They say you can’t take your worldly possessions with you when you die, but a Brazilian businessman is going to try. Following the example of Egyptian pharaohs, Count Chiquinho Scarpa decided to bury his prizes Bentley Continental in his back yard, so he can enjoy driving it in the afterlife.
62-year-old Count Scarpa, a quirky millionaire from Sao Paolo, Brazil, announced he has decided to do like the pharaohs and entomb his $500,000 Bentley Continental Flying Spur in his back garden, on Monday, via Facebook. The message came with a photo of the successful businessman holding a cockatoo on one arm while resting the other on his luxurious limousine. To assure those who doubted him that his claim was sincere, the following day Scarpa posted another photo of him holding a shovel next to a big hole in his garden, with the car parked behind him, adding that he was going to put in the ground by the end of the week. His bizarre messages got thousands of “likes”and “shares”on Facebook, and eventually got the attention of the media. Count Scarpa was invited on the “Agora É Tarde” TV show where he told host Danilo Gentili he got the idea after watching a documentary on Sunday. ‘I was watching a documentary about the pharaohs of Egypt, very interesting. They buried their entire fortune to have a comfortable life on “the other side”!’ he said.
Photo: Conde Chiquinho Scarpa/Facebook
On Wednesday, Scarpa uploaded yet another photo of him operating an excavator in the back garden of his home to make the hole big enough for the large Bentley. Yesterday, he announced he was going to bury the car today at 11 a.m., Brazilian time, and added a photo of him polishing its hood one last time. Will he really go through with it? We’ll just have to wait and see, but I wouldn’t put it past him. During his television appearance, the Brazilian count got some negative reaction from people who accused him of wasting money instead of helping the needy, and of using the stunt as a way of dodging taxes on the imported vehicle. Scarpa denied the latter, claiming the car’s documents are in order.
Photo: Conde Chiquinho Scarpa/Facebook
Count Chiquinho Scarpa inherited the fancy title from his Italian-born father Count Francisco Scarpa, who got the honor from Pope Pius XII in 1949 for his charitable donations. The eccentric businessman lives in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods of Sao Paolo, on a property spanning over 14000 square meters. He made his fortune in the brewery and mining industries and now runs an investment company. Although he has been married twice, Scarpa has no children to carry on the family name. He does however have a six-month rare cockatoo, Filomena Leopoldina Sofia Scarpa, which he refers to as his “daughter”.
Photo: Conde Chiquinho Scarpa/Facebook
Photo: Conde Chiquinho Scarpa/Facebook
UPDATE: The flamboyant Count Scarpa didn’t bury his car. It turns out it was all a gimmick to draw attention to the issue of organ donning. He appeared in front of family and friends yesterday and made a very simple but thought-provoking statement: “I have not buried my car, but everyone thought it absurd when I said I’d do it. It is absurd to bury their bodies, which can save many lives. Nothing is more valuable. Be a donor, tell your family.” The week-long ingenious campaign certainly paid off. The photo of Chiquinho Scarpa holding a sign that reads “I am an organ donor? Are you?” got over 35,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook, as well as almost 40,000 ‘shares’ in just 24 hours.
Sources: Folha de Sao Paolo, Globo
