Bridgewater man upset with request to remove hearse from driveway

A Nova Scotia car collector who has a hearse parked in his Bridgewater driveway says he thinks it's a work of art and he's hurt that his landlord has asked him to move it.

In the week since MichaelNelson parked his 1990 Cadillac Brougham hearse in his driveway, his landlord told him she's received complaints about the vehicle. She asked that it be moved.

"There's a lot of old people that live on the street and she said the old people said that it reminded them of death," said Nelson, who has been collecting cars since he was 17 years old.

'I don't think of it as morbid'

"Kids walk past and they usually point and smile at it. I don't think of it as morbid at all."

Nelson purchased the car in Ontario and brought it back to Nova Scotia to add to his collection of limousines and sports cars. He shows his collection at car shows around the province.

A work of art

Nelson has always had a fascination with hearses, typically used for transporting coffins from funeral homes to grave sites.

When he was eight years old, he saw a hearse for the first time and mistook it for a station wagon. Since then he's owned three hearses.

Nelson's white hearse is covered in airbrush paintings with the words Final Destiny on the back. He says it's different from a typical hearse.

"I've owned two hearses previous to this. Both of them were black and I could kind of consider both of them to be morbid sitting in the yard. Kind of dark and dreary," he said.

"But this one is painted up. To me, it's kind of a work of art."

Keeping the peace

CBC News has not yet heard back from Nelson's landlord for a comment.

Nelson says he's hurt by the criticism of his hearse, but says he'll accommodate his landlord's request to "keep the peace."

"If it comes to losing the place I live or losing my car, like I said, I'm not going to sell the car or get rid of it, but I will probably have to accommodate my landlord," he said.