If you鈥檙e driving through the northern British Columbia town of Burns Lake, and happen to notice a hearse coming your way, fret not. This is not a 鈥渨orking鈥� hearse, but rather local car enthusiast Cliff Stronstad whipping around in his fully restored 1941 Cadillac Eureka three-panel carved hearse. You鈥檇 be forgiven for thinking this set of wheels was something special, though: Only two were ever made.
Lakes District News caught up with Stronstad about the process it took to restore the classic vehicle. 鈥淚 purchased the car in Vancouver in 1989, and drove it 600 miles to Burns Lake. For the first few years I drove it around, and then my wife and I began fully restoring it.鈥�
Stronstad, who鈥檚 been working in auto shops since the 1960s, owned and ran Pluto Autobody shop in Burns Lake from 1979 until he sold it in 2008. He鈥檚 been a fan of Cadillacs since he was a young man. 鈥淢y first car was a 鈥�64 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. I鈥檝e loved cars, and Cadillacs ever since.鈥�
The restoration of the car took 25 years and more than 3,500 man hours to complete. Every piece of the exterior is all original, and everything mechanical has been rebuilt.
The history of the car reaches back much further then when he first purchased it in 1989. According to Stronstad, the car was first used in St Louis, Missouri for Peoples funeral home until the mid 1960s. Peoples was run at the time by then-influential politician Jordan Chambers, a prominent figure in the civil rights movement.
After the funeral home closed in 1968 following Chambers鈥� death, the car was bought by Bill Small and eventually moved to Victoria. The car was put up for sale in 1988, and then re-sold in 1989 when Stronstad became its owner.
Stronstad says his affinity for the car is all about its beauty. 鈥淎 car is partly a study in art. I looked at this hearse as an art form. Visually, it鈥檚 quite striking,鈥� he says.
Today, Stronstad and his wife can be seen using the car in the summer time; in fact, he鈥檚 put more than 6,000 miles on it over the past few summers, and says it couldn鈥檛 be a smoother ride.
鈥淲henever I get asked how it feels to drive it, I usually tell people that it鈥檚 like a space shuttle just gliding into a landing,鈥� Stronstad says. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 feel bumps at all, it just feels like you鈥檙e floating. It鈥檚 very smooth.鈥�
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