Engineering students hang VW Beetle from Golden Gate Bridge

February 5, 2001 12:31 PM

Engineering students hang VW Beetle from Golden Gate Bridge -- I vaguely remember hearing about some various CalTech annual pranks over the years - but this one took some effort. So much for non-chalantly transporting a rusty Beetle across the border anymore...
posted by mecawilson (9 comments total)

"The pranksters could be fined and ordered to perform community service."

They've been doing this here in Vancouver for years. The cops here usually just laugh it off and try to figure out how to take it down.
posted by deftone at 12:46 PM on February 5, 2001

I hope there were no tour boats under the bridge when they dropped it....
posted by darren at 1:11 PM on February 5, 2001

Brown, 22, would not say which of his classmates pulled the prank. "They still have to get across the border, you know,'' he said.

Well, it made me chuckle... :)
posted by gi_wrighty at 2:24 PM on February 5, 2001

deftone: While I think that laughing it off is a good idea, doing something in the University's home town (where it's been done for up to 19 years previously :-) is a far cry from doing it in a different country.

Hopefully everyone in the class clams up about it though.
posted by cCranium at 5:26 PM on February 5, 2001

darren, the Coast Guard performed quarantine duties while bridge workers figured out how to cut it loose.

This article, like the TV news tonight, would leave you thinking it was an intact Beetle, when really it's just the unibody shell.
posted by dhartung at 5:56 PM on February 5, 2001

In high school, a bunch of us buried two beetles nose-up in the lawn in front of the principals office.

There's something about vee-dubs that make them perfect for these kinds of stunts...
posted by kaefer at 5:59 PM on February 5, 2001

I suppose it would be superfluous to mention the IHTFP hacker folks at MIT whose exploits are hilariously detailed therein... Americans are clever too, damnit! No VWs, though.
posted by evixir at 10:08 PM on February 5, 2001

There was the time I tried to help a friend with her flat tire. The lug nuts on the wheel were frozen, and I was using a cross rim wrench [bet you didn't know what that's called! aka a star wrench or just cross-shaped wrench these days] to loosen them.

When I put enough of my weight on the wrench, the entire nose of the car went up in the air.
posted by dhartung at 12:21 AM on February 6, 2001

No, Evi, but they *did* put a cop car up on top of the dome...
posted by baylink at 7:09 AM on February 6, 2001