Open-mindedness is a choice.

Bestattungswagen Literaturarchiv | German Funeral Car Archives In memory of Bernie DeWinter IV (*1951 +2007)

Me: Ingo Marx, IMCDb commercial coachbuilding investigator since 2007, socially distancing since 1975. On this site, I prefer quality over quantity and information over opinion (including your opinion), which is why I treat my posts like each one costs me money - easy and effective quality management, highly recommended!

My self-description: Ebony and irony, together in perfect harmony.

My IMCDb specialist departments: Post-war commercial coachbuilding - mainly funeral vehicles incl. flower cars and service cars (current score: 909 coachbuilders worldwide), professional cars in general, passenger car-based ambulances & specialist vehicles, airport limousines, stretched limousines, station wagon conversions, promotional vehicles, the occasional convertible conversion, vintage custom cars, Neo Classics, US "Pimp Cars" and Superfly customs 1960s - 1980s, UK ice cream vans, civilian security/ value/ armoured vehicles, German water cannons, prisoner transport vehicles and cash-in-transit vehicles, broadcast vans, trackless trains and many more niche products of that sort. [20th century only - I started losing my excitement for contemporary cars by the mid-1990s] Oh, and classic Cadillacs, of course - especially the modified ones! Inofficial subdivisions: IMRDb (radios) and IMARDb (amusement rides).

My contact info: Please @ me in the comments or send your mail to AnimatronixX.IMCDb(AT)gmail.com. No PM on the forum, please - I left that swamp long ago. Thank you!

Why coachbuilt cars? Each one is unique, bespoke, handcrafted, everything is possible. Individuality, creativity and imagination offer endless possibilities. As explained by fellow member johnfromstaffs: "The customer is parting with a great deal of money, he can have what he wants. It’s no good if someone trying to identify a coachbuilt says “it can’t be one of those, the parking lights are in the wrong place”, or “that model never had spotlamps” if the customer wanted it and could afford it, he got it." That's a bit like identifying a 50 year old (most likely repainted) car by missing or existing badges, moldings or by their wheels - only makes very limited sense in my experience, because the personalization of cars is almost as old as the car itself.

Further interests: I collect vintage tube radios (UK: valve radios), record-players, gramophones, vinyl & shellac records and pretty much everything pre-1960 from furniture to household items. Generally interested in the 20th Century, popular & avantgarde music, modern ruins & abandoned places, vintage carousels, amusement rides and ghost trains (that's where my screen name comes from). Also, I'm still a private hearse driver, an amateur weekend mechanic and you may find me hiking or biking around somewhere.

My favourite TV shows: Auf Achse (Manfred Krug and/or Rüdiger Kirschstein episodes only), Der Alte (Siegfried Lowitz episodes only), Der Fahnder (Klaus Wennemann episodes only), PS - Geschichten ums Auto, Starsky & Hutch, Diese Drombuschs, Derrick

Cars & vehicles I currently own: 1993 Volkswagen Passat Variant CL 'Trend' Rappold RAKOLA Bestattungswagen [35i|B3] (Vehicle used a lot by a main character or for a long time), 1989 Volvo 740 GL [745], ~1860 horse-drawn wagonette, 1988 Hercules Estrella, ~1995 Recker JR 500, 1991 Siegel REC 75 shopping cart

Current project - building my VW Passat Rappold hearse in scale 1:87: German English translation

Cars I previously owned (a total of 74 to date, + the trailers): OPEL: Rekord C Sedan (1967), about 20 x Rekord E (1977-86), Rekord C Rappold Bestattungswagen (1970), 2 x Rekord D Vogt Bestattungswagen (1973/ 74), Rekord D Welsch Bestattungswagen , Rekord E Rappold Bestattungswagen (1980), Rekord E Stolle Bestattungswagen (1979), 2 x Rekord E Welsch Bestattungswagen (1978/ 79), Rekord E Pilato Bestattungswagen (1979), Rekord E Miesen Krankenwagen (1981), 3-4 x Commodore C (1977-82), 10 x Senator A (1977-86), Senator B LWB by Karosserie Wendler (1990), Monza (1986), Manta B (1986), Kadett D (1983), Kadett D Bieber Cabrio (1984), 2 x Kadett E hatchback (1986 + 1989), Ascona B, Admiral B, 3 x Omega A Caravan | MERCEDES-BENZ: Mercedes-Benz 230.6 [W114] (1971), Mercedes-Benz 280 SE Bestattungswagen Rappold [W116] (1975), 2 x Mercedes-Benz 190 E [W201] (1991), 200 E [W124] (1990), Mercedes-Benz E 320 T Sportline [S124] (1995), 230.4 Bestattungswagen Rappold [W115] (1974), 350 SE Bestattungswagen Pilato [W116] (1973), 260 SE [W126] (1988). | Volkswagen: Polo [86C]+ Golf D [19E], BMW 528i [E28], 1990 Vauxhall Carlton, 1984 Ford Granada III, 1985 Volvo 740 GL [745], 1991 Volvo 940 GL [945], Nissan Micra [K10], Seat Ibiza, 1990 Nissan Sunny Traveller [B12], 1985 Volvo 740 GL [745], 3 x Westfalia funeral trailer (1963, 1972, 1973), 1955 Griebling Funeral Trailer.



Most notable cars I drove so far: CADILLAC: 1953-57, 59-76 (Fleetwood) Eldorado (Biarritz) Convertibles, 1957+59 Eldorado Brougham, 1957-60 Eldorado Seville, 1958 Eureka Landau, 1953-65 Fleetwood 60 Special, 1982+84+87+88+91+93+94+95 Fleetwood, 1952+59+62+65+68 Fleetwood Series 75, 1973+75 Miller-Meteor Landau Traditional, 1990 S&S Victoria, 1976 Eldorado “Bicentennial” + Rumble Seat + Low Rider, 1978 Eldorado Custom Biarritz Classic, 1978 Hess & Eisenhardt Le Cabriolet, 1978 Sedan de Ville American Custom Coachworks Paris Convertible, 1984 Eldorado Biarritz ASC Convertible, 1986+88 Cimarron, many more Cadillac Convertibles/ Sedans/ Coupes & Limousines (1947 - 1994). LINCOLN: 1960 Continental Mark V, 1967 Continental Convertible, 1972 Mark IV, 1978 Continental Town Car, 1984 Continental Givenchy, 1988 Town Car Limousine DaBryan Coachbuilders. BUICK: 1949 Roadmaster Convertible, 1953 Skylark, several 1954+55+58. CHEVROLET: 1958 Apache Stepside, several Corvette 1956-60, various Caprices, S10 Blazer. GMC: Vandura. PONTIAC: 1955 Star Chief, 1986 Trans Am. OLDSMOBILE: 1952+58 Super 88, 1983 Cutlass Ciera. MERCURY: 1968 Cougar. FORD USA: 1955 Customline, 1957 Fairlane Retractable Skyliner, (allegedly Mickey Rourke's) 1963 Galaxie Convertible, 1972 Mustang Convertible. BMW: M3 (+CSL) [E46], 5-Series [E39] & [E60/61], 7-Series [E65], 8-Series [E31]. MERCEDES BENZ: [W108, W114, W115, W116, W123, W124, W126, W140, W163, W164, W168, W201, W202, W203, W204, W210, W211, W220, R107, R129, R170, C219, C30 AMG, LP]. 1987 Classic Motor Carriages Classic Tiffany, 1968 Checker Marathon Sedan + Station Wagon, Maserati 4.2, several Porsche 996/ 997, Jaguar S-Type/ X-Type/ XJR, Land Rover Defender 90, 4 x Range Rover, VW Touareg R5 2.5, Honda S2000, Trabant 601 A, 1998 Dodge Ram, 1940 LaSalle, 1979 Volvo 264 Welsch... altogether more than 1000 cars - and rising.

I never owned the Cadillacs pictured below, but they were my workmates for either a couple of months or years and I did various jobs with each one of them. The funeral cars were all mine, though.

Further movie cars & projects:
The Plot Spoiler (2006) 1980 Opel Rekord E Bestattungswagen Rappold (my own car & I participated in the filming on set by playing the nihilists' hearse driver and doing all the driving and stunt driving scenes)
CSI:Kowelenz - Zwei Leichen ist eine zu viel (2011) 1975 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE Bestattungswagen Rappold (my own car & I participated in the filming on set by playing a funeral director in the opening scene)
Die Schwelle (2007, never released) 1975 Mercedes-Benz 280 SE Bestattungswagen Rappold (my own car & I participated in the filming on set by playing a funeral director)
Festool educational film (2012) 1971 Mercedes-Benz 230.6 [W114] (my own car, received a full polishing treatment on camera)
Weil ich gut bin! (2002) 1958 Cadillac Convertible Series 62
Happy Friday (2004) same as above (I participated in the filming on set - off camera! Never aired! They re-shot the show and used a late 1950s Mopar convertible instead)
Die Harald Schmidt Show (1999) still the same as above
Peanuts - Die Bank zahlt alles (1996) 1958 Cadillac Funeral Coach Eureka Landau
Die Story von Monty Spinnerratz (1997) 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible
ZDF-Fernsehgarten (2003) 1959 Cadillac Convertible Series 62 (Live show! I participated by driving the host on stage - on camera!)

^v^