Having your car stolen sucks, and recovery is rarely an easy process. Sometimes stolen cars are crashed, sometimes they’re set ablaze, sometimes they’re vandalized, sometimes they’re stripped for parts, and sometimes they’re even exported. However, a recent incident in Scotland takes the cake for weirdness as a stolen Honda Civic was balanced atop a giant cylinder in a very public area.
Stolen vehicle recovered in Annan this morning. Outstanding. @YPLAC ? pic.twitter.com/WCabaubtJQ
— SWS Classic Motors (@SWSClassics) May 17, 2023
This car caper took place at Scott’s Street roundabout in Annan, Scotland, along the B721. The BBC reports that on Wednesday, right around the crack of dawn, locals discovered an eighth-generation Honda Civic hatchback perched atop a large metal drum in the middle of the roundabout. A police media release claims that “Subsequent enquiries have established that the vehicle was stolen from an address in Annan,” so it sounds like the Civic didn’t have a particularly far trek.
Annan. Tesco roundabout . Hilarious . pic.twitter.com/vvdIU6eGSu
— Lag fan club (@club_lag) May 17, 2023
Police are still trying to figure out how the Civic got up there, with Sergeant Brian Dickson of Annan Police Office saying in a statement, “We are particularly keen to hear from anyone with dash-cam or CCTV footage which may show the car being transported or abandoned.”
If we hop on Google Streetview and grab the latest capture of the roundabout, it’s easy to see that there’s no real elevation, nor an obvious berm or something that could’ve effectively served as a ramp. To end up atop that metal drum in that location under its own power, the Civic likely would’ve needed to either enter the roundabout from an oncoming lane or start out in reverse before launching into the air by clipping a fixed object. However, a lack of visible damage suggests that the Civic was likely placed atop the barrel intentionally using a forklift or similar equipment.
Indeed, that’s what British tabloid The Sun reports may have happened. Locals seem to reckon that someone carefully stacked the Civic up there, either as a prank or as revenge, and then just left the scene. It’s possible that the person behind these shenanigans may have brought the large red cylinder to the roundabout as well, given how it doesn’t appear on mapping services.
A bigger question is how did people not notice? If we pull up a satellite view of Scott’s Street roundabout, on one of the exists sits a Tesco fuel station. You’d expect drivers to be coming and going through the night, with one potentially seeing the Civic entering its precarious position. If industrial equipment was used to stack the Honda hatchback atop the barrel, it’s hard to believe that nobody in nearby residential areas would’ve noticed. There are homes within 100 meters (328 feet) of the car’s resting place, surely someone must’ve heard something.
I doubt that this search for CCTV and/or dashcam footage will be all for naught. The roundabout in question features plenty of street lighting and several businesses, which suggests that someone’s cameras may have caught the Civic dumper mid-act. As for why the Civic was placed there, that’s yet to officially be seen. On the plus side, the car’s no longer up in the air, so it’s not like Annan has a new roundabout sculpture.
(Photo credits: Twitter/Lag Fan Club, Google Maps)
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Obviously its a modern interpretation of Stonehenge. All it needs is exposure to the Scottish weather and you’ve got Rusthenge.
It’s a plinth. With a Honda on it. Where is the nearest art school?
It’s Scotland, this sort of caber-tossing accident happens all the time.
“A bigger question is how did people not notice? If we pull up a satellite view of Scott’s Street roundabout, on one of the exists sits a Tesco fuel station. You’d expect drivers to be coming and going through the night, with one potentially seeing the Civic entering its precarious position“
Tesco fuel stations are frequently unmanned overnight, if they are open at all, and this is a tiny town in Scotland that has been bypassed by the A75. No one is driving through there to anywhere else. The chances of anyone seeing this during the two minutes it would take to stack the Civic up there with a telehandler is about zero.
No one is going to call the police about this unless they think the English are doing it.
“Telehandler”! I love that the Brits have a fun word for what, in my experience, we Americans call a “big-ass forklift”. Good on ya, mates.
No a telehandler is a type of forklift with a boom. Definitely heard it called that in America too.
https://www.jlg.com/en/equipment/telehandlers
Yep. And often, even if you’re forklift certified, you’re not certified on a telehandler, that requires even more training.
It’s just the official term for what most American construction workers call a Lull. Lull is a brand name like Kleenex or Xerox, but if you want to rent a forklift with a telescoping boom on it, you need to search under Telehandlers. They are distinct from regular forklifts and tend to be found on jobsites rather than at warehouses, doing jobs that might otherwise require a small crane.
Vtec kicked in Bro!
Surely some civic-minded resident will accord with the local authorities and provide some insight and clarity into this situation. They might even find themselves a good fit for local government, perhaps leading new elements of a pilot project in urban renewal. It could really be a prelude of great things to come…
……. I’ll show myself the door.
An anonymous someone Freed a Honda and became a Legend in their City Today. N-One said, “It was a Breeze… you know, just once in your Life you gotta have a bit of fun and all that Jazz…”
Thank you both for taking us on this Odyssey, it made for a nice Concerto this evening. Such thoughts are an Integra part of this website and hopefully Inspire more people to visit.
I’m a little disappointed there isn’t any sex in this story.
(Sorry)
Disappointed, or, Amaze-d?
Maybe we’re…Ridgeline-ing…close to it…? (need another cup of coffee)
A +1 for remembering the Concerto.
Well, you gotta stick to the beat!
Said with such Clarity.
The French judges took away half a point for not quite sticking the landing on the balance barrel.
What sound do you think it made as it got lodged up there? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO5Was4Wf1k
Obviously there was not enough downforce…. needed a much bigger spoiler.
“Son of a bitch,” murmured Leftenant Land Rover. “Tis a warning to the rest of us to turn around. Courage, Lads.”
Point for “Leftenant”
Nope, way too big. Try a 17mm.
Someone’s mini mushroom wore off before they could descend into the pipe.
I bet the guy’s bank did it. They really have him over a barrel in that car.
What do those weight, maybe 2500 lbs? A group of 6-8 guys could probably lift it up there.
6-8??
6-8 and a considerable amount of alcohol
I think they need to go to the local pubs and ask if say, eight or so drunk guys were talked into lifting this thing and placing it there, not realizing it was stolen
There’s a good chance the drunk who did it is himself currently trapped in a coil at the local playground
Shenanigans?
“The next one of you who says shenanigans is gonna get pistol whipped!”.
“Hey, Farva, what’s the name of that restaurant you like with all the shit on the walls?”.
Given that Tears of the Kingdom just came out, this looks like someone getting really creative with Ultrahand.
Maybe someone can just do Recall on the car and see what happened!
They just need to wait a few more hours for the Viagra to wear off.
Proof that no matter how much bragging you do in the forums, you simply can’t shoehorn a 20-liter 1-cylinder into a Civic.
As someone who has recently had his truck stolen and recovered*, I can sympathize. At least my truck wasn’t found atop a cylinder.
*It is my firm belief that whoever stole my truck was looking for the easy button on an LS swap. After they destroyed the steering column and drove it away, they discovered that there wasn’t an LS under the hood, but a lowly Six. They abandoned it in a casino parking garage, and casino security notified the police.
More proof that gambling is an addiction that leads to other consequences like crime.
Were there monkeys in that barrel?
BTW, do you pronounce your last name HUN-dal, as in Attila the, or HOON-doll, as in Michelle Rodriguez?
Irn Bru gives you wings.
You think this may belong to the local hoon and the town folk all agreed to this to make a point? If so, I bet all the local cameras weren’t quite functional that night.
For the Greater Good.
It’s art !! leave it alone
Indeed it is! It shows this communities Civic pride! (͡o‿O͡)
Derivative! Says the Critic.
(But still pretty darn cool.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindle_(sculpture)
Whether or not it is true, I choose to believe that every town in Scotland has a street called “Scott’s Street”.
I think it is true, often the location of Robbi Burns favorite pub. (Annan has at lest two of the latter)