deceased liked. Black also doesn’t have to be the only colour. The deceased might have specified what colour they’d like to have or for the colour to fit the theme of the funeral which isn’t always black. Vehicles that do still match the traditional black hearse but have a twist is a limo. More of an extravagant way of transportation but still a classic choice.
Another popular method is a horse and carriage. This was the most popular before motor vehicles took over. It is a grand way of travelling the coffin, but please take into consideration horse’s travel much slower than cars so if the distance is far it might not be the best option.
Motorcycles are becoming increasingly popular. These are uniquely designed and will have a large side-car for carrying the coffin and are popular if the deceased was a motorcycle fan.
Another popular idea is vintage cars / lorries – again this down to if the person was fond of vintage cars / a lorry driver etc. They look lovely to look at, stand out and give a classic feel to the funeral. Following on from classic cars some families are hiring vehicles from their favourite TV shows which is becoming increasingly popular than the traditional black hearse.
Other vehicles such as campervans, fire engines, buses, even tanks have been used.
There is no rule as to what type of funeral car you should have. Over time families are making a funeral more of a celebration of the deceased's life rather than a sad occasion so a black hearse, whilst it is tradition, it doesn't have to be the only choice. We hope this helped fuel some ideas. If you are struggling with anything else to do with the funeral, why not check out some of our other blogs
here.
