Four unique stories of people who were buried with their vehicles

It isn’t unusual for people to request certain items to have buried with them when they die, or even for relatives to place items inside their coffin or grave as a memento for them to have with them in the afterlife. Usually, these items consist of flowers, a note, a photo, a book or perhaps an award to celebrate the deceased’s accomplishments.

But for some, it’s a much more significant item (in size at least) …their vehicles. Here are four unique vehicle burials.

In 1977, Sandra Ilene West, a flamboyant Beverly Hills oil heiress, was reportedly buried with her baby-blue 1964 Ferrari 330 America. And she made sure her I’s were dotted, and T’s crossed in order for it to happen.

According to the original MySA and San Antonio Express-News reporting, West who died at the age of 37, included this request in her will. Her final wishes were to be entombed in the Italian luxury car, wearing a nightgown in the front seat, near her husband's grave.

West’s wish was granted, and it also caught the attention of news media and the public at the time, with over 300 people coming to see a crane lowering the car into the gravesite. Today her grave at the Alamo Masonic Cemetery in San Antonio remains a tourist attraction.

In 1989, Aurora Schuck was buried in her 1976 Cadillac Eldorado convertible and it took a whopping 16 gravesites to fit all of the vehicles into the ground! When Aurora told her husband of her Cadillac dream 10 years prior to her death, he reportedly bought 14 neighbouring plots at their local cemetery to ensure he could grant her wish.

The superintendent of the cemetery, Terry Adams spoke with local media at the time, telling them that the cemetery board had approved the “unusual burial.” He also shed some light on the process involved…and it was quite the mission.

“A construction company dug a grave large enough for the car. The Cadillac was lifted with a crane and placed into a vault, which measured 27 feet by 12 feet and was 6 feet deep,” he said.

In 2020, Tshekede Bufton Pitso, a prominent South African politician died and was buried with his second-hand 1990's Mercedes-Benz E 500. Despite Pitso losing much of his wealth, his love for Mercedes-Benz remained and he used the money that he had to purchase a used E 500. 

While it was broken down and couldn’t be driven, the politician would still often sit inside it and listen to music, telling his family it was his favourite thing to do. He also shared with them his desire to be buried in it rather than a conventional coffin when his time came.

And when it did, according to news site Face2Face Africa, Pitso was dressed up in a white suit and shirt and was seated on the driver’s side seat with hands on the steering wheel. He was seated in a way that looked as if he was driving the car, with his seatbelt even being put on.

As detailed in the book, The Coffin Confessor by Bill Edgar, an Australian man who was a member of The Hunters Motorcycle Club requested that when he died, he would be buried with his prized Harley-Davidson Fat Boy motorcycle.

According to Edgar, it is illegal to be buried with any type of vehicle in Australia due to the oils and petrol, but in this case, the bike had been fully stripped of these. And with a few extra dollars passed onto the gravediggers to turn a blind eye, the unidentified man got his wish.

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