Allan Brand and Arthur Middleton have spent months combining a cast iron casket with a souped-up engine from an old Rover. They now hope their “Grim Ripper” car can set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest motorised coffin.
The car nuts had hoped to break the record earlier this month but were foiled when they couldn’t get it started. They now plan to make the attempt in May at Crail Raceway in Fife and are hoping its nitrous oxide fuel will help it power over the finish line in record time. Allan, 29, who is lined up to drive the vehicle, said: “Originally we were going to mount the coffin on a go-cart chassis.
“However, I had an old Rover sitting about. It would have cost me too much to insure it so we decided to cut the chassis up and mount it on that.
“I got the Rover up to 90 mph so it’s a fast engine. The record is only 62mph. We could easily beat that.” The idea for the casket racer came about as part of the pair’s involvement in a tribute to Crail Raceway founder Wullie Robertson who died in July 2013. Every year Wullie’s sister Victoria holds a remembrance day at the track in memory of her late brother. It was at this very event that Arthur, 43, met his wife Fiona, 53.
The couple got married at the track last year and celebrated their union by driving a pink hearse down the drag. Victoria had asked Arthur and Allan to come up with something different for the memorial this year. The result was the coffin car. Allan and Arthur have fitted their vehicle out with a bucket seat and have reshaped the pedals to fit the space inside the casket. Arthur also runs funeral company, Hearses R Us, that uses souped-up hearses complete with ear-splitting exhausts. Doug Male, PR manager from Guinness World Records, said: “The record-breaking public have taken our ‘fastest’ records to their hearts.
“This year alone the record for the fastest mobility scooter, fastest skateboard and fastest motorised log have been smashed.”
