A red, hollowed-out Volkswagen Beetle suspended on a rock face in Squamish, B.C., has the hallmarks of a prank by engineering students at the University of British Columbia.

The vehicle is suspended by at least two cables, with its roof marked with a large “E” and its hood with a maple leaf.

An email from “spokespersons of the UBC Engineering spirit,” who claim to represent a group of anonymous students and alumni, was sent to CBC News taking credit.

“The wait is over, UBC Engineers do it again. We are so back,” reads an email signed “Lady Godivia,” potentially a misspelling of Lady Godiva, a noblewoman from the 11th century, considered by some as the patron saint of engineering.

There’s a long history of undergraduate engineering students pulling pranks, whether it’s by suspending Beetles, building an unauthorized monument, or moving something large and leaving it in a curious place.

Christian Kyle, vice-president of the UBC engineering fraternity’s alumni chapter, believes the prank on the rock face would have required months of preparation, a team of five to 10, and a plan verified by a professional engineer.

“They’ve been educated very well, it looks … looking at it with a background in geological engineering, that’s not an easy thing to do, to bolt that into a rock,” he said.

The culture of pranks runs deep in engineering student life and stories of past pranks are shared during orientation, Kyle said.

“In my first year, we had a group chat of maybe 50 people like, ‘We’re going to do so many pranks’ … and then it didn’t happen because you’re taking seven courses.”

That no one has put their name to this stunt isn’t a surprise, Kyle said. 

“One of the kind of common understandings is that if you do pull something off that’s big, and I would count this as big … you take credit after you graduate.”

With this latest stunt, the UBC Engineering Undergraduate Society denies any involvement and the school denies any liability.

An email from society president Humleen Smara says the group “has had, and continues to have, no knowledge regarding the planning of, execution of, or persons involved with any stunts past, present, and future.”

UBC’s associate dean of student success for the Faculty of Applied Science, Agnes d’Entremont, said in a statement that the faculty is aware of the vehicle but hasn’t confirmed who is responsible. 

D’Entremont adds that while the faculty values student creativity, it expects them to prioritize safety and avoid putting others or the environment at risk. And the prank didn’t happen on school grounds, she added.

“We would defer to local authorities for any further details,” reads d’Entremont’s statement.

Bridges past

UBC engineering student pranks, both failed and successful, date back to the 1960s, with two notable examples involving Beetles in the 2000s.

In 2001, a group claiming to be UBC engineering students suspended a Beetle from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

The vehicle, marked with an “E” and a Canadian flag, dangled 30 metres under the bridge for about five hours and snarled traffic before workers cut it down.

A spokesperson for the San Francisco Bridge Authority said the car “sank like a stone” after its tethers were cut.

In 2009, five students were arrested and charged after their attempt to hang a vehicle off of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge failed.

The rope or cable they were using failed and the Beetle plunged into the Burrard Inlet.

The charges were later dropped in exchange for the “alternative measures” program, which often includes community service.

At the time, UBC’s associate dean of engineering, Bruce Dunwoody, said it was a suitable punishment, and he hoped the tradition of pranks had come to an end for good.

CBC News reached out to Squamish RCMP but did not hear back.