Continentals In Cadillacs

I was doing some research for a friend in the Professional Car Society and found something that was mind-boggling. Apparently some Cadillac chassis' were ordered for hearse use and equipped with Continental engines. To suit the preference of the funeral car builder or maybe the client.

Of course, I mean the Continental Engine Corp. of Muskegon and Detroit, MI, not Lincoln/Lincoln-Continental/Ford.

What year cars were you looking at when you found this info?

The 1920s. Use of some Continental sixes and Lycoming eights occurred in some John W. Henney hearses. Please see "Thinking Of Selling My Peerless Hearse" thread on the Peerless Forum, post #20.

Mind boggling indeed. Have heard that some Duesenberg chassis were sold to a hearse manufacturer and were equipped with proprietary engines and sold under a different name.

I have been told by several usually reliable people that there was a whole recent funeral fleet of Lincolns in the Pacific Northwest that had been repowered (when almost new) with Cadillac engines and transmissions as they were more reliable. I havn't seen them but have heard the story from several different sources.

I find that hard to believe. For one thing Lincoln engines and trans are far, far more reliable and durable than anything Cadillac has. For another, if they were new they would be under warranty.

And if they did some day need a new engine, a Ford Crown Vic or Mercury V8 is a direct swap, and cheaper than a Cad as well as easier and cheaper to install.

I have been told by several usually reliable people that there was a whole recent funeral fleet of Lincolns in the Pacific Northwest that had been repowered (when almost new) with Cadillac engines and transmissions as they were more reliable. I havn't seen them but have heard the story from several different sources.

I hope they didn't use the Cadilac 4100's!