Volkswagen on a Smokestack

Volkswagen Bug On A Smokestack Chris Clemens (Atlas Obscura User)

Driving by a strange car accident can often cause people to wonder how in the world tons of rubber and steel ended up where it did, but this sentiment has never been more appropriate than when viewing the Volkswagen perched on the top of the smokestack near Dudka’s Garage.

Right off the main highway in the former industrial city of Amsterdam, New York, Dudkas Garage has employed the classic advertising technique of the roadside oddity to draw business for decades. Perched precariously atop the 1896 brick smokestack of the now-razed Bowler Brewery is a rusting Volkswagen Beetle.

The little red car seems undamaged from afar and is placed just above a near-unreadable sign for Dudkas, making the car seem that much more out of place thanks to the lack of context. Parked atop the old chimney by a crane in June of 1980, local rumor has it that the car is still in working condition. However no explorer or racing daredevil has yet climbed up to confirm this.

Know Before You Go

The city Zoning Board has recently approved plans for redevelopment of this area which will include demolition of all remaining structures on several parcels including the one with the old brewery powerhouse and the attached smokestack the VW is sitting on. If the Planning Board approves it this "attraction" may be gone within the next couple months.