have you heard of a "bedbug"? Fiberglass kid truck bed on a newish VW Bug. Darby Waund, a senior in chemical engineering, and her dad transformed a Volkswagen Beetle into a Purdue-themed truck that has become a rolling display of school spirit.

she and her dad used an aftermarket fiberglass conversion kit from a company called Smyth Performance, Inc   Waund said. "And you literally just take a saw, and you chop the back half off."

The Beetle's rear section is cut away, then replaced with fiberglass panels that form the truck bed and the reshaped body.

"You don't mess with the chassis or the axles or anything like that," Waund said. "But you cut all of the metal off the back half of the car, and then you replace it with these fiberglass panels and paint it, make it look all pretty, and now you've got bedbug."

https://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/features/boilermobile-turns-heads-on-purdue-campus/article_1b07e23b-069f-403e-9ad3-d6c6a572da02.html

https://www.facebook.com/bavarianautohausreno/posts/pfbid02NhRDArMs5oPtxyFvb8mfRbPnUp2WFBPZViy5DbQbHnG4PWvSsUjFpCCSXJvNBxJ7l

https://x.com/purdueexponent/status/2045578107357130919

Not the first time I've posted about Purdue: https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-official-mascot-of-purdue.html

but somehow I've never heard of the Worlds Largest Drum crew until now, and Darby is the team co-captain!

In 1921, Paul ‘Spotts’ Emrick decided that the “All-American” Marching Band needed something to set them apart from other bands. Emrick’s idea called for a bass drum larger than any other. The idea for a big bass drum had previously been imagined, and there were already drums four feet in diameter. Emrick wanted one at least twice that size – a “drum larger than the man playing it.” This sparked the idea to create the World’s Largest Drum.

Of course I posted it, it's got WHEELS! HA! (and they are Model A racing wheels!) 

The Drum is transported on a steel-frame carriage. A bar attached to the front of the carriage and two handles fixed to the back of the Drum allows for a crew of 4 to easily maneuver it.

 In the 1920s, the carriage was equipped with standard bicycle wheels, however these were quickly replaced with Model A Ford racing tires, due to the Drum’s immense size and weight. These are the same wheels it rides on today. The Drum itself weighs 315 pounds, while the carriage weighs 250 pounds, totaling 565 pounds.

https://www.purdue.edu/bands/worlds-largest-drum/