How Engineering Students Play A Prank

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, engineering students at University of British Columbia became famous on campus for an ongoing prank involving a stripped-down VW Beetle shell. The students repeatedly hauled the car body into bizarre, hard-to-reach locations—such as rooftops, stairwells, and enclosed spaces—leaving administrators and classmates baffled about how it got there. The prank became legendary for its creativity, technical problem-solving, and sheer effort, turning the Beetle into an unofficial symbol of UBC engineering humor and ingenuity.

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In the late ‘90s & early 2000s, engineering students at the University of British Columbia played a recurring prank where they placed the shell of a VW Beetle in strange, difficult to access places. pic.twitter.com/rXT4s75MzJ

— Time Capsule Tales (@timecaptales) December 31, 2025