By Austin Fenner
Special to DNAinfo
HARLEM — A funeral director is steering his clients to heaven with a nod to Harlem's old swagger with a vintage-style hearse that attracts as much attention in 2010 as it would have in the 1920s and '30s.
“The name of the car is The 'Renaissance,'" said Isaiah Owens, the owner of the Owens Funeral Home, who dons a black top hat and tails to accompany the custom-built car made by Prinzing Motor Cars. “I wanted it to be a signature of the new Harlem. We need signs to tell the world that Harlem is back.”
Since buying the hearse six months ago, Owens has taken three people on a final trip through Harlem. He said the 8,000 pound cruising machine never ceases to turn heads.
“The hearse causes a sense of celebration,” said Owens, 59, who has been in the funeral business for 40 years. “At the last service, there were 400 people at the church and everyone walked up to the car and wanted to take a picture with it. It was crazy.”
The “Renaissance” sports a Cadillac V-8 engine, mahogany running boards, and a Rolls Royce grill with a gold "flying lady" hood ornament.
It has whitewall tires covered in gleaming chrome spoke wheel covers and dual trumpet horns to announce someone special is coming around the corner, Owens said.
“I want it to draw attention to the person being funeralized,” said Owens. “It says the person enjoyed style and class.”
To cope with the extra weight in the back, the vehicle is reinforced with Kevlar, according to the website of its Minnesota manufacturer, Prinzing Motor Cars.
The car cost more than $80,000, Owens said, and it costs roughly $4,000 to rent.
Owens first got the idea to order the car two years ago, when he noticed the incredible detail and restoration work taking place on the brownstones around the corner from his business on 121st Street between Lenox Ave. and Mount Morris Park.
Community groups in the area have worked hard to restore the stately stretch of homes on this strip, once among the most glamourous and immaculate homes in all of New York City, to its former glory.
The Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association, which is holding a historic brownstone tour of the area on June 13, will feature Owens' hearse as part of the tour, organizers said.
“People need to know about Harlem and the positive things in our community,” said Laurent Delly, 39, vice-president of the association. “We will not only showcase the brownstones, but the Rolls Royce of hearses.”
Scores of people walking down Lenox Ave. last Saturday stopped in their tracks, broke into a smile and flocked to the street the moment they spotted the hearse rolling by.
“Now, that's how I want to go. I ainʼt playing,” said gospel singer Deborah Alexander, 53.
“If I leave before you,” Alexander told a friend, “Put me in here. Iʼll show you where the last bit of money is. Thatʼs gorgeous.”
