In January 2014 a Swedish man was forced to sell his 1985 Subaru on-line, after moving to the town of Sundsvall last August and failing to find immediate employment - oddly in a country long cited as a welfare state model by the left in the UK, he wasn't actually able to live on benefits forever, and so he needed the car money to top up his savings.
He chose to advertise the car on the Swedish classified ads website 'Blocket'
(Like Gumtree I assume), but realising that it was just an old banger ....
'old beater' in Swedish car parlance ... that had been in the family for two decades, and wanting £950 for it
(10,000 kronor), which incidently he would be lucky to get in the UK for a 28 yr old car, he decided that humour might be his only ally. So out came his photo editor software, and with a scant disregard for copyright, that I for one much admire, he went to work on creating his advert.
In came a background of
'Mordor' and the character of
'Saruman the White' (From Lord Of The Rings) .... and then,
'The Hoff' because his
"girlfriend has this weird sort of crush on him. That's why he's there. After I'd put in scenes from Mordor, I figured 'Why not add The Hoff?'"
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| 1985 Subaru - One Careful Owner |
The copy underneath, was equally as audacious, including that the car was like a
"Japanese mountain goat" and featuring all
"the power of 54 frighteningly well-hung horses", and just for good measure that it was
"hand-forged in the darkest of Japanese industries" by
"the Saruman of car makers". He then described the safety features as being that
"The car has seat belts in all seats built with the 1984-patented I.D.N.R.I.S, which stands for Instant Death No Retardation Impact System. In other words, there is no risk of ending up in long-term care because you die immediately in any collision at speeds higher than 12 km/hour".
But crucially, and almost as an afterthought, he added that he was
'willing to trade the car for a job' - as his current prospects were poor
"in a city where the prospects for the future are on a par with those of North Korea".
A day after posting the advert, and after it had gone viral
(in an understated Swedish kinda way), he was approached with a number of job offers, but quickly chose to work at Auto, Motor & Sport magazine.
"I've always dreamed of being an automotive journalist. I've probably watched too much Top Gear in my time, so I said yes right away"
And the Subaru?
Well It was sold, but for only a few hundred kronor to a local auto repair shop, which plans to use it as a mobile, four-wheeled advertisement ...... looks like
Jeremy Clarkson and the boys have been an inspiration once again.
