英掘墓老漢將棺材改成汽車(圖)
【英文原文】
A former gravedigger has built a 100mph single-seater car using a 7ft-long steel coffin for the body. Phil Bissett, 62, bought the unusual handmade coffin for £98 on internet auction site eBay and has dubbed his new creation 'Holy Smoke'. The tattoo artist from Harold Hill, near Romford in Essex, normally customises hearses in his spare time。
"It was padded inside and I've left the handles on it so people can see it's a coffin." Bissett transformed the 75kg steel coffin into a car by using the engine of his daughter's 1972 VW and parts from a dumper truck, a beach buggy and an old Ford car and even wheel spinners made out of grave vases。
The number-plate of the bone shaker is DIGG in honour of Mr Bissett's former occupation. The casket has been spray painted with the words Holy Smoke drifting across a graveyard scene and the words Rust in Peace across the lid. Along the sides Mr Bissett had painted 'I put the fun in funerals' and 'I see dead people' and on the petrol tank it says 'Embalming fluid only'。
Mr Bissett said: "It's got a 1300cc engine so it can go up to 100mph. It's fully road legal. It's got an MOT, it's tax exempt because the engine is from 1972 and for fully comp insurance it was only £86. I love it. I wouldn't mind being taken to the church in it when my time comes."
"The first time I took it out one bloke nearly fell off the kerb and into the gutter when he saw it," he said. "Another was madly trying to take pictures from his Hummer and almost crashed into the back another car. People react funnily to this, my wife won't go near it."
【中文譯文】
據英國《每日郵報》5月8日報道，英國一掘墓人用一口7英尺(約2.1米)長的鋼製棺材改裝成一輛時速100英里(約160公里)的單座汽車。現年 62歲的老漢菲爾-比賽特在eBay拍賣網站上以98英鎊的超低價格，從一家殯儀館購買了一口7英尺長、75公斤重的鋼製棺材，並將其改裝成一輛“棺材汽車”。據瞭解，菲爾-比賽特是英國艾塞克斯郡哈羅德山市的一名紋身藝術家和前掘墓人，平時經常在業餘時間爲各種葬禮定製靈車。
菲爾首先對棺材內部進行改動和裝飾，添加了坐椅和方向盤等汽車部件。接着，菲爾將原來的棺材蓋門切割掉一半，使之成爲新穎“車門”。“但我保留了原先棺材外面的幾個把手，因爲我希望別人一眼就能看出它是一口棺材。該車的引擎來源於菲爾女兒的一輛1972年產大衆汽車，其他零件則來自一輛報廢的卸貨卡車、一輛沙灘車和一輛舊福特汽車。
爲了讓“棺材汽車”的外表更具備“死亡氣息”，菲爾頗花了一番心思。菲爾爲“棺材汽車”所選的車牌號碼是“DIGG526”(DIG爲“挖掘”之意)，這正是爲了紀念他曾從事的掘墓人職業；在“棺材汽車”車身上，菲爾還用油漆噴塗了許多與葬禮和死亡有關的短語，讓人一看到“棺材汽車”就立刻“心生寒意”，比如菲爾在車身一側噴塗的短語就是：“我給葬禮帶來樂趣”和“我看見了死人。”
菲爾說：“‘棺材汽車’有一個1300cc的發動機，因此它可以加速到每小時100英里。它擁有正式牌照，可以合法上路，而且免稅，因爲它的發動機是1972年產的。我十分喜歡它，當我去世之後，我十分樂意讓它載着我的遺體前往教堂。”
菲爾說：“我第一次開着‘棺材汽車’外出時，一名坐在附近路邊石柱上的人嚇得從石柱上摔了下來，差點掉進路邊的陰溝裏。還有一次，一個正高速開着悍馬車的人竟試圖給我的‘棺材汽車’拍照，結果他的汽車失去控制，差點撞到另一輛車的尾部。人們對‘棺材汽車’的反應真是有趣極了，而我的妻子則始終不願意靠近它，生怕沾上它的晦氣。”
