A Hearse That Hustles! This 4000 Pound, Twin-Turbo Wagon Could Wake The Dead
“I always kind of gravitated towards the not so ‘normal’ kind of vehicles, but honestly never thought we'd end up with a hearse in the garage.”
Those words echo the mindset of one Jason Pickett, the man behind the 1993 Buick Roadmaster Hearse called ‘Haulin Ash’ that has become a drag-and-drive regular. It might not be the lightest car or the quickest car on a drag-and-drive, but it sure gets the attention, and it getting faster at each outing!
But let’s backtrack a bit, to where it all started for Jason: drag racing in and out of high school, and then he jumped into racing off-road.
“I competed in ultra 4 off-road racing, kind of a mix of desert racing and rock crawling,” Jason said. “Oddly enough, it was the same type of take what you need with you, no chase vehicle or outside help type of racing.” Sounds a bit like drag-and-drive to us.
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Fast forward a few ticks, and Jason started getting ideas for a drag-and-drive car for himself. “After helping my buddy Royce Payton with his NightMare Mustang for several years, I wanted to build something to have fun with too,” said Jason. “We looked around the track at what was there, and tried to think more about what wasn't there.
We talked about a wagon, then I thought what about a really big wagon? Low and behold, there it was. It is 4000 pounds, 22 feet long bumper to bumper, and has three seats so the whole family can have fun or sometimes suffer together on the road.”
Purchased in July of 2017, Jason and family put a little over a year’s time into the Buick before it made its first drag-and-drive event appearance at Rocky Mountain Race Week. “It was a milder and simpler engine combo back then,” said Jason. “Sometimes I miss those days.”
The Buick has attended every Rocky Mountain Race Week since 2019, as well as Race Week 2.0 twice. “Our drag and drive experiences have had highs and lows yet we keep coming back for more,” Jason said.
“I've had days where it feels weird not having to fix anything, and I've had days staring out the hotel window waiting for that overnight early delivery so we can make that one last street drive.”
After a good amount of success with a supercharged LS-based combination, Jason decided to make the switch to turbos in time for the 2023 edition of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive.
The 427 cubic inch LS3-based engine now gets the boost and additional air from twin Forced Performance 80-millimeter turbochargers. Combined with an overdrive 4L80 automatic transmission, Jason and family made the trip from Colorado to Florida to compete in the Unlimited class.
The hearse would make several low 8-second passes during Sick Week, including a best of 8.07 at 167 mph at Bradenton Motorsports Park on day two, in route to an 8.47 average and a third-place finish in the Unlimited class.
Jason and family plan a return to Rocky Mountain Race Week 2.0, but as of July 29th, his engine and transmission are out of the car to be freshened up.
“I keep telling myself it’s fine,” said Jason. “Doing all this work in hopes we can make it off the wait list. If not, I guess we’ll just call it very early sick week prep.”
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Jason and Haleigh Pickett, Chris Story and Sick The Magazine.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com