One supermarket’s loss was Ehren Thompson’s gain.
The Sydney, Australia man was able to use a 77-pound wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese he found at a local grocery store to get himself into a used Peugeot hatchback, according to BuzzFeed News.
Thompson, who has a history of trading used goods for better things, saw the large cheese displayed in a grocery store that was about to close down. Realizing it possessed some value, he made an offer. The bearded Australian walked away with the wheel after paying a “very low” price.
“I have a theory that cheese doesn’t go off though, it just turns into a different cheese,” Thompson told BuzzFeed.
Even though it was sizable enough to top his spaghetti for years, Thompson had bigger plans for the cheese. He wanted to turn the wheel into wheels, so off he went to a local swap-and-trade Facebook group.
Estimating the cheese’s net worth at $2,100 (deli counter price), he made his pitch:
Now I dont really need 35 kilograms of Italian cheese. I’m posting here on the off chance that I might be able to arrange a trade for something I do need. A laptop or ideally a (manual) car.
It may be unlikely, but I won’t know if I don’t try!
P.S. I got it legally.
Thompson said he got four “legitimate” offers, including a 2001 Ford Falcon and a Focus, but he ended up taking ownership of a cousin’s Peugeot. The cousin wasn’t interested in 77 pounds of parmigiano, meaning Thompson can pay for needed repairs and licensing fees by selling off portions of the cheese online.
The rest of the wheel will go to charity, meaning everyone gets to share in the joy that only a hefty block of cheese can provide.
“It’s done a lot for me, this cheese,” said Thompson, who once traded a Volvo for two cases of beer.
[Image: fourthandfifteen/Flickr]
He could have gotten a used Nissan Leaf for half that much.
Just so he doesn’t trade lemons!
“Thompson said he got four “legitimate” offers, including a 2001 Ford Falcon and a Focus, but he ended up taking ownership of a cousin’s Peugeot. The cousin wasn’t interested in 77 pounds of parmigiano, meaning Thompson can pay for needed repairs and licensing fees by selling off portions of the cheese online.”
In other words, “bearded man gets free car from cousin, has wheel of cheese”.
Yeah, not really sure what this story has to do with anything TTAC stands for. The guy didn’t even use the cheese to get a car, just cockteased 3 people so desperately wanting to unload their cars they were willing to take old cheese for them.
@Sogivald – “bearded man gets free car from cousin, has wheel of cheese”.
If only the bearded man kept the cheese, then it could have been “bearded man gets free car from cousin, keeps cheese wheel as spare tire.”
The article would have been much better if it had included some economic background.
Using cheese in place of money is an old tradition in the part of Italy where this kind of cheese is made:
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2009/08/who_needs_cash_when_you_have_p.html
wait wait…. how did we go from a TTAC article declaring death to the newsbot in 2016, to reposting a BuzzFeed article in the span of less than 6 months?
Someone took a look at their web site impressions and panicked.
Oh God I missed that bit – BuzzFeed. If I saw it I’d have stopped reading.
The new “Pinnacle” dealership revamp at Cadillac actually involves letting customers barter items such as giant wheels of parmesan chesse for Cadillacs.
The custom fragrance is either bad meat or good cheese with a tinge of eau de vomit.
That might not be a bad idea, if they want to sell Cadillacs to Italian farmers.
Wonder what I could get for the $700 piece of nougat I saw at Saks yesterday?
Cavities?
Must be a Trump supporter. He wants to make America, err Australia, grate again.
Today, you’re the winner.
Even though I *hate* cheese—I hate it with a vehement, fiery passion—this is an awesome story.
My wife and I do a lot of Italian cooking. We probably could go through that wheel in a couple of years. But I don’t have a crappy Peugeot to trade for it.
Now, WHAT kind of a guy hates CHEESE for Pete’s sake ?
That’s just WRONG !
“Now, WHAT kind of a guy hates CHEESE for Pete’s sake ?
That’s just WRONG !”
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As much as I agree , some folks are just different in matters of taste .
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I don’t like Olives for example .
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I do love Anchovies tho’ .
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-Nate
I don’t care for most cheeses. some of the milder ones are tolerable, but when you get to the aged cheeses (like blue cheeses) then you can keep them. They smell and taste as though they’ve been already eaten and horked back up.
IMO you can send blue cheese to hell right along with olives.
Mmmmmmmm , CHEESE ! . =8-) .
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I have 5 Siblings all of whom can cook really well , I’da never sold that cheese wheel off , woulda shared it ’round .
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Good he was able to find a nice Pug for free though .
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Sounds like some here need to wear looser undies =8-^ .
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-Nate
I have nothing to do with the upcoming cheese heists.