STRANGER THAN FICTION: "MY CAR IS GOING TO BE MY COFFIN - DEATH WILL NOT PART US” ARTICLE IN RETROMOTIVE MAGAZINE

THE CAR THAT RICHARD HAMMOND OF TOP GEAR?& GRAND TOUR SAYS HE SHOULD NEVER HAVE SOLD IS GOING TO BE THE LAST RESTING PLACE OF A WEALTHY AUSTRALIAN ENTREPRENEUR PHILIP ALLEN

NEW DELUXE QUARTERLY AUTOMOTIVE MAG FROM AUSTRALIA - RETROMOTIVE - HAS BRITISH PETROLHEADS GOBSMACKED.

Philip Allen wearing his ostrich skin jacket

?Philip Allen is a man passionately in love with his car – a 2008 Morgan Aeromax, one of just 100 the factory made – and he is taking the car with him into the great beyond he says.

Speaking to Nathan Duff, the publisher of Retromotive, an arty and engaging car magazine launching in the UK this week, he makes no apologies for his love of his car. “Look, I don’t take myself too seriously, I’m here for a fun time and I love this car so much I’ve already made plans to be get buried in it. It’ll cost about $75K!”

“The plan is this...The car will be pushed into a 20ft container, which I’ve already purchased, and put on jacks because I don’t want the tyres to go flat. The container will be welded up so it’s air- and water-tight. We dig a hole and bury it and put a concrete slab over the top to seal it off. I’ll be partly mummified and dressed in my crocodile skin jacket, pants and boots. One hand on the steering wheel the other holding a cigar and a smile.”

“It’ll be facing east because at the Second Coming, when Gabriel blows his horn I ain’t walking nowhere – I’ll be driving like a bat out of hell!”

The funeral cost of ￡75,000 and its Morgan hearse-coffin estimated at ￡150,00 will have set Philip Allen back ￡225,000. It is money well spent, he says.

“I am someone who appreciates automotive art and the first time I saw the Morgan Aeromax, I knew it was a rolling sculpture.’?‘There was nothing firm to say the car would be going into production at that point, but I left my details and didn’t hear about it again until 2008. I contacted them again, but they wouldn’t sell me a car.

Philip wasn’t a friend of the firm and he wasn’t a celebrity – the Aeromax was essentially sold out before the general car-minded public knew it was going into production.?Not satisfied with the outcome, Philip went to all the Morgan dealers in the UK and left his details. ‘I said “When one of the 28 right-hand- drive cars and one of the three of those 28 in manual becomes available, give me a call.” They all laughed at me. It was a collector’s car – an instant classic.’?Three years later, Mole Valley Morgan got in touch with Philip to let him know one was available. Unbelievably, he missed out again, but the car was always meant to find its way to Philip.

This 2008 Morgan Aeromax was first owned by Top Gear presenter and fellow automotive journalist Richard Hammond. He told Philip Allen that he should never have sold the car, that he regretted selling. Under the hood, it is powered by a 48-liter BMW sourced V8 engine delivering around 360 hp and 370 lb-ft of torque.

Chris Vermuelen, a champion Australian motorcycle racer, became the second owner and used the car extensively while living abroad in the UK. He shipped the Morgan back with him when he relocated to Australia and it appeared on Carsales.com.au not long after he was settled. The rest is history. Philip has made only a few cosmetic changes since finally obtaining his rolling sculpture. ‘They’re a handmade car so they’re not air- or water-tight.’ The leather section that lines the boot space under the gullwing doors was water- stained and subsequently was replaced with bespoke wooden inserts produced at the Morgan factory.

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It is maybe surprising but the idea of being buried in your car, or a coffin like version of it is catching on as a concept. It’s a ‘thing’ as they say. New York lawyer turned art dealer Kenny Schachter admitted in GQ magazine that he wants to be buried in his Porsche. And he visited Ghana to meet with artist sculptor Joseph Ashong known as ‘Paa Joe’ who specializes in bespoke funeral caskets.

Driving into the afterlife in this Porsche 550 modelled on James Dean's famous P550 that he named "Little Bastard", the car in which he was killed. This macabre work of art was sold a few years ago by Bonhams the international fine art auction house’s Contemporary African Art Department in London’s Bond Street.

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If you want to see one of the world’s most beautiful automotive models completely uncovered, the new ‘Retromotive Magazine’ – launched today – is for you. Featuring a restored, but bare metal, Lamborghini Miura on its cover, it’s a mere teaser for the delights that lie within its premium stock pages: the art-heavy visuals and clean, open design revealing in grand detail some of the world’s most desirable cars.

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‘Retromotive’ magazine is a classy and bold quarterly publication, dedicated to the adoration of beautiful automobiles and their passionate owners. The brainchild of Australian entrepreneur, publisher, and photographic philosopher Nathan Duff – the magazine uses imagery, rather than thousands of words, to tell their stories.

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‘Retromotive’ pays homage to interesting cars of old and their current drivers. It has been on sale in Australia already for three years, has set a new benchmark for exquisite production – featuring superbly curated photo essays and interviews with passionate owners and auto industry heavyweights alike. The visual presentation embodies a minimalist artistic aesthetic that embraces the unique design language of each vehicle.

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?‘Retromotive’, appears as a weighty 140-page tome, printed on such beefy paper stock it could give the magazine a dual-purpose role as a wheel chock in off-road extremis. Publisher Nathan Duff said: ‘We’re about the builders, the innovators, the restorers and rescuers, and people like you and me who restore their ride in the garage.’

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‘Retromotive’ is published on 5th July 2021, and is available through the WHSmith travel network, McColls supermarkets and selected outlets, or directly from the www.retromotive.co website.

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Digital subscriptions can be acquired from the same websites, plus there’s an App for ‘Retromotive’ available in the Apple App Store and via Google Play right now.

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Note to editors:

To interview Nathan Duff, please contact him directly via the www.retromotive.co website.

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FOR MORE PRESS INFORMATION AND IMAGES PLEASE CONTACT

JULIAN ROUP OF BENDIGO COMMUNICATIONS

Call O7970 563958 or email [email protected]

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