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- Yet that’s exactly what happened to Oscar-winning actor Richard Harris, who somehow managed to abandon his luxury sedan in a Manhattan parking garage for an astounding 25 years.
- When that proved fruitless, he did what any sensible person would do – he handed the mystery over to his personal accountant to solve.
- The Rolls-Royce Phantom V was located in a Manhattan parking garage, presumably gathering dust and racking up fees that would make a mortgage payment look reasonable.
What are the odds of completely forgetting you own a car for a quarter-century? Practically zero, you’d think. But when that car happens to be a Rolls-Royce Phantom V and not just some everyday vehicle, the story becomes even more unbelievable.
Yet that’s exactly what happened to Oscar-winning actor Richard Harris, who somehow managed to abandon his luxury sedan in a Manhattan parking garage for an astounding 25 years. The Irish actor’s memory lapse came with a price tag that would make anyone’s wallet weep: over $500,000 in parking fees.
A photograph triggers a costly memory
Two decades into his automotive amnesia, Harris stumbled upon an old photograph showing him with the very Rolls-Royce he’d completely forgotten about. Can you imagine that moment? There you are, flipping through old pictures, and suddenly you realize you’ve been paying storage fees on a car you didn’t even remember owning.
The photo served as Harris’s wake-up call, jolting his memory about the existence of his Phantom V. There was just one small problem (well, not so small): he couldn’t remember where he’d left the thing. After 25 years, Manhattan parking lots probably all start to look the same.
The great automotive treasure hunt begins
What followed was like something out of a detective novel. Harris started making calls to relatives and friends, hoping someone might remember where he’d parked his Rolls-Royce back in the day. When that proved fruitless, he did what any sensible person would do – he handed the mystery over to his personal accountant to solve.
The search and rescue mission for the missing luxury car had begun in earnest. You have to wonder what conversations those must have been: “Hello, yes, I need you to find my Rolls-Royce. No, I don’t know where it is. Yes, it’s been missing for 25 years.”
Found but at what cost?
Eventually, the accountant’s detective work paid off. The Rolls-Royce Phantom V was located in a Manhattan parking garage, presumably gathering dust and racking up fees that would make a mortgage payment look reasonable. The car had been sitting there all along, like an expensive time capsule waiting to be rediscovered.
But here’s where the story takes a painful turn for anyone’s bank account. The cost of storing a vehicle in Manhattan for 25 years? It likely exceeded the original value of the car itself. Even a Rolls-Royce has its limits when it comes to justifying parking expenses that stretch across multiple decades.
The parking fees had snowballed into a sum that would make even a successful actor think twice. We’re talking about daily rates compounding over 9,125 days (yes, someone had to do the math eventually).
The mystery continues beyond the grave
Richard Harris passed away in 2002, taking with him the complete truth about what ultimately happened to his long-lost Rolls-Royce. The actor’s death left behind unanswered questions about the fate of the vehicle that had cost him such an enormous sum to retrieve.
Two competing theories emerged about the car’s final chapter. Some claim Harris actually paid the staggering parking fees and invested in having the vehicle completely restored to its former glory. After sitting in storage for 25 years, it would have needed serious mechanical attention to become roadworthy again.
The alternative story suggests Harris’s second wife made the practical decision to sell the Rolls-Royce, using the proceeds to cover those astronomical parking costs. Given the financial reality of the situation, this scenario certainly makes fiscal sense.
Either way, the saga of Richard Harris and his forgotten Phantom V serves as perhaps the most expensive reminder to always remember where you parked. In Manhattan real estate terms, that Rolls-Royce might have been cheaper to buy twice than to store once for 25 years.
The story also raises questions about parking garage policies and how long they’ll actually hold onto an abandoned vehicle. Apparently, at least 25 years if you’re willing to keep paying the bills (even unknowingly).
