Eddie Ewart was a great admirer of the Bentley

For classic car enthusiast Eddie Ewart, no ordinary hearse would do. The hotelier from Edinburgh had enjoyed a life-long passion for the luxury car brand, Bentley, so it was only fitting he should make his final journey in one.

Mr Ewart’s son shared his father’s love of cars and even altered the Bentley himself so as to use it as a hearse for the 75-year-old. Fraser Ewart said he’d had searched for a Bentley hearse but couldn’t find one in the local area, so there was only one thing he could do, as he explained: “I rolled my sleeves up and transformed the last one he owned.”

Eddie Ewart had spent much of his life tinkering with classic cars, but the Bentley had stood out as a favourite for him. Cars were an important part of his life, so much so that his younger son Gordon recalled him saying: “he would love to go early rather than not drive. Safe journey, then.”

The specially adapted Bentley R-Type 1953 saloon transported the coffin to the crematorium. More than 400 fellow car enthusiast, friends, and relatives turned out to bid farewell to the much loved man. A jazz trio then played When The Saints Go Marching In, as they entered the building. Son Fraser said it would have been, “the way he’d want to go.”