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Aernoud Bourdrez: In my life I have seen things that made me think, "What the hell is this?" Jackass is one of those things. When I watched Jackass: The Movie, I thought: "I got to have this X-ray." As a lawyer, I specialise in copyright law and Dunn's X-ray is also a unique piece in that light. X-ray scans aren't normally protected by copyright law, but this one is.
So how did you go about acquiring it?
I just sent Ryan Dunn a letter. It's easy to make things happen when you have money but that doesn't excite me, and I don't think the Jackass guys care that much about money either. So I tried to come up with something that would trigger his curiosity. Through my job, I've learned that giving people a story can get you a lot further than just giving them money. I'd bought that Mercedes in the spur of a moment, but I'd had enough of it at that point. So I offered the car for the picture, and Dunn thought that was a good deal.
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No, it did not. Apparently, cars in the US must have a different kind of bumper, and there was also an issue with the safety belts. I could have all of that fixed for $8,000 but I thought that was too costly. So I thought of offering Dunn the DAF. I sent him some footage of reverse races, and he loved it. Did you ever get the Mercedes back?
People ask me that question a lot. I did not get the car back but I don't really care. It probably went up for auction. Somebody in the US must be driving it now. Maybe I should try to trace it – that might be fun.
I think it's genius.What is the stupidest stunt you ever pulled yourself?
When I was younger, I used to tie my rollerblades or my mountain bike at the back of cars on the streets of Amsterdam and New York. That was really dangerous, and once I almost died doing so. I was holding on to a car riding my rollerblades, when another car hit one of my wheels. The whole lower side of one skate broke, and I narrowly avoided getting stuck underneath the car. But I don't do that kind of stuff any more.Why did you decide to sell the butt X-ray now?
I feel that my part in the story of the X-ray is done. I don't think its journey is complete, though. Hopefully someone will make me an interesting offer. So far, this one guy has offered to trade the X-ray for a Porsche. I found that very funny, because the story began with a German sports car, and this way it would end with a German sports car too! A good story is worth a lot more than money.