An Australian car enthusiast says he was approached by Netflix and offered $15,000 to rent his illegal $1,000 car to use in a movie.
Chris Roche said the streaming giant was keen to use his left-hand drive 2000 Mitsubishi Damonte in a production.
And the company was willing to pay generously to get the vehicle.
Roche said he was given a whopping $15,000 from Netflix – an impressive sum given that the Mitsubishi Damonte only cost $1,000 – and the car only had a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo.
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He bought the car for just $1,000 but it came with a catch
Aussie car lover Roche said he had always loved left-hand-drive cars, so when he spotted the 2000 Mitsubishi Damonte on Facebook Marketplace he was eager to snap it up.
However, the car came with a bit of a catch – in the Australian state Roche bought the Mitsubishi, it’s illegal to register any left-hand-drive vehicle that is less than 25 years old, meaning the vehicle was basically an expensive paperweight.
Nonetheless, Roche decided to message the seller about the ‘silly car’ and was told that the current owner wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the illegal Mitsubishi Damonte and that it had been sitting for years.
Roche ended up getting his hands on the very low mileage Mitsubishi Damonte for just $1,000.
“It was in almost perfect condition, it just couldn’t be used or driven on the roads,” he told VINwiki.
He was approached by Netflix who wanted to rent the car
With a bit of ducking and diving, Roche did manage to get the Mitsubishi Damonte registered but as it wasn’t exactly legit he didn’t use it very often.
So, the car largely spent its time parked up at Roche’s house until one day a vehicle coordinator from Netflix reached out to ask if he was interested in selling the car.
When Roche said no, the man asked if he would consider renting it to the production company – and it came with an impressive day rate of around $230 as well as a retainer fee.
Roche’s Mitsubishi Damonte was used in the original mini series Clickbait – and, when it landed on the streaming service months down the line, Roche was eager to try and capture a glimpse of his car.
But after watching almost the entire thing, Roche still hadn’t seen his motor on the TV – until right towards the end of the series when it, very briefly, appeared on screen.
“I saw the vehicle for about one second, it was a shot of the rear wheel as it drove away,” Roche said. “That’s the only clip that they used.”
So, not quite 15 minutes of fame, but with $15,000 in the bank, who cares?
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