Raising Hayden's Hearse From The Dead

I've got the car of my dreams, er... nightmares, and I need all the help I can get raising this monster from the dead. It's one incredibly hearse-storic tale, so you'd better buckle in. It's going to be one helluva ride!

I'm the owner of a gorgeous '68 Cadillac Fleetwood Hearse, and the good folks at Layton's Auto CarCare have been working hard getting this bad boy roadworthy and ready to haunt the highways! I need all the help I can get with the cost of its repairs.

I want to use this corpse-mobile for so much more than decorating my garage - I want to share this hearse with the world! Take this thing on dream cruises down America's main streets. I want to make it a part of my career as an artist, bringing it along to the shows I vend and sell my art at. I want to rent it out for folks' birthdays, photoshoots, weddings, and - of course - funerals! Look, friends... We're not just restoring a car here, we're making a dream come true. We're giving this hearse an entirely new lease on life, gifting it with the new chapter it was once doomed to never see.

NOTE: No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.

REPAIR COSTS:

Currently the hearse is sitting at around $7,400 in mechanical repairs. I would like to raise at least that, and then use any funds beyond that to help with its many needed cosmetic repairs.

THE HEARSE'S STORY:

Rewind to the mid-90s: my family went to Lagoon (this great amusement park in Utah) every year during the Halloween season for the park’s annual “Frightmares” celebration. The highlight of it all for my family and I? The Zombie Mambo. Zombies would creep out of the bushes and perform a lively (or un-lively??) calypso cabaret of songs like “Hot Hot Hot” and “Love Shack,” dancing around, on top of, and inside this drop-dead gorgeous ‘68 Cadillac Fleetwood Hearse, painted this gaudy, ungodly fuchsia.

This old showgirl was STUNNING. Fuchsia body, violet top. You’d peep in its windows after the show and just drool over its plush zebra-striped interior. Camp on wheels, straight out of hell, and sexier than a car had any right being. I. Was. Ob. Sessed. With. That. Hearse.

The obsession never died… though it seemed the hearse did. Admittedly, I hadn’t been to Lagoon for a while, but the hearse was nowhere to be found when I returned to Frightmares as an adult. But in 2023, as I was walking through Lagoon’s parking lot on my way into the park, I SAW IT. Rotting away in some fenced-off lot! I snapped a few photos from afar, devastated to see this old queen so rundown and damaged, but grateful that I at least got to see it and blow it a few kisses. Somewhat hopelessly, I emailed Lagoon to see if they had any future plans for the hearse, and if they’d ever consider selling it. Their reply was kind, but ultimately a dead end; they were going to hold on to the hearse.

I took those photos I had snapped earlier to my tattoo artist, and had him ink it right onto my forearm. If the hearse was going to rot away, at least it could live forever on me. (It still remains one of my favorite tattoos, its just sooooooo damn good.) I shared photos of my tattoo online, along with its backstory, and thought that was the end of my Pink Hearse story!

Fast forward to November 2024, when I receive a contact submission via my art website from someone hoping to connect with me *because* of my history/fascination with this particular car. “It didn't take a whole lot of research to learn that you have a special attraction to that car. If you have an interest in becoming the owner… please let me know.”

I… huh?? What?? No way. NO. WAY. Entirely too good to be true, right? But I replied enthusiastically, and eventually exchanged phone numbers with this mysterious benefactor. He gave me call, and began sharing *his* side of the hearse’s story.

Essentially, as someone engaged and involved in the theme park community (as am I), he had participated in a charity auction held by IAAPA, and in wanting to donate to the good cause, placed the sole bid on what was only described as “Pink Ride Vehicle.” He’s a car collector himself, but wasn’t seeking to grow his collection. He was merely contributing to the cause, winning the item was totally secondary.

Months later he learns he did in fact win the item, but imagine his surprise when he found out he didn’t win some small bumper car or kiddy car, but an obnoxiously pink ‘68 Cadillac Fleetwood Hearse?? Not entirely sure what to do with the car, he went online to see what he could learn about it. Maybe it had a story to it that was worth telling.

As he searches, all he can find is what *I* have shared about it. My story with it. My early childhood fascination with it. My tattoo of it. I am floored (honored, humbled, jazzed, grateful, amazed, etc.) that he saw all that and considered me the rightful owner of the hearse… should I be interested! Uhhh, yeah. I was absolutely interested. I couldn’t say “Yes” emphatically enough. I couldn’t say “Thank you” sincerely enough. I couldn’t believe it. Gosh, I *still* can’t believe it!!

I retrieved the title of the hearse from the great folks at Lagoon earlier this year, and now the hearse has finished its repairs at a shop in Layton, Utah. It’s finally in the great condition it deserves to be in.

And with your donation? Well, we'll finally take this car out of its grave and onto the asphalt, where it'll ride on instead of rot away, cruise around instead of crumble down.

Thank you for reading its story, and thank you for being a part of its story with your donation!