TREVOR---Here's how a sticker on Mike Laufenberg's car reads: "Don't get me mad, I'm running out of places to bury the bodies."

...Laufenberg's vehicle is not your average American family sedan. And Laufenberg isn't your average American guy, either. He owns a hearse, a 1988 Buick he bought three weeks ago. It's also the fourth one he's owned. "It needed a transmission when I bought it." said Laufenberg.

Nancy Allen points out the occupant of her hearse, Die-anna. She and her husband,
Clarke, drove from Michigan for a hearse convention Saturday in Trevor.

...Laufenberg, of Kingston, west of Waupun, is a member of Grave Sights Hearse Club, a club for hearse owners. Based in Kenosha, the club has 100 members across the United States, plus one each in the Netherlands and in Belgium.

...They gathered Saturday afternoon to show off their coffin-toting wagons at Kelly's Pub & Grill on Hwy. C in Trevor.

"I always wanted one.
They have lots of
room. It's great for
camping. I can sleep
in the back."
Mike Laufenberg
(hearse owner)

...Laufenberg has, shall we say, decorated the lawn around his black machine. There's a full-size casket with an arm sticking out of it. And nearby is a smaller casket with a skull and crossbones resting peacefully inside.

..."I've always wanted one," he said. "They have lots of room. It's great for camping. I can sleep in the back."

...What reactions does he get? "Some people frown on you." Laufenberg said. "Some people will give you the thumbs up. On the way here today, some guy hollered, 'Cool car!' "

...A few years ago, he said, he had neighbors who used to complain about all the car parts in his yard. "When I started buying hearses, they left me alone." he said.

...He's sold a 1982 Buick on the internet and the new owners picked it up at the hearse rally Saturday. "I sold two other hearses on eBay, and I've purchased three caskets on eBay, too." Laufenberg said. "A couple months ago, I bought a real human skull on eBay, also."

The hearse above sports funeral emblems while the one below has a boney occupant.

...Next to Laufenberg's car is one that is basically black, but has yellow and red flames down the side. It is owned by Matt Dunham, one of the club's founders. Signs on the car say, "Dead Serious Ltd. Fun Tours." "You get allot of stares," said Dunham, who bought his 1970 Cadillac six years ago for $2,800.

...The really scary one? Troy Hambly of Plainfield, IL., owns a 1947 Rolls Royce that he ordered from England. Cost him $8,800. But that's not all....Hambly is a professional mortician.

..."My hearse is available for funerals," he said. "I did one in South Carolina last year."

(END OF ARTICLE)

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