Only Fools and Hearses

Three Australians, a funeral car and a trip around the world

by Dav Ardlie

Penguin, 2005, ISBN 0143002937, colour photographic plates, paperback

Very Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, minor rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, no inscriptions, age toned edges, uncreased spine (see photographs)

“Dav Ardlie walks into the Bourke and Sons funeral parlour in Dublin with an unusual request. ‘Excuse me, I’m looking for a second-hand horse.’
It’s from this bumbling beginning that Dav, Wegs and Whitey, three Aussie lads living in Ireland, start their European odyssey.  They need a touring vehicle: something stylish, a bit different, and capable of fitting a bar fridge.  Why not a funeral hearse? And so they choose a black Ford Granada, and affectionately christen it the ‘Big Girl”.
From gate-crashing a funeral procession and crossing paths with the legendary ‘Van Tour’ at the backpacker meccas of Pamplona and Oktoberfest, to being imprisoned under suspicion of spying, life on tour with the Big Girl is never dull.  In fact, life without the Big Girl is unthinkable.  The boys’ new mission, to bring their faithful chariot safely home to Australia, takes them across Russia to Beijing, and eventually to Bangkok.  Despite giant bureaucratic tangles, Dav and Co. achieve their goal.
Only Fools and Hearses is an entertaining, funny journey with a group of Aussie mates who manage to avoid most of the cultural icons of Europe and beyond in their search for adventure and romance.”