Haunted Nissan

"**Haunted Nissan**" is the fifth episode of the second series of *Wellington Paranormal*, and the eleventh episode overall. It aired on 13 November 2019.

## Synopsis

Minogue and O'Leary pull over a driverless 80s boy racer car only to discover it's haunted by the lovelorn ghost of the original owner. He's looking for his old girlfriend from 1989, but how will he react when he finds out she's moved on?

## Plot Summary

While trying to catch a tagger that defaced their police car, O’Leary and Minogue are requested to investigate a possible zombie sighting. The zombies turn out to be attendees of a zombie-themed hen party. The party guests assume Minogue is a stripper and as O’Leary comes in for backup, the vandalised car is stolen by two drunk women. Minogue also loses his shirt in the process.

At the station, an annoyed Maaka announces that he can no longer afford both members of the Paranormal Unit because he spent a large amount of money on a drone. He sends them both to investigate a car that may have been stolen by a ghost.

O’Leary and Minogue interview the car’s owner, Trent Corby, at his house in Naenae. He explains that while customising the car, a green 1985 Nissan 300ZX - Z31, he heard a creepy tune (identified by Minogue to be *Are You Old Enough* by Dragon), a “mournful moaning” and a sinister voice telling him to “get out of my car”. Trent left the car and it disappeared. As the police leave his home, they get a report of a green Nissan that matches the missing car’s description, driving erratically.

O’Leary and Minogue pursue the car and it looks as if no-one is driving it. They pull over in front of the Nissan and find a small 10-year old boy inside, who denies driving. O’Leary takes the boy to the station and Minogue drives the car back to Trent. In the police car, the boy claims he heard a similar voice that Trent heard upon entering. Meanwhile, Minogue loses control of the Nissan as it speeds to 60 kmph and tells him to get out. He manages to get it towed back to Trent’s house.

At the station, Parker helps the officers identify the car’s history: it was previously a black car owned by a young man named Shane Thompson. In 1989, he got upset when his girlfriend, Sharon Horn, broke up with him and he drove the Nissan off a bank and into the ocean, killing himself and writing off the car. Maaka interrupts and reports that the car has disappeared again.

The officers return to a distressed Trent, who says the car burst out of his garage through the door. The officers suspect that Shane is now haunting the Nissan and head to his former residence in the hope of locating it. There, they find Sharon, who explains that she left Shane and kicked him out because he loved the car more than her. They then find the car waiting outside and get in, seeing Shane’s ghost in the rear-view mirror. Sharon explains to him that he has been dead for thirty years, which Shane has not realised.

The officers leave the car so Sharon and Shane can be alone together, but when Sharon insists she cannot commit to a relationship with a dead man, Shane suddenly drives the Nissan away with her trapped inside. The officers chase after it until it gets blocked by a van. The officers attempt to free Sharon from the car but get locked in with her as it heads to the bank it previously drove off from. The officers request backup from Maaka, but Shane finally stops just short of the bank when Sharon says she’ll think of him as “a wanker” if he kills her. Maaka’s drone bounces off the car and breaks.

While Sharon and Shane get intimate in the car, Maaka tells the officers that he will keep both officers in the team, but only for three days a week if he can get a refund on the drone. Sharon leaves the car and comments that she “just sent Shane to Heaven”. She and the Paranormal Unit watch as Shane drives a ghost version of the car into the afterlife.

## Cast

* Mike Minogue as Officer Minogue
* Karen O'Leary as Officer O'Leary
* Maaka Pohatu as Sergeant Maaka
* Thomas Sainsbury as Constable Parker
* Renee Lyons as Sharon
* Joe Gordon as Shane
* Camilo Leon as Little Kid
* Kawakawa Fox-Reo as Trent
* Kate McGill as Drunk Zombie Woman 1
* Susie Berry as Drunk Zombie Woman 2
* Gina Laverty as Tagger

## References

1. ↑ "New Zealand Television: Wellington Paranormal: episode guide" - Australian Television Information Archive