An eccentric Brit has unveiled plans to drive at more than
200mph in a jet–powered HEARSE.

Matt McKeown, 56, already holds the title for the world’s fastest shopping trolley after he attached a jetengine and hit 70mph.

But the extreme engineer is taking speed to a new level in his 1992 Ford Granada hearse which he bought online for £1,200.

Matt owns a pair of 1950s jet engines and has spent the past 18 months shoehorning one of them into the back of a black hearse.

The jet turbine has around 1,750 lb of thrust and Matt is hoping to drive at more than 200mph later this summer.

He has now unveiled the one-off motor, dubbed ‘Dead Quick’, ahead of its official debut at this Sunday’s Prescott Bike Festival on Sunday 9 April in Gloucestershire where petrolheads will be raising money for the charity Blood Bikes.

Matt, who runs Plymouth Karting in Devon, said: “My hobby is extreme engineering where I take something which is inherently mundane like the shopping trolley or the hearse and stick a jet engine in it.

“I get the idea in my head and I have to act straight away so I went online and bought the Granada hearsefor around £1,200.

“The turbine is a Rolls-Royce viper turbine, sourced from a 1950s provost jet used by the RAF. It hasaround 1,750 lb of thrust and I am expecting it to do 200mph.

“We’ve been working on it on-and-off for around 18 months now, we must have put 300 hours into it.”

Despite having a jet turbine in the back, Matt’s hearse – which has cost him about £10,000 so far – is road legal and uses a 2.9-litre Ford engine.

Matt’s plan is to show the hearse off in public at the Prescott Bike Festival this weekend before carrying out a number of tests ahead of the record attempt.

He added: “I have created several odd vehicles now but I view them more as art than motorsport.

“This certainly raises some eyebrows when it has been driven on the road.

“I enjoy the challenge of making it work. I have some very good people working with me on the project.

“With an afterburner, it will probably be burning 200 litres of fuel per minute.

“I’m looking forward to taking it to the Prescott Bike Festival this weekend and hope to be attempting the record later this summer.”

The current top speed, according to Guinness World Records, is 115.6mph, set in 2010 by Shane Hammond.

The Australian hit the speed in his hearse, ‘Undead’, on the TDRA Dragway in Tasmania, Australia, on 20 February 2010.

ENDS