Australian Driver's Kitchenware Joyride Doesn't Pan Out

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Anything that happens in Australia is already sort of funny, because we all remember the Simpsons episode where the Aussie locals play knifey-spoony and Homer salutes the toilet.

Well, from the land of Midnight Oil, Nicole Kidman and the defunct Ford Falcon Ute comes this story, thanks to Jalopnik, the South Australia Police, and a man who wouldn’t let a missing steering wheel end his motoring dreams.

According to a South Australia police report, cops were called to an Adelaide street on September 4 after a resident reported a suspicious red Mazda sedan and a strange man loitering nearby.

When they arrived, officers spied the red Mazda leaving the scene. Naturally, they followed the driver to a nearby parking lot, where they found that his vehicle’s standard equipment was somewhat lacking.

Instead of a boring steering wheel, this Mazda came equipped with a rare aftermarket accessory — a frying pan bolted to the steering hub, sans handle.

Police didn’t describe the man’s lifestyle, but the frying pan reads “17-7-14-14-5 Uncontrollable & driven to love only a beating HEART R.I.P. (unintelligible squiggles).” It appears that the heartfelt message was scrawled in Whiteout correction fluid, which is the ink of poets.

It turns out that the frying pan was the least of the driver’s concerns. Police booked the 32-year-old for driving unregistered and uninsured in a defective vehicle with the defect label removed. Also, the Mazda’s front license plate was altered (naughty…) and the driver was in violation of his bail conditions.

So, the cops impounded Adelaide Andy’s Mazda for 28 days. Hopefully, when it returns to the streets of sunny Australia, the new (or current) owner installs a wheel that provides some crash protection. We suggest this:

[Images: South Australia Police; Mike Mozart/ Flickr]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Pwrwrench Pwrwrench on Sep 08, 2016

    Chronic industrial exposure to diacetyl fumes, such as in the microwave popcorn production industry, has been associated with bronchiolitis obliterans, a rare and life-threatening form of non-reversible obstructive lung disease in which the bronchioles (small airway branches) are compressed and narrowed by fibrosis (scar tissue) and/or inflammation. Bon Apetite! This stuff is the main ingredient in fake butter. Don't smell it if u want to keep breathing. People who make several servings a day have had lung damage, not just those who work in manufacturing it.

  • -Nate -Nate on Sep 08, 2016

    As so often ; A good article followed by even better comments ! =8-) . Greetings from Ganado, Az. -Nate

  • Theflyersfan With sedans, especially, I wonder how many of those sales are to rental fleets. With the exception of the Civic and Accord, there are still rows of sedans mixed in with the RAV4s at every airport rental lot. I doubt the breakdown in sales is publicly published, so who knows... GM isn't out of the sedan business - Cadillac exists and I can't believe I'm typing this but they are actually decent - and I think they are making a huge mistake, especially if there's an extended oil price hike (cough...Iran...cough) and people want smaller and hybrids. But if one is only tied to the quarterly shareholder reports and not trends and the big picture, bad decisions like this get made.
  • Wjtinfwb Not proud of what Stellantis is rolling out?
  • Wjtinfwb Absolutely. But not incredibly high-tech, AWD, mega performance sedans with amazing styling and outrageous price tags. GM needs a new Impala and LeSabre. 6 passenger, comfortable, conservative, dead nuts reliable and inexpensive enough for a family guy making 70k a year or less to be able to afford. Ford should bring back the Fusion, modernized, maybe a bit bigger and give us that Hybrid option again. An updated Taurus, harkening back to the Gen 1 and updated version that easily hold 6, offer a huge trunk, elevated handling and ride and modest power that offers great fuel economy. Like the GM have a version that a working mom can afford. The last decade car makers have focused on building cars that American's want, but eliminated what they need. When a Ford Escape of Chevy Blazer can be optioned up to 50k, you've lost the plot.
  • Willie If both nations were actually free market economies I would be totally opposed. The US is closer to being one, but China does a lot to prop up the sectors they want to dominate allowing them to sell WAY below cost, functionally dumping their goods in our market to destroy competition. I have seen this in my area recently with shrimp farmed by Chinese comglomerates being sold super cheap to push local producers (who have to live at US prices and obey US laws) out of business.China also has VERY lax safety and environmental laws which reduce costs greatly. It isn't an equal playing field, they don't play fair.
  • Willie ~300,000 Camrys and ~200,000 Accords say there is still a market. My wife has a Camry and we have no desire for a payment on something that has worse fuel economy.
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