Circa 1968 Cadillac Hearse in NJ - "Stiff Competition"

S

Scott Fettner

Hi. I'm a recent site member, and although I do not own a professional car, I have had a, well, a morbid interest in heases for much of my adult life. I have had a couple opportunities to own one, but never took the plunge. Anyway, back in the ealry 90s, I used to see a circa 1968 black Cadillac hearse running around central NJ, a bit jacked up in the back, with the words "Stiff Competition" airbrushed in highly stylized fashion on the rear door. My further recollection is that it was driven by a young guy with long hair, and (the rumor was) that he would run it at the Raceway Park / Englishtown 1/4 mile track. Anyone recall this vehicle or even know if it still exists?

I seem to recall also that it had some body rot (err...I mean on the front fender "doglegs").
 
Amazing! That is the hearse I recall (seems I forgot about the aftermarket wheelset, guess my memory is not as rigorous as I'd like). You have my undying thanks. To think, its been nearly 2 decades since I saw this thing (better late than never). OK, I'll stop now.
 
I, too, remember the car. It was at the '87 PCS International Meet in Lambertville, NJ. It's a '67 M-M, the owner was Dave Csimbok from Carteret, NJ. He didn't have long hair at the time, and it had factory wheels/hubcaps.

Haven't heard from him or seen the car since.
 
I can say that the plates on the vehicle are circa 1993 or later; in 1987 it would have had the "buff and blue" NJ plates. So perhaps there was an owner change. Although its possible I was wrong on the long hair, I do think that my memories of the vehicle and the driver precede 1993. Anyway, it truly is amazing to me that I can mention some vague recollection of a vehicle from so far back and be presented within hours of an image of it. The Internet: what a concept.

So If I mention a very weird looking black / camo custom built pickup truck with a bed cap and molded in "turret" on the top, with all kinds of odd running lights and an "Its Differ" bug shield on the hood that also was around central NJ back in the lates 80s/early 90s...
 
Here I am

I'm still around but the car is long gone.
1967 M&M Landau Traditional Endloader aka "Stiff Competition"

Sold it back in 1991 to a guy with a band who wrecked it and then he sold it to a guy who gutted it. Sat for a while on Rt 22 for sale, but I didn't know that. I found it in a backyard in Jersey 2 years ago, almost unrecognizable to me, but I knew it was mine. Guy who had it didn't know what it was but he still refused to sell it to me.
Last I saw it was gone.

No rot when I owned it. Original paint, original 429 CI engine, with lots of chrome. I did race at Raceway Park and was even in Super Stock and Drag Illustrated Magazine in 1984.

I have a facebook page with lots of pics. Stiff Competition. Check it out.
 
Dave

Welcome to the PCS forums !

Very cool car you had and I hope you find another soon.

I love stories like this where someone had a car that others remembered and the owner surfaces at some point.

I hope you stick around, find another car and join us at future meets !

If you could post some photos here that would be fantastic. A lot of us on here do not have facebook.

Sounds like your car was seen and remembered. Way to go on creating a little history out there.

Enjoy the ride,
Darren
 
Darren Bedford said:
Dave

Welcome to the PCS forums !

Very cool car you had and I hope you find another soon.

I love stories like this where someone had a car that others remembered and the owner surfaces at some point.

I hope you stick around, find another car and join us at future meets !

If you could post some photos here that would be fantastic. A lot of us on here do not have facebook.

Sounds like your car was seen and remembered. Way to go on creating a little history out there.

Enjoy the ride,
Darren
Click to expand...

I would post pics but I can't, probably because I'm not a paying member. I have tons of pics from PCS meets and gatherings back in the 80's and 90's. Some early East Coast chapter pics as well.
 
Hey, just checked out the pics. Very cool. I do see some depicting a long-haired fellow. Only mentioning as it is a matter of proving how good my memory is. I recall seeing the car with the factory hubcaps. So I must also be wrong about the body rot. Hey, its been over 20 years since I saw it.

Anyway, I've attached a hyperlink below to the facebook photo album (took a little work to find via the Google machine):

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.171703312853817.38071.123995727624576&type=1
 
Scott Fettner said:
Hey, just checked out the pics. Very cool. I do see some depicting a long-haired fellow. Only mentioning as it is a matter of proving how good my memory is. I recall seeing the car with the factory hubcaps. So I must also be wrong about the body rot. Hey, its been over 20 years since I saw it.

Anyway, I've attached a hyperlink below to the facebook photo album (took a little work to find via the Google machine):

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.171703312853817.38071.123995727624576&type=1
Click to expand...

I did have long hair up until 1984 when I cut it to be a cop. Most of my involvement with PCS was with shorter hair.
 
Welcome to the forums to both Scott and Dave!
Always good to see new names around these parts!

You had a good looking car in the day Dave. Sorry to hear that the owners after you didn't care for the coach very well.
Since some of our members don't have Facebook, do you mind if I copy and paste a few photos here off of your FB page?
Any particular ones you might like to show off?

Thanks Scott for starting the conversation and thanks Dave for the details!
 
I think it's a hindrance to potential new site supporters and fellow enthusiasts to not allow them to post pics on the forum. Think of all the pics that could be shared for all to enjoy, if non-paying members were also allowed to post pictures. We're only hurting ourselves by not allowing everyone to share pics in my opinion. After all, in many cases a picture is worth 1,000 words.

I understand there must be reasons why they can't, but I for one think it would be a positive thing to allow everyone to post pics whether or not they're a site supporter.
 
Abe wrote:

I think it's a hindrance to potential new site supporters and fellow enthusiasts to not allow them to post pics on the forum. Think of all the pics that could be shared for all to enjoy, if non-paying members were also allowed to post pictures. We're only hurting ourselves by not allowing everyone to share pics in my opinion. After all, in many cases a picture is worth 1,000 words.

I understand there must be reasons why they can't, but I for one think it would be a positive thing to allow everyone to post pics whether or not they're a site supporter.



ABSOLUTELY CORRECT !!!

I don't understand why anyone who reads these forums wouldn't become a PCS member either for that matter.

I have been a PCS member ( and many other hearse clubs member ) for 20 PROUD years !

Join today... you will never regret it !

:thumbsup:

Darren


P.S. Still waiting for the area of this site that tells people they need to be a site supporter to be able to post photos !!!
 
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Charles E Snyder said:
Welcome to the forums to both Scott and Dave!
Always good to see new names around these parts!

You had a good looking car in the day Dave. Sorry to hear that the owners after you didn't care for the coach very well.
Since some of our members don't have Facebook, do you mind if I copy and paste a few photos here off of your FB page?
Any particular ones you might like to show off?

Thanks Scott for starting the conversation and thanks Dave for the details!
Click to expand...

Feel free to post. That's why I started the FB page.
 
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