Posted on 08/16/2009 6:39:22 PM PDT by kingattax
EDMONTON–Owners of pint-sized Smart cars aren't laughing about reports that vandals may be targeting the tiny vehicles in a 21st-century take on tipping cows over.
The Internet and blogosphere are abuzz with media reports that pranksters may have pushed several of the tiny vehicles into canals in Amsterdam.
And now a man in his 40s is charged with mischief for allegedly tipping a Smart car onto its side along Edmonton's Whyte Avenue, a trendy bar-and-boutique strip that sometimes attracts rowdy drinkers.
Windows, exterior mirrors and panelling on the car were damaged, and despite the outrage of owner Kevin Spaans, amused bystanders posed with the flipped car and snapped photos with their cellphone cameras.
Police are seeking other suspects, but one official said it appears to have been an isolated occurrence.
Ken Lust, sales manager at David Morris Fine Cars, which sells the popular car, says goofing around with it isn't a harmless prank but rather a brazen act of property damage.
Lust has himself been a victim. Three years ago, he went outside one morning on a property he owns northeast of Edmonton to find that somebody had tipped his Smart car over during the night.
"The first reaction is shock and disbelief. The second reaction is anger because your car has been vandalized. It's the same feeling, I guess, if you walked out and saw your paint all scratched up or your windows smashed in," he said.
No one was ever arrested. Lust believes it was the work of several fellows who probably had too much to drink that night.
The sales manager spent several hundred dollars repairing smashed windows and a bent gas cap.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestar.com ...
“I remember when it was all the rage to put a VW Beetle between stationary objects. A couple guys could do it.”
This would happen to one of my teachers in highschool every once in a while. She never seemed to get too upset about it though. She would just ask the crowd of “innocent” bystanders to assist and we would.
As long as there was no damage, it’s a harmless joke. Those days were certainly different from what’s considered funny now.
So true. Our pranks were done in fun. Seems like there is a lot more malicious intent nowadays.
We on the football team carried a cheerleader's red VW Bug up the school steps and into the gymnasium before a basketball game!
Hee hee...
Looks like a fun way to go deaf.
Sounds like a lot of peoples college dorms. lol
True, but tipping over a guy's (or gal's) motorcycle can get you gutted in return if he catches you.
ROFLMAO.... okay, that’s wrong.... but damn that’s funny. ROFLMAO
Probably pretty stable, actually. Consider that a motorcycle is very stable at 65 mph. But stopped, you'd better have a foot down, or have it resting on a kickstand or it will tip itself.
Hey!...I had the Gordini version with the four speed which I bought while the Jag XK-150 was waiting for a clutch to arrive from the UK. Great commuter car back than and provided me with much amusement in the late sixties
After work I would drive to a gym next to DC's Duke Ziebert's restaurant. There was almost always a very small space in front of the gym. If I could get the back end in I could lift and bump the front end to the curb. With the rear engine it was easier than it looked. Caught a lot of open mouthed stares from the movers and shakers going into Duke's.
Friday night forays into Georgetown sometimes evolved into tomfoolery street racing, nimble but not fast. A few times I had escaped being nabbed by running through the GU parking lot and just squeaking between the metal bollard barriers. The GU folks finally had enough and decreased the bollard spacing resulting in a speeding ticket for a Renault Dauphine Gordini...which I had framed. ;>)
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