Dear Lomo – Car Construction

Dear Lomo is an interactive segment of The Lion’s Roar. We discuss topics that are important to the heart of the Lower Moreland High School community.

Question:

“What happened with the senior prank for the Class of 1967?”

Answer:

Senior pranks have always significantly impacted the Lower Moreland High School community, allowing students to bond and create an impact on the school before they depart to the next chapter of their lives. To keep this tradition alive, the Class of 1967 had to think of a prank that would allow them to leave LMHS with a bang. Looking back at the giant bird’s nest that the Class of ‘66 had put in the courtyard (a dedication to teacher Larry Keppel), Duane Miller and Norm Hass realized that the Class of ‘67 could outdo them with their own senior prank: “Well, let’s take a car apart, carry the parts in, and put it back together!”

With donations collected from fellow students in Duane and Norm’s study hall class, there was enough money to implement their plan. Duane and Norm discussed their idea with George Robinson, former principal and teacher at Lower Moreland High School, who thought they were “out of their minds” but still approved their plan and gave them a key to the courtyard. There was only one stipulation: “If the car was placed in the Lower Moreland High School courtyard, the students had to remove it before graduation.” This wasn’t a problem for the Class of ‘67. To obtain the vehicle that would be put in the courtyard, Miller and Hass visited Heller’s Junk Yard on Welsh Road in Philadelphia and purchased a 1959 Hillman with a blown engine for $25, with a refund payable at the time of return.

The assembly of the vehicle started in Johnny Peck’s garage. To fit into the courtyard, the car had to fit through a 54’’ high and 36’’ wide entrance. To disassemble the vehicle, the hood, trunk lid, doors, bumper, seats and interior, rear differential, engine, transmission, and front and back windshields had to first be unbolted and removed. Then, the roof posts and door jambs were cut using a hacksaw, the roof was removed, and 6’’ x 3.8’’ rods were welded inside of the roof posts to align the roof correctly and hold it down when reassembling. Afterwards, the wheels, tires, and gas tank were removed, and the car was cut clean in half using an acetylene cutting torch. Finally, 12’’ x ¾’’ pipes were welded to each cross member in the center cut to accommodate a ½’’ rod to slide into the pipes to connect the car when reassembling.

On a Sunday evening, after long and hard work, the assembly group loaded the pieces of the deconstructed vehicle onto a pickup truck, several cars, and “the Jeep.” The deconstructed car parts were carried into the courtyard through a crawl space and reassembled to form a rebuilt car! After the completed vehicle was in the courtyard, someone said as an afterthought, “Let’s paint ‘Class of ‘67’ on it.” Even though it was already dark, someone went to get the paint to put on the car while Miller and Hass opened a window to a classroom on the first floor to turn on the lights.

The Finished Car in the Lower Moreland High School Courtyard

Coming to school Monday morning was quite a shock to students at LMHS! Talks of a car smuggled into the courtyard were confirmed: the senior class did pull off their epic prank! This prank would leave a lasting impression that even 57 years later, Lower Moreland students still discuss. When disassembling the car and returning it to Heller’s Junk Yard, Ed Heller offered to take the parts but kept Miller and Hass’s initial $25 deposit for the vehicle.

The Class of ‘67’s incredible feat was featured in The BREEZE – GLOBE Newspaper, which came out to the school and photographed the car. This prank was regarded as “a rather unique feat in the history of the school,” which still hasn’t been topped by any other senior class. The BREEZE highlighted the confusing nature of this prank, explaining how the students managed to smuggle in the car to the courtyard. “Over the roof? Hardly. Helicopter? No, that would cost $250, which was a bit too much for the boys to scrape up. Rumor has it that a student or students, representing the senior class, brought the entire car into the courtyard piece by piece and reassembled it in less than two hours. Anyway, the feat is a rather unique one in the history of the school.”

Ultimately, this was accomplished solely through a group of determined high school students: Duane Miller, Norm Hass, John Peck, Jeff Meyer, Bill Muth, Doug Ruch, Bill Piersig, Andy Detky, Tom Junod, and more. A big thank you to everyone who one of the most memorable senior pranks in Lower Moreland’s history possible!