A hearse complete with an award-winning rock legend mural is to make an unlikely appearance at a classic car show this summer.

The appearance of the distinctive 1993 Volvo coffin-carrier will mark a ‘first’ for Stokesley’s annual Classics on Show event, to be staged on Saturday, June 17, from 10am to 5pm.

A popular attraction for Halloween and Goth-type events, the hearse is fully equipped with a bar, eerie-sound sirens, flashing green lights and a coffin.

It is the unusual, but proud possession of Leeds enthusiast Gary Edwards, who said it is, actually, used for the funerals of family members and friends.

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But he said: “It is something of a showstopper and with its mural, based on Jim Morrison’s (The Doors) song, ‘No-one Gets Out of Here Alive,’ it’s a whole lot of fun.”

Known as ‘Rehearsel’, it will make its Stokesley debut on the town’s Showfield in mid-June and will be the first hearse to enter Classics on Show in the event’s 11-year-history.

“Every year we have new entrants for the show and Gary’s hearse is one of the more unusual we’ve ever had,” said Chris Mayes, of Stokesley Rotary Club, which organises the event.

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Classics on Show 2023, supported by Mathewson’s classic vehicle auctions of Thornton-le-Dale, is sponsored by SG Petch car dealership, and Lexus Teesside.

It is free to enter for exhibitors, although donations are welcomed.

Visitors pay £7.50, or £20 for a family ticket for two adults and two children, and £4 for school-age children (under 16), while auto jumble traders pay £20 for a standard pitch.

The event regularly attracts up to 500 exhibitors.

Funds raised from this year’s show will go to Headlight, the Hutton Rudby-based charity working with bereaved families, Blood Bikes and Childline. 

Further information is available at www.classicsonshow.co.uk, the show website.