26/05/2022
The Land Rover Hearse
This project started because of the unfortunate passing of one of Mr Fry's close friends / business associates.
Tim's friend had always said that when he died that he wanted to be taken to rest on the back of a flatbed truck. Unfortunately he passed away unexpectedly.
The project had only been joked about at this point leaving us only a few weeks to get it done in time for his funeral. Tim already had a truck in mind. A land rover special builds defender 130 with a flatbed.
The vehicle had been sitting in our yard for the last 10 years, luckily as it was a 200tdi and all it needed was some fresh fuel and a battery to drive it out. The truck was a workhorse and had had a hard life, all of the bodywork was damaged in some way and where it had stood for so long the whole vehicle needed a complete overhaul.
The truck had new brakes all round, wheel bearings, swivels, UJ's, exhaust, wheels and tyres, and the whole drive train was serviced from engine to axle. All of the body work was stripped, straightened or replaced. The truck was then resprayed in green and put back together.
Meanwhile we acquired an old hearse and stripped the trim out of the back out of it and machined it to fit in place of the truck's old bed, whilst all this was happening, another member of the team had stripped the interior out and re-trimmed the seats, cab and dash and also fitted a complete carpet set. Tim had local metal workers create the canopy to go over the bed of the truck.
With the hard work of all of the team here at Tim Fry Landrovers the vehicle was ready to roll in two weeks just in time for the funeral.
And yes, it is available to hire.
