One of the most iconic events during the Frozen Dead Guy Days (FDGD) festival is the Parade of Coffin Racers & Hearses, which will take place this year at noon on Saturday, March 19.

This event allows participants to showcase their costumes and decorated vehicles through Nederland’s streets. No one shows more excitement than grand marshal Jimmy Keith, who has been passionate about bringing a different and magnificent hearse to the festival for the past eight years. His fondness for vintage cars, especially hearses, adds a touch of mystique to the event.

These luxury vehicles have been a part of history and Anglo-Saxon culture since the middle ages. The term “hearse” refers to a type of candelabra placed on top of a coffin. Around the 17th century, it started to be used to describe horse-drawn carriages that conveyed the casket to the place of burial during funeral processions. Long time participants of the festival have witnessed the eeriness of such a dated carrier when Jimmy brought an 1872 horse-drawn hearse to lead the parade in 2002. Hearses remained horse-drawn until the beginning of the 20th century.

Until 1970, it was not uncommon for hearses to serve multiple purposes in their communities. The extra space and special structure of the vehicle allowed for it to be used as an ambulance when it wasn’t in use as a funeral car. After the ambulance regulations of 1970, manufacturers started custom making Ford and Chevy trucks to attend to healthcare needs.

This year’s lead procession funeral car will be a one of a kind 1955 Chevy, provided by a member of the Denver Hearse Association. It is a peculiar vehicle, as luxury vehicles brands, such as Cadillac, Lincoln and Buick tend to be preferred. No major American automobile manufacturer builds hearses at the factory. Every hearse is hand-crafted by companies that use the bodies of existing cars to make lavish masterpieces that show respect and reverence toward the grieving family.

Besides distinguishing the vehicle manufacturer industry, funeral cars have been present throughout American history. Perhaps the world’s most famous hearse is the one that transported President John F. Kennedy from Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas to Air Force One in Love Field, Texas. Few people know that it is located in Boulder County at the private car collection of Stephen Tebo. Four times a year guests can see the vehicle during the Boulder real estate investor’s philanthropic events. Stephen Tebo frequently opens his hearse collection to Nederland for Frozen Dead Guy Days and supplies the vehicles Jimmy Keith presents.

Regardless of the eeriness of these cars, we can all appreciate the beauty and quirkiness they bring to FDGD and to Nederland’s streets during the most intriguing festival in Colorado.

If you would like to know more about hearses, don’t hesitate to contact Jimmy Keith after the parade or check out AAA’s magazine on the October 2021 edition at https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/life/cars-trucks/the-history-ofhearses.