"Outta Sight, Outta Mind" Takes on a Whole New Meaning.
Remember that time you couldn't find your car keys, or better yet, couldn't remember where you parked your 2007 Honda Civic at the mall? Well, you're in good company—or at least in dramatically more famous and amusing company. Let's wind the clock back a few decades to revisit the mind-boggling tale of the late Richard Harris and his very, very long-term parking decision.
Sir Forgettable and His Legendary Oversight
Richard Harris, the iconic actor you might recognize from classics like "The Heroes of Telemark," once received a Rolls-Royce as part of his payment for said film. Swanky, right? Hold on to your monocles. Harris parked his ritzy ride in a New York garage and then, apparently due to an alcohol-fueled haze that spanned the better part of the '70s, utterly forgot it existed. Seriously. Not even a "Hey, didn't I used to have a Rolls-Royce?" moment.
And Then Came the Bill...
Fast-forward to a quarter-century later, when Harris's widow, Elizabeth, was confronted with a parking bill that you'd expect to see in a movie script—one to the tune of £329,000! The car was incurring £250 a week in parking tariffs, which is probably more than the cost of keeping an elephant at the zoo.
Faced with this fiscal avalanche, Elizabeth decided to put the lost and found Rolls-Royce on the auction block at Christie's. The expectation? A fairly paltry £143,000. As she emotionally stated, "It's heartbreaking to have to let it go. But as his sole trustee, I have to get his affairs in order." No word yet if those "affairs" include treasure hunts for other forgotten items.
Memory Lapse: The Expensive Edition
So, the next time you find yourself wandering a parking lot, spare key in hand and utterly befuddled, remember the man who raised the bar for forgetfulness. Richard Harris, who couldn't find a car in a 25-year-long game of 'Where's Waldo?' with his own Rolls-Royce. A standing ovation is in order, don't you think?
P.S. Check your garages, folks. You never know what (or whose) luxury vehicle you might find gathering dust!