THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 18, 1996 TAG: 9610180049
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: GROOVY SAPIEN
SOURCE: BY BARBARA WRAY, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 77 lines
I AM SURE most of you out there always thought that a hearse was just for funerals, but Mike Scarlott knows differently.
Mike, 16, a Bayside High senior, drives a hearse and plans to continue until the car dies. Mike uses this car for all of his transportation, he even transported his date to the ring dance in it.
Why would someone want to drive a hearse?
``It's a big car and I'm 6 feet 4 inches and I can't fit into little cars,'' he said. ``I also like old cars and my hearse is a 1969 and its engine is a 472, the second strongest in America.''
Mike bought his car from a private owner.
``It was advertised in the Trading Post for a little under $2,000,'' he said. ``Even though the (gas mileage) is bad, this hearse drives great, it's like you're floating down the road!''
After Mike bought the car last year, he spent months trying to figure out what to put on the license plate. Finally, his dad thought up ``To Die4.''
Then Mike mounted a cow skull on the front and programmed the funeral march into a special horn.
Inside the hearse, there's one long front seat and coffin rollers are still mounted to the floor in the back.
Mike gets a lot of reaction when he's out in his hearse.
``I get thumbs up or people run away terrified,'' he said. ``They either love it or they hate it.''
Mike said that he does think about himself being a passenger in the back of that hearse one day.
``I am thinking about holding onto the license plate and cow skull and putting a stipulation in my will that if those items aren't on the hearse that takes me to my funeral, no one gets any of my stuff!''
My full name is: Mike Joseph Scarlott
When you have a crazy midnight craving, what do you eat? Vanilla ice cream
If you could give out personal Oscars, who would they go out to and why?: Mr. Snead, former band director at Bayside High School. He did so much for the marching band at Bayside!
Favorite band: Smashing Pumpkins
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?: Tourette's, a neurological syndrome. I have it and I'd like to get rid of it.
Favorite restaurant: El Toro
Favorite TV show: ``Seinfeld''
Favorite movie: ``Tombstone''
Do you have a job?: I did work at Revco but I had to quit for band camp.
In 10 years, what will you be?: A computer engineer
Who is your hero and why?: Paul Costen (his good friend.) Just because he's different and doesn't care about what other people think.
What's your pet peeve?: People who make noises when they eat.
What are your hobbies?: Playing the trumpet in the band at Bayside High School and playing chess at Bayside. I'm the eighth in Virginia at chess.
If you could change one thing about America, what would it be and why?: The form of government, just because there are too many loopholes and lots of problems.
What is your most embarrassing moment?: Sometimes when I'm driving my car, I'll pull out onto the road and it will stall on me.
If you could take any famous person to the prom, who would it be?: Alicia Silverstone because she looks real good
When you're really bored, what do you do?: Usually play on my computer
If you could have dinner with any famous person dead or alive, who would it be and why?: Jim Carrey, because it would be interesting to see how he acts normally
If you could change something about your school what would it be?: The way the band is treated. We don't get any support from the school at all.
Do you have any pets?: A dog, Odin.
Who's No. 1 on your speed dial and why?: Jim Pepiot (his friend.) We hang out a lot. MEMO: Barbara Wray is a freshman at Bayside High School. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot
Mike Scarlott, a senior at Bayside High School in Virginia Beach,
drives a 1969 Cadillac hearse with a cow skull mounted on the front. by CNB