Adelaide millionaire Lance Vater explains why he double-parked his $1m Rolls-Royce Phantom while waiting for a feed at Chicken Shack

An eccentric Adelaide millionaire who parked his $1m Rolls-Royce across two parking bays at an Anzac Hwy fast-food joint says he just wanted to give peas (and gravy) a chance.

It’s hard enough at the best of times to find a park on a Saturday night outside popular Anzac Highway fast-food joint Chicken Shack – but even more so when a multimillionaire parks his Rolls-Royce across two parking bays.

Eccentric Adelaide businessman Lance Vater was spied waiting for a feed (with chicken salt, we hope) inside the Shack at Plympton while leaving his Rolls poorly parked, unattended … and still running!

The Rolls-Royce Phantom costs about a million bucks, give or take, and while we don’t know how much Mr Vater paid for this one, he did reportedly shell out $1.2m for a rare Phantom Drophead a decade ago – only to infamously leave the convertible parked outside with the top down during a heavy storm.

Eccentric Adelaide businessman Lance Vater's Rolls-Royce was spotted parked across two bays outside Chicken Shack at Plympton on Saturday night.

Contacted by The Advertiser, Mr Vater – who was last in the news over an unapproved shipping container tower at his house – said there had been an unexpected delay with his dinner and he wanted to avoid strife at home.

“I left the car running because I was just going to be in and out but there was a hold up with my order,” he said.

“They’d oversold the peas and gravy … they said it was going to be eight minutes (wait).

“Once before I went home without the peas and gravy and I was told to make sure that I get them.”

Mr Vater is married to Lissi Whyte, who owns a controversial scuba diving centre at Glenelg and a boat called Octopussy.

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Lance Vater’s wife Lissi Whyte is licensed to thrill ... and is apparently a big fan of peas and gravy.

Lance Vater in one of his other Rolls-Royces.

Mr Vater said the Phantom was a difficult car to park, and he would not have had enough space to back out of the spot if another car had parked next to him.

“It’s the biggest Rolls they make,” he said.

“I have smaller Rolls and they are even difficult to park.

“What actually happens is, if I park it in a normal park and a car comes in each side of me, I can’t get out.”

He said, for that reason, he was not able to park the car in the city.

Lance Vater on his Auldana property (with the controversial shipping container monolith in the background). Picture: Tait Schmaal

Mr Vater said the car’s length made parking difficult.

The Rolls-Royce Phantom is worth about $1m.

Mr Vater is the inventor of a sliding-door mechanism that purportedly made him millions, and also operates a barramundi hatchery at West Beach, a farm with fish, sheep and cattle at Robe and several factories.

A wine enthusiast, Penfolds Grange collector, Variety Bash supporter and ardent Adelaide Crows follower, Mr Vater owns multiple properties across Adelaide, including penthouse apartments.

He is not the first Adelaide identity draw attention to their parking.

Tobi Pearce, the ex-partner of fitness queen Kayla Itsines, was once linked to a $500,000 Lamborghini with the number plate “Pablo” that was photographed parked in disabled carparks all over town.

And Jo Dyer, the controversial independent candidate for Boothby, was also embroiled in a car parking scandal last month, escaping a fine despite admitting to briefly stopping in a disabled park.