Dennis R. Murphy, 70, a funeral director at the Hennessey Funeral Home & Crematory in Spokane, Wash., on his 1939 Henney Packard hearse, as told to A.J. Baime. For many years during the middle of the ...

Some people collect stamps or coins. Others prefer hearses. There are full-size vintage hearses like a 1936 Henney-Packard model. Or there’s a box-like Amish carriage. Then there’s a coffin go-kart.

When Jon Waterman, owner of Waterman-Westbrook-Clouse Funeral Home, was shopping on the Internet for a newer hearse for his business, he stumbled across a listing and picture of a 1939 Packard limo ...