The work includes lengthening the vehicle and adding a covered area to house the coffin, improving the specification of the interior with a wooden trim and realigning the side and rear windows. Buckinghamshire-based Wilcox Limousines takes 700 man hours to convert a car to a hearse.
An adjustable stopper prevents a coffin from moving in transit, while the space underneath the wooden deck is used to store a trolley to transport the coffin. The engine, gearbox and suspension are not altered. Apart from the driver, a hearse carries the funeral conductor in the passenger seat and two coffin bearers in the rear, one sitting either side.
Hearses are expensive. A Daimler can cost up to £92,000, while a Vectra-based model is about £50,000. Residual values are high, though, with a seven-year-old vehicle worth 35% of its original price.
A hearse can be in use seven days a week but still enjoys a relatively easy life when compared with a conventional car. Distances travelled are generally short and a four-year-old vehicle with 25,000 miles on the clock is not unusual.
This is one reason why funeral directors often prefer a petrol-engined version to a diesel: the higher initial cost of a new diesel is hard to recoup with a low-mileage vehicle.
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Despite an ageing population, the number of hearses produced in Britain every year has remained fairly constant at about 500. With alternative funerals becoming more popular, relatives can choose from hearses converted from a Land Rover Defender or even a motorcycle and sidecar.