WHAT’S the most practical utility vehicle on the road for loading things in and out and moving them about? A van? A ute? How about a hearse?
This is what went through the minds of Shepparton’s Matt Milsome and Daina Winch of Shepparton Brewery, who were looking for the perfect ride to take to festivals and set up an impromptu bar.
So, since winter of 2019, the pair have been the proud owners of a 1965 Dodge Pheonix hearse, fitted out with a bar which can be pulled out of the back, where countless coffins would once have been placed.
Now, 56 years on, this Pheonix is still alive.
“It just gets the attention, you know,” owner, Matt Milsome, said.
“Originally, we were thinking Kombis and stuff. We went and looked at one but they’re expensive and it’s a bit naff – everyone’s kinda doing it.
“So, I had a good think about it and was either going to end up with an old hearse or a 1980s limo, and this just happened to come up.”
The pair found the Pheonix for sale in Frankston. They kicked the tyres, ordered some parts and got a roadworthy, then drove it home.
It’s not a collector’s piece and would stand out in a museum for the wrong reasons. But that’s why Matt loves it. For the record, the bonnet pin-up girl decals weren’t their idea. They came with the car but Matt and Daina agreed they’d be insane to get rid of them.
“Now we keep it in the shed, but it’s the highlight of my day when I back it out, do one lap of the block, and park it in front of the Brewery. And I think it likes a regular drive. It’s driving much better now it’s getting driven every day,” he said with a laugh.
“I’m not really into cars – I’ve owned three in my life – but now I think yeah, I could use an oldie car, for the weekends out for a drive, you get the secret wave all the other oldie car drivers give you!”
That all sounds great, but what about the…dead person aspect of the ride?
Matt said his kids aren’t so keen on riding around in the car, and even he’s not so comfortable climbing around in the back of it.
Others aren’t so concerned, though: “We have a few customers who are quite adamant they want us to drive them to the cemetery in it when their time comes,” he said.
To drive, it’s got plenty of go. With a roaring V8, Matt said it’s got no problems banging down the highway.
“You don’t drive it like a new car, though. If you want to go you need to put your foot down,” he said.
“And braking, oh man, you wouldn’t want to jump out in front of it. It drives like a boat.”
For a car that was essentially designed to drive shuttles between the church and the cemetery, it’s definitely gone the distance.
For Daina and Matt, “It’s roadworthy, it drives, and it looks good,” and that means this car is far from its final curtain.
