PLEASANT GROVE, Utah — A Utah man’s long-running love affair with his old car came to an explosive end this weekend when he dropped a 1,917-pound pumpkin onto it — from nearly 14 stories high.
The stunt, which blended nostalgia, humor, and small-town spectacle, took place at Hee Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove, marking a dramatic and fitting farewell for Alan Gebert’s 1991 Geo Metro — a car he had driven faithfully for nearly 35 years.
A Viral Idea Becomes Reality
Earlier this year, Gebert’s wife posted a video online celebrating his dedication to the compact car, which quickly went viral. But as the car began to fail, Gebert, who also happens to be a giant pumpkin grower, decided to keep an old promise: if the Metro ever stopped running, he’d crush it with one of his enormous pumpkins.
“It’s just something my wife and I have talked about for years,” Gebert said. “We thought this would be the best way for it to go — and it finally happened.”
Before its spectacular demise, the massive pumpkin competed in the Utah Giant Pumpkin Festival, where it won first place with an official weight of 1,917 pounds. Needless to say, the Geo Metro didn’t stand a chance.
Not the Only Pumpkin Smash in Utah
The Pleasant Grove event wasn’t the only display of pumpkin power that day. At Utah State University’s North Logan Pumpkin Toss, engineering students showcased their creativity — and physics skills — by launching pumpkins with homemade trebuchets.
Participants competed for distance and accuracy, aiming at targets that included old cars, trampolines, and pianos. The event culminated in another dramatic drop: a 750-pound pumpkin crushed part of a minivan’s roof, though the lighter gourd didn’t deliver quite the same level of destruction as Gebert’s nearly one-ton monster.
Before the big finale, USU mascot “Big Blue” got the crowd roaring by leaping onto the minivan’s windshield — a pre-show tease before the colossal crash.
A Celebration of Utah Ingenuity and Tradition
From Gebert’s sentimental farewell to his beloved car to the USU engineers’ high-flying experiments, both events highlighted Utah’s quirky, creative spirit — a blend of science, fun, and community celebration that’s become an autumn tradition in the state.
