UA31316 Lumen Spring 2024 Final Digital - Flipbook - Page 12
Alan Palmer and towed to the University end of the bridge, arriving
at a pre-arranged time. The lighting cable was cut, the towing ‘A’
frame removed, and the FJ was pushed down the grassy slopes
onto the lower-level gravel path.
“All names have been changed to protect the guilty,” it begins.
“The blue FJ Holden glistens in the light of a full moon as the
three youths push frantically against it, searching for a footing on
the loose gravel footpath. Slowly the cumbersome vehicle gathers
speed, creaking and groaning like a wounded mechanical dinosaur
as it lurches onto the grassy slope and heads towards the
comforting darkness of the trees.
How to hang a Holden
Now came the tricky part. How exactly does one quickly and
covertly suspend an old car from the middle of a bridge over a
river in the dark of night?
“The FJ is rolling quite quickly now, rushing onwards towards
its final destination. Mingled with the gasps and puffs from those
pushing the car, a sudden urgent command is hissed through the
driver’s side window: ‘Left! Turn left!’
It had taken some puzzling out by the team, and access to the
University’s engineering labs. In the end the best idea was, as they
often are, genius in its simplicity.
“I jerk the steering wheel violently and without warning the
driver’s door flies open, revealing a momentary blurred glimpse of
the ground below. As I reach for the door the seat slides forward,
pinning my left knee under the dash panel!”
In an email to Lumen, Ross Patterson (widely accepted as the
originator of the pranks both in 1970 and 1971) says: “I don’t
recall who finally came up with the very clever and very simple
solution. This person deserves the majority of the credit. ‘Just park
the car on the footpath under the bridge on the Uni side, then
transport it over to the centre.’
Exciting stuff. The reality was, perhaps, slightly less dramatic.
The centre of gravity
“My memory tells me that the civil engineering guys arranged
the equipment which comprised a workshop floor crane with a
spreader beam (to lift, then transport the car on two chains
straddling either side of the bridge). This was a nice bit of
engineering.”
Just where the car in question came from is a matter for debate
among the men gathered at the Uni footbridge for the reunion.
Some believe it was bought, others that it was donated by a fellow
student, perhaps a
member of the Uni
car club.
Alan Palmer believes
it was Dean Eckert
who transported the
crane in a trailer from
the lab to the bridge.
The main cable was
attached to the chain
on the roof of the FJ
and two lifting cables
at each end of the
spreader beam were
attached to the hooks
at the corner of the FJ.
Final consensus
appears to be that it
was in fact bought by
electrical engineering
student Dean Eckert
from a student who
advertised it on
the University
noticeboards.
In any event, the FJ
was too heavy to hang
as it was, so it was
towed away for
modifications by Eckert
and mechanical
engineering student
Alan Palmer. This
included removal of
the engine and the
gearbox, with the parts sold off to help defray the costs.
Once the car was
lifted, the crane was
manhandled into
place in the centre
of the bridge.
“No-one seems to
remember just who
it was on the night who was brave enough to go under the bridge
to attach the chain from the bridge to the top of the car,” Wayne
Groom, then President of the Adelaide University Engineering
Society, says. “We’d love to know. It was a gutsy thing to do.
“We determined the centre of gravity and made holes in the
floor and roof to pass a chain through to a piece of timber under
the floor so that the car would hang level when suspended,”
Alan remembers.
“In the heat of the moment, things just sort of happened, very
quickly, and it’s now hard to recall exactly who was where.”
“Hooks were welded to each of the corners for attaching the four
lifting cables. Lugs were welded to the front bumper for attaching
an ‘A’ frame for towing without the need for a driver.
When the main cable was attached to the bridge, the crane jib
and spreader beam were lowered to transfer the weight of the car
to it. The lifting cables were then simply shaken to disengage them
from the hooks on the car and the crane was wheeled off the bridge.
The FJ was now officially flying.
“Because the car was to be towed at night, the lighting circuits
were modified to be powered from the towing vehicle so as not to
attract unwanted police attention.”
What happened next
Once prepared, the car was towed to a building site in St Peters
and stashed. All was in readiness.
Once the car was in place, the equipment used was carted away in a
waiting trailer and everyone cleared out, not wanting to be caught,
and potentially fined.
Just after midnight on August 6 the conspirators gathered for a
final briefing. Some of those there that night were on the primary
crew, others had a role in diverting the attention of police, or as
lookouts armed with walkie talkies.
In the morning a crowd gathered and a group of Prosh Day
enthusiasts decided it would be a great idea to jump up and down
on the footbridge and see what happened.
Once these participants had been despatched, it was time to put
the plan into action. The FJ was collected from its hiding spot by
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