UK company selling Ford Falcon hearses and limousines

The Ford Falcon may have gone to the grave in Australia five years ago, but a fleet of notable examples have lived-on in the UK as funeral cars.

On social media platform Facebook, UK-based used funeral vehicle company Cortege Cars has listed six Ford Falcons for sale (built from 2003 to 2014), all of which were converted into hearses or limousines after arriving in Britain.

According to the listings, the cars were modified by coachbuilder Coleman Milne, which originally specialised in building hearses from European Ford models such as the Zephyr, Granada and Scorpio.

The most expensive cars currently listed by Cortege Cars are a pair of 'FG'-generation Ford Falcons (built between 2008 and 2011) which have been converted into a matching hearse and limousine (named Cardinal and Dorchester, respectively), with the sellers offering the unique cars as a pair for £43,000 ($AU75,750).

Ford dropped the wagon body as an option with the introduction of the FG Falcon in 2008, resulting in both Coleman Milne-modified cars being based on the sedan. 

The grille, foglight surrounds and interior trim suggests both examples are based on the Falcon’s ‘G6E’ variant, which replaced the Fairmont nameplate as the luxury grade when the FG debuted.

Cortege Cars has listed an additional two FG Falcon ‘Dorchester’ limousines as separate items – a ‘Mark 1’ for £19,000 ($AU33,500), and a facelifted ‘Mark 2’ which is priced from £29,900 ($AU52,700).

The company is also selling a hearse and limousine which are based on the earlier 2002 to 2005 'BA'-generation Falcon, or more specifically the luxury-focused Fairlane.

While the limousine was modified using the Falcon’s sedan body, the hearse appears to have been made from a wagon, going by its tail lights.

The BA Falcon-based funeral cars are significantly cheaper than the newer FGs, with the limousine priced from £3300 ($AU5800) while the hearse is listed for £3900 ($6900).

Coleman Milne is not the only company which has converted the Ford Falcon into a hearse, as Australian firms have been doing so since the 1960s.

Queensland-based funeral car company The Final Ride offers a V8-powered 1968 Ford Falcon XT hearse, while Hammond Conversions has modified a Falcon FGX XR8 Sprint to carry a coffin.