The Great Volkswagen Ape of Vermont
Volkswagenpedia has spent a lot of time riding the Green Mountains of Vermont – but when we stumbled across the Great Ape & it’s mighty Volkswagen Bug, we were shocked. “The Concrete Ape in Vermont” (via ClunkBucket) ranks up there with any of Weird New Jersey’s haunted graveyards or abandoned schools. Ape & Bug were joined when artist T.J. Neil created the visual in 1987. The Gorilla stands tall among Pioneer Auto Sales, a used car lot on Route 7 in Brandon, VT.
One would think a sculpture of this mass would take years to create – right? Actually, according to artist Neil, the creature was built on-site in a matter of three months. After the ape was stable, and engine/trans axle were removed from rusty VW Bug, it was hoisted up by crane to site atop this majestic stone beast. Notice the chains coming from Ape’s wrists – Neil admits part of the piece’s inspiration came from the motion picture classic, King Kong.
But why a Volkswagen? “…they would have put an army tank up there if they were selling army tanks. A rusty gold Volkswagen appeared at the time, so up it went,” said TJ. Good thing Pioneer wasn’t selling jetliners.
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