The Fastest Hearse on Earth!

E VER SINCE he was young, Kyle “Leadfoot” Shadrack had had a thirst for speed. As he grew up, his passion to go as fast as possible stayed with him. And when he eventually joined the family business and became a funeral director, he had just one ambition... to be the fastest undertaker in the world! And in 1964, Shadrack’s impossible dream became a supersonic reality when, at the controls of his jet-powered hearse Grim Reaper 3, he achieved a top speed of 774.3 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats Crematorium, Utah, covering the 3-mile marked course between the cemetery gates and the chapel of rest in just 14 seconds. Although Shadrack’s name went down in the record books, his extraordinary feat was only made possible thanks to the efforts of a team of talented designers, engineers, technicians and embalmers, who all worked incredibly long hours to bring the trailblazing project to fruition. Let’s take a look at just how the world hearse speed record was smashed. ENGINES Powering the vehicle were a pair of turbo-charged Rolls-Royce Olympus 593 jet engines, each developing more than 30,000lbs of thrust. Running at full power, these engines were so loud that the organ in the chapel of rest had to be specially amplified up to 200 decibels simply to allow the mourners to hear it wheezing through Abide With Me. FLORAL TRIBUTES A normal funerary wreath is designed for maximum hearse speeds of around 40mph, meaning the average funeral procession speed of less than 20mph is well within its performance capabilities. To withstand the violent vibration and G-forcesofa 750mph+ cortegewithout falling apart, special artificial floral tributes had to be developed by engineers at the HandleyPaige aircraft company. Each of the three letters on Mrs Scuttle’s funeral wreath contained 14 individually milled tungsten lilies at a total cost of over £10,000... per bloom! CASKET HOLD At full thrust, Grim Reaper III’s engines gulped their way through 15 gallons of potentially explosive methanol every second. As a result, almost the entire space beneath the coffin was given over to a giant fuel tank, meaning there was a high risk of a stray spark igniting a potentially catastrophic fire. Automatic carbon dioxide fire extinguishers were therefore built into the rear cabin to deal with any conflagration almost before it started, ensuring that the coffin and its precious cargo would not be reduced to cinders before the hearse arrived at the crematorium. THE BODY No less important than the driver was the deceased loved one in the back of the hearse. At peak acceleration, as the afterburners kicked in, the corpse of 96-year-old Ada Scuttle was subject to a sustained force of nearly 5G. If the dearly departed excouncil worker hadn’tbeen restrained in her casket usingaspecially designed 6-point harness, she could have ended up squashed like a concertina into the head end of the coffin - a situation that could have dangerously unbalanced the car, and which would also have been very distressing for the bereaved gathering round the casket to say their final goodbyes prior to committal. PARACHUTE At the end of its record-breaking run, the hearse was required to decelerate from the speed of sound to a respectful standstill outside the crematorium entrance in a distance of less than three quarters of a mile. No conventional mechanical brakes could withstand such forces without exploding, so engineers came up with an innovative solution. As he passed the second timing beacon, Shadrack pressed a button on his control panel to deploy a respectful, funereal black drogue parachute system fired by explosive bolts. This brought him and the earthly remains of Mrs Scuttle to a 5G halt in just 6 seconds, during which Shadrack burst the blood vessels in his eyes and almost went unconscious. DRIVER’S SUIT Whilst Shadrack was focused on blasting his way into the record books, as an undertaker he never lost sight of the fact that his first responsibility was as a funeral director. As such, his clothes had to give him protection in the event of a high speed rollover, somersault or blowout, whilst at thesametime lending an air of dignity and respect suitable for such a melancholy occasion. His lightweight top-hat-style crash helmet was made from an extremely strong titanium alloy, whilst his sombre tailcoat, trousers and waistcoat were lined with fire-retardant material.