The Story Behind Walt Disney's Final Experience: A 1965 Mercedes 230SL

Enter Dean Jones, a mild-mannered actor who, by 1964, had appeared in a number of tv reveals. In line with the Walt Disney Archives, Disney noticed Jones on one in every of them (“Ensign O’Toole”) and forged him within the lead function for a movie they had been about to make referred to as “That Darn Cat!”

By then, Disney had turn into a family identify, with some estimates placing his internet price at some $20 million.  As Jones tells it, whereas he and Walt had been strolling down the streets of Los Angeles someday, they occurred upon a Mercedes-Benz dealership. Disney glanced by means of the window and noticed the convertible two-seat 230SL sitting on the showroom flooring. In classic Walt type, he instantly stated, “I can not afford that,” and the 2 stored strolling.

A number of steps later, the magical kingdom magnate all of a sudden realized that he truly might afford it, circled, entered the dealership, and wrote a verify for $3,000. The handwritten notes on the verify say the quantity was for a down fee and indicated that there was nonetheless a steadiness of $5,500.00.

Whereas on the set of “That Darn Cat!” Jones noticed Disney’s Mercedes getting used within the movie. At all times the businessman, Disney thought renting it out to the studio for $100 a day was a great way to get his cash’s price.

Disney died in December of 1966, whereas Jones went on to look in eleven films for the corporate, turning into “the embodiment of Disney movies” till the mid-Seventies.