This article originally appeared in Grand Rapids Magazine (Michigan) in October, 2002.
It wasn’t a love of the macabre that nailed the lid on Rance Bennett's interest in hearses. Actually, it was a love for classic cars. It all started in about 1990, he said, while thumbing through a book, "American Funeral Cars and Ambulances Since 1900," by Thomas A. McPherson. While not on everyone's top 10, the book sparked the flame of passion that led Bennett to search for abandoned or forgotten hearses.
It started as a hobby. Bennett began to watch classified ads, carriage trade journals and more recently, the Internet, for the old vehicles. The search was part of the fun, he said. When an antique hearse surfaced, Bennett would do what it took to get it to his shop at Lowell Auto Body on Main Street in Lowell. Some came from distant states and other faraway places, including Uruguay.
Now, upwards of 200 antique hearses have passed through Lowell Auto Body, and the hobby has evolved into W.R. Bennett Funeral Coaches and Bennett's full-time job. He deals in both antique and new hearses and limousines. Although he sometimes serves as just a "finder" of vehicles, many have been lovingly restored at the shop where Bennett first learned the craft of auto body repair from his father, William, who still works with his son.
The work of antique hearse restoration preserves a legacy that, while perhaps offbeat, is important to motor vehicle history. Bennett and his team are a one-of-a-kind operation; that they know of, they are the only craftsmen in the nation doing antique hearse restoration.
"I first became acquainted with Rance through his work on our 1938 LaSalle funeral coach," said Joe Pray of Pray Funeral Home in Charlotte. "We're old car buffs, and he came through when we were at a standstill on that restoration. He ended up doing the whole job."
The high-caliber work being done in Lowell has led to a national reputation for Bennett. He is regarded as an authority on antique "professional " a class that includes not only cars, hearses, but also limousines and ambulances. He especially likes hearses because they are interesting. "The more ornate they are, the better," he said. Hearses are used to honor the dead by providing dignified transport to their final resting places. As such, antique hearses tend to be elaborately, ornately and beautifully designed. Some have interiors that mimic the ceilings of churches. Angels and other carvings are a frequent theme. Many have side panels of wood carved to look like drapes.
"Professional car makers are a specialty market," Bennett said. "Only two or three thousand are made per year." Therefore, much of the custom work is done by hand. This actually makes life a little easier for Bennett and his restoration technicians, Shad Propst and Jim Borreson, when an antique needs a part. They don't have to scour junkyards for parts that won't be there anyway. Instead, they put their own skills to work handcrafting replacement parts.
"We do whatever it takes to get them into condition again," Bennett said. This means a vehicle might be in residence at Lowell Auto Body for a year or more. Two were in progress recently. Mere shells of wood and metal, they will ultimately be restored to their original splendor. Bennett and his crew are Scrupulous in their attention to detail. In addition to hearses, Bennett has restored flower cars, which are open-backed vehicles designed to display the funeral floral arrangements.
Doing things right is paying off: They restored a 1916 Cadillac hearse — the oldest hearse known to exist — and won Best Use of Wood prize at the Classic Chassis Grand Revue in Ionia several years ago. A couple of years ago, Bennett said, two other cars that he'd found were at the annual convention of the, Professional Car Society. One won Best in Class and the other won Best in Show. In August, at the 2002 international meeting of the Professional Car Society, held in Grand Rapids, Pray's 1938 LaSalle with its carved panel body took first place in its class.
Rance Bennett restored this 1941 Henney Packard hearse (also pictured above).
"Rance is the most conscientious person I've run into in the professional car area," Pray said.
Many of the hearses Bennett has restored have gone to funeral directors like the Pray family, who have a penchant for old-fashioned hearses. Several have landed in museums. Two, including a German hearse dating back to 1865, are at a Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Florida.
In general, said Bennett, horsedrawn hearses were even larger and more elaborate than motor-driven ones. One of his favorite finds was a horse-drawn hearse from Uruguay. As his reputation developed, people started to call Bennett when they found an antique. The call from South America actually came from a broker in Buenos Aires, Argentina, telling him about a 1929 Studebaker children's hearse. Bennett had to see it.
"It was a big, ornate thing, with a dome and a cross on the roof. It stood II feet tall!" Bennett remembered. It required two years to gain customs clearance, but he finally prevailed. Its restoration, by a private collector in Pittsburgh, is nearing completion.
In addition to the antiques, Bennett is a top-selling sales rep for both a hearse company (Eagle Coach Co. in Cincinnati), and a limousine dealer (LCW Limousines, San Antonio, Texas).
And what about the people who drive hearses for unusual reasons, or for their everyday cars? Bennett hasn't had to deal much with that group, he was glad to say. There is a brisk trade in hearses too old for funeral home use, but not yet old enough to be considered classics. Those “inbetween" hearses are not Bennett's focus, and he refers people asking about them elsewhere. "Our classic hearses are too expensive for them," he said, smiling.
From a hobby to a full-time, fulfilling career, Bennett is an excellent reminder of the wisdom that following your heart can pay off.