BREWERY boss Martin Brunnschweiler has been dying to keep a secret.
The Bushy’s supremo had been hoping to keep under wraps his plans for a unique final resting place many years ahead in the future.
It must be stressed ale and hearty Martin, 52, has never been in better health.
But a while back he heard about a company in the UK which specialises in making bespoke coffins.
Vic Fearn and company Ltd in Bulwell near Nottingham, are also known as Crazy Coffins and have been satisfying a growing need for people dying to make a statement about their final send off.
From guitars to skateboards and even skips no order is off the order of service for the company which employs around 25 employees.
Martin, who is six ft four ins tall, commissioned Crazy Coffins to build an exact replica of one of his unique Bushy’s beer bottle cars. It will even have wheels.
‘It was supposed to be a secret,’ said Martin.
‘But people can be rest assured I am very happy and have no plans to leave this world for quite a few decades yet.’
And he was quick to assure people that it has nothing to do with his beloved Blackburn Rovers being relegated from the Premier League last week.
‘I’ve seen Rovers when they were playing in the third division so I’m used to the ups and downs of football.’
Martin, who is busily preparing for one of the the busiest times of the year over the TT period, said he heard about the company on the internet and thought it would be fun to have an exact replica of the car made.
Managing director David Crampton told Business News the bespoke wooden creation is eco-friendly.
‘It is nearly finished and we are just waiting to put the wheels on,’ he said.
He added that because the customer was in no hurry the work had been done on and off over the last few months.
Martin’s hush-hush plan was blown after a UK national newspaper website splashed on the work of Crazy Coffins with an array of photographs of their weird and wonderful creations. One of the photos was of Mr Crampton posing with the Bushy’s commission.
Martin said it had not yet been decided where the coffin will be kept but he thinks it unlikely that he will put it on public display which is what some customers of Crazy Coffins have done in the past.
The bespoke burial vessels are understood to range in price from around £1,000 to £5,000.
The wacky designs have attracted fans from as far away as Switzerland with the company being invited to display their work at an art exhibition in Zurich.
Ursula Williams, from Crazy Coffins, said nothing was too unusual for the coffin makers to try and make.
Unusual designs have included a guitar design, a giant football boot, the Orient Express and a skateboard.
The company stresses it makes more traditional final resting places too.
Martin told Business News he has yet to see the beer van coffin but might pop in to see it when he is travelling next through the Midlands.