Have you ever thought about going out at night with friends, in a spacious car, with a bar, driver, red carpet…? Thinking about a limo? Wrong. This is what you can have in Albufeira, in a… hearse.
The unusual idea of doing tours Tourists in the Algarve at night using a hearse was the solution found to make use of the vehicle that friends Nelson Silva and José Gonçalves bought, on impulse, after a night when they went out to drink coffee.
“This started as they start every night: with a 'let's drink coffee'. We went for a cup of coffee, the night continued, we had fun and, after being happily in a good mood due to the effects of alcohol, we went to do what we often do: we love classic cars and sometimes go online looking for opportunities . It was 4 and such in the morning. We look for cars a year, as we always do, and in the middle of the search, the hearse appears. It was 4 am and we didn't call right away. We waited for the next morning», José Gonçalves told Sul Informação.
The lady who was trying to sell the vehicle answered the phone and the car was still for sale – «it was obvious it was, nobody buys something like this», jokes Nelson Silva.
«At first, you didn't take us very seriously, but with an idea of the value, we went home, broke the piggy banks, each one of us, saw the coins we had and went upstairs, because the car was in the Alentejo. We saw the car and great: deal done. And we returned to the Algarve», remembers José Gonçalves.
On the return journey, José Gonçalves noticed something strange in the vehicle “the car must have been closed for a long time and there was a certain dead smell inside. In the first few weeks, we bought around 30 air fresheners there». However, the opinion about the smell diverges, because, for Nelson Silva, the odor was just «wood».
The two friends not only do not reveal the value of the purchase, they also swore not to do so. However, they suggest that it was a good deal and even with a bonus: «the lady told me: “look, friend, take the coffin that is inside, it's new, it's never been used!”».
The problem came later: «when we woke up, we thought: 'we bought a hearse, what are we going to do with this?'», says José Gonçalves.
«We still thought about going to Odemira, to sell to surfers, as it is wide, it could be good because of the surfboards. And, as we oriented ourselves well in the business, we thought we would put one more “x” on top and sell», adds Nelson Silva.
But then came another night of drinking, which coincided with Nelson Silva's divorce. «This ended up arising after the celebration of his divorce», says José Gonçalves, who is promptly interrupted by Nelson: «I was the first client of Ripper Tours! ».
«That night, we thought: “and why not take a tour in the car?”. The first time we said this, it sounded good, but in the next two minutes, we said straight away: “no, forget it, no one is going to go in there”, remembers José Gonçalves.
They were wrong. The friends they spoke to considered the idea “genius” and it all started to make sense. «We spoke with a friend who had a printing company, painted and arranged everything at home and glued the vinyl to the car».
Then came the bureaucratic part that was also affected by the “strangeness” of combining tourism with a hearse. «When we created the tourist entertainment activity, because the goal is to tours on the algarvian night, we had to send the documents from the car and they called us right away to say that we had been wrong because we had sent a hearse booklet».
It was no mistake and Ripper Tours actually started operating in May 2016. From then on, it has always been growing and there has been no lack of interest. «There was a Facebook page that discovered us, the Wide, and who sent us a message asking “what are you?”. We told the story and he talked about us. From there, it fired. We went out to a car magazine, then to Rádio Comercial… it was a tree authentic. In early summer, we were out every night».
However, when summer reached its height, there was a problem: “when it really started to climb, the keys to the van were stolen. We were in the height of summer with the car stopped and only returned to work a couple of months ago».
Despite the short time of operation, Nelson Silva and José Gonçalves manage to analyze who most enjoys spending an evening with friends in a hearse: «we have more Portuguese, 60 or 70% of our customers are Portuguese and we thought that this would never happen. happen!".
When Ripper Tours was created, «we thought we would have a certain profile, we thought it would work with young foreigners, but the proof we have is that it works for everyone, Portuguese and foreigners, young and old. We already had a couple in their 60s», tells Nelson Silva.
For those who have not yet understood how a night spent in a Ripper Tours hearse works, José Gonçalves explains: «We provide the experience of a night in Albufeira. We do with our customers what we do with our friends. They go to the places and bars where we used to go, we hang out with them, we go out with them. We are a unique experience because, nowhere in the world, you arrive at a disco in a hearse, someone opens the door, puts on a rug, opens a coffin with drinks that are distributed by the staff».
Yes, because the coffin holds… drinks. «The coffin is where we have our welcome drink, but it is a welcome drink for the entire trip. When someone is thirsty, we lean over, pull the coffin out and serve,” says Nelson Silva.
For José Gonçalves, Ripper Tours managed to «demystify the negative idea of the car and death, which we transformed into something completely positive and a new experience».
Despite this, there are dissenting opinions. “We've never had big problems with anyone, but we've been told that it sucks what we do, that we should have respect. What we say is that it is just a car, an accessory».
José Gonçalves and Nelson Silva do not have Ripper Tours as their main occupation: «we keep our work, you can reconcile». However, next year, and because they both want it to be “blooming every day”, they are already thinking of hiring two people for the summer period.
Within days, the Halloween and going out at night in a hearse could not have been more appropriate to celebrate the date. For that night, the founders of Ripper Tours are preparing surprises. “We already have reservations and several ideas in the pipeline. We can reveal one: we're going to have a mobile imperial machine, which works with a coffin system. It will be the first coffin in the world with a beer machine», reveals Nelson Silva.
One night guided by Ripper Tours costs 72 euros, for six people. “The only price we will never say is the price of the van. And, if they manage to find the old lady who sold her, we also believe they won't say it», concludes José Gonçalves.
The activity of this company and the special offers that arise can be followed on Ripper Tours Facebook page.
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