A listing for a 1996 Lincoln Town Car Hearse billed as Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s “Last Ride” has been removed from eBay.
The asking price for the hearse was $1.5 million and approximately six days remained in the bidding when it was pulled on Wednesday.
The ad said that the vehicle is located in Huntersville, N.C., which is just north of Charlotte. According to the listing, “On Feb. 21, 2001, this hearse took Mr. Earnhardt from a Huntersville, North Carolina funeral home to his final resting place. This is 100% verifiable to qualified buyers.”
According to WBTV.com in Charlotte, that statement is incorrect as Earnhardt’s body was not at the Feb. 21 memorial service and claims that it wasn’t until weeks later that the funeral home actually transported his body to the mausoleum.
The station contacted Raymer Funeral Home, which verified that it did handle funeral arrangements for Earnhardt and that the company only had one hearse at the time. In 2010, she said that hearse was sold to a man in Mt. Pleasant, N.C.
The station further researched that sale and found that according to the website jalopnik.com, Bill McKeithan purchased the hearse from Raymer Funeral Home and "he had simply been sitting on the car, part of a small cache of old vehicles that made him a 'halfway collector.' "
During this year's Daytona 500, McKeithan said that he posted an ad on Craigslist to sell the hearse for $8,800. Less than six hours later, someone called wanting to purchase it, jalopnik.com said.
McKeithan also told jalopnik.com that he was "remorseful" for selling the hearse and, "I should have just kept it."
