June 2009: A scary 25-year-old washing machine with a reserve price of 39p has sold on a New Zealand online auction site for more than £2,000.
Its buyer, a chain of appliance stores, is now considering taking the whiteware monster on a national tour.
In what could become the next internet hit, Scary Washing Machine -- as the Fisher & Paykel was dubbed by its owner, Mark Whittaker -- was sold on the TradeMe online auction site for $5,160 (£2,020).
Mr Whittaker said that the mid-1980s model, ironically named "Gentle Annie" and which still washed clothes well, once shook so violently that it sounded like something from a horror movie.

On heavy duty spin cycle it sort of sounds like the tortured howls of 1,000 undead writhing in the sulphury pits of Hell mixed with a train with carriages full of scrap iron sliding down the road with no wheels, on fire, into a bell factory, Mr Whittaker wrote on the TradeMe site. And once shaking so violently that he saw a porthole to another dimension open above it. Dinosaurs peered back from the other dimension, he said
The online auction attracted more than 800,000 views, fifth of the New Zealand population. An official website scarywashingmachine.com has been set up and is selling T-shirts, and the Scary Washing Machine Facebook page has more than 15,000 fans.
Mr Whittaker plans to spend some of the money from the auction on a honeymoon and give the rest to charity.

Cameron Smith, marketing manager for the 100% chain of appliance stores, said that while it went over its budget for the whiteware, it was a worthwhile investment.
"We were watching it closely and we were intrigued by it. In the end we had quite a tussle for it in the auction. There was another guy who wanted it," Mr Smith said.
The company plans to take the horror machine on a national tour of its 70 stores around New Zealand, with donations going to charity.
Asked whether the machine was as terrifying as Mr Whittaker made out, Mr Smith said: "I heard it running last night and she's pretty loud."

Mr Whittaker has set up a website www.scarywashingmachine.com and is now selling scary washing machine T-shirts.

Original Trademe Page: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=223309871

Scary Washing Machine in Movie:

On the News: