Price is Right for Calgary car winner in host Barker's final taping

A Calgary manhas won the final car Bob Barker will ever give away on The Price is Right.

Dean Lindstromwas in theaudience for the popular game show, taped in a Los Angeles studio last Wednesday.

The show,to be aired Friday, is the last for Barker, 83,who is retiring after 35 years as host.

Lindstrom, his girlfriend and a buddy camped outside the studio for two days to ensure they would get audience seats.

"Our tickets that we had were only standby tickets," he said in an interview with CBC Radio.

"We were not guaranteed into the studio audience at all, so in order to do that, we went down two days ahead of time and camped out on the streets of L.A., just so we couldget in the front of the standby line."

When Lindstrom heard his name calledand the familiar"Come on down!" ushering him to the front of the studio, he got so excited that he tripped and fell as he randown theaisle.

"I tell you, it was almost like time froze … I actually did a big swan dive in the aisle as I ran down the aisle,"the oil rig worker said.

The Calgariansaid he was wearing a T-shirt with a picture of his face on Barker's body and the message "Need A Host?"

Lindstrom initially won a jukebox.

Then Barker turned to him and said, "'Ever since Day 1, in Canada, this show has been a hit. I sure would like to send you home with one of these," Lindstrom recalled.

It was a brand new Chrysler 300, which Lindstrom won by guessing a list price of $29,450 US.

The happy ending comes with strings attached.

Game show and lottery winnings in the U.S. are taxable.

Lindstrom is on the hook for the seven per cent California state tax and an IRS fee of 30 per cent before he can get the car back to Calgary.

'He's a class act'

Lindstrom said the highlight of the trip was not the win, but the chance to meet Barker, shake his hand and thank him for all the years of service on TV.

"He’s a class act, he’s a true professional and it was a pleasure to meet the man," he said.

Barker's final episode will air twice on Friday, once in its regular daytime slot and again in prime time.

Meanwhile, Barker fans are bidding on eBay for the microphone used by Barker on the show.

The long, skinny microphone is being auctioned as a fundraiser for an animal rights charity.

Bidders have pushed the price to $19,000 US.