cunningham | Mario the Multipla

Firstly another apology, sorry we haven’t blogged since February, no real excuse, just a lack of time… but now we fully intend to get back in the flow. Over the next couple of weeks we will tell you what Mario, Regie and the humans have been up to this year in the motoring world and we have lots of interesting finds to share..

To get started though, yesterday was Halloween and popping up on social media was a fantastic Hearse, a wooden carved Cadillac from 1929, looking like something out of a Disney Cartoon, sort of a spooky version of Cinderella’s pumpkin coach. This got us thinking about the fabulous Multipla Hearse we blogged about in 2012 and so started a trawl through the internet.

One normally thinks of a hearse as a dignified, sensible and probably boring way to make that final journey with a bit of respect but my goodness we found some weird and wacky options…

Other types of Fiat and we think an Alfa, practical in the same style as the Multipla, pretty sensible but with a touch of Italian Bling.

An E-Type Jag for the sporty option

Ornate carving is a popular thing…
Top: a Buick 1929
Middle: a Cunningham 1929.
Bottom group: No idea of the cars or dates below but all look like they starred in Wacky Races. I think these are probably in a Funeral Museum in the USA.

Cadillac’s from late 1930’s early 40’s

60’s space age – a huge Cadillac Fleetwood Eureka

And a Buick, found in Greece and currently undergoing restoration.

If you thought the previous ones were ornate, now have a look at the Asian versions, mini temples decked out in gold.

For the Military funeral or just for enthusiasts the Tank Hearse.

For when you want to combine your funeral with a holiday!

No words… The end.

Good Friday was dry but very cold so we decided to leave Mario at home and popped over to the Surrey Street Rodders Wheels Day at Rushmoor Arena. This event is mainly for custom and American cars but there is always a good collection of classics there too. We used it as a good opportunity to invite cars to our forthcoming Haslemere Classic Car Show. While not as many vehicles as previous years there was a very good turnout and a few gems.

The fashion seems to be for vehicles which sit on the ground! This narrowed bus was pretty cool. James rather fancied this roof rack for Mario, it was a perfect size but don’t think it would have carried very much.But Mario did get a gift, we found this rather fetching suitcase, unused from the sixties and a rather good colour match, will be very useful for the Goodwood Revival. Easter Monday brought another motoring event the annual GRRC Sprint at the Goodwood Motor Circuit. A bright day but still very cold and the wind was howling through the chicane. We had gone to see our friend Christopher compete in his D-type replica but unfortunately there was a problem on his first practice run so he took it home and got his Mark I Jag instead but this too had a problem when the wheel splines stripped and lost a wheel. Both ‘disasters’ happened when the second driver was at the wheel but Christopher was just relieved that no one was hurt and he was awarded the ‘spirit of the Sprint’, he also managed to get the car home with a borrowed spinner and the spare wheel.

This Cunningham C4 recreation was sold by James several years ago as a project and now looks the part on the track, it will be at the Revival in September and it’s owner was delighted that it was faster than one of the GT40’s! TV Chef James Martin was competing in his new Mini – a good practice for the Mini race at this years Revival. So a good if chilly weekend, finally today it is looking a little more Spring like so hopefully Mario will be venturing out soon, those days at the seaside are in sight.