Apr 19, 2008 12:26 pm US/Central
Time Running Out For Berwyn 'Spindle'
eBay Auction For 'Car Kabob' Fails; Sculpture May Go To Scrap Heap
BERWYN, Ill. (CBS) ―
After an attempt to sell it on eBay failed, the iconic Berwyn car "Spindle" may be headed for the scrap heap.
The famed sculpture in Cermak Plaza at Harlem Avenue and Cermak Road was featured in the movie "Wayne's World" back in 1992, but now the owners of the strip mall are constructing a new Walgreens drugstore and the 50-foot tower of eight cars is in the way.
An eBay auction was held this week, allowing bidders to put down $50,000 for the sculpture and $100,000 for shipping.
The auction closed at the end of the day Thursday with no bidders. If no one comes up with a new plan, it will go to the scrap heap.
Berwyn residents are divided on what to do with the structure, which is covered with rust and pigeon droppings. John Fay of the Arts Project in Berwyn said the sculpture could be moved elsewhere in Berwyn, suggesting a lot at Ogden and Gunderson avenues as a possibility. The plan is to convince the owners of the sculpture to donate the Spindle to the city, and then raise the money to have it relocated.
California artist Dustin Shuler built the piece in 1989.
When then-mall owner David Bermant commissioned the work, an angry Berwyn resident said the sculpture would make the town "the laughingstock of the western suburbs," while a local elected official decried it as "more junk up our gazoos." Shuler, who came up with the idea by playing with toy cars, said of the design: "I just thought it was cool."
Today, the Spindle is touted in several travel guides, including one that lists it under "Road Cheese.''
Most famously, it was featured with several other Chicago area landmarks in a scene in "Wayne's World," in which Mike Myers' "Wayne" and Dana Carvey's "Garth" are supposed to be driving through Aurora and singing along to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Wayne's World was released in 1992.
When the plan to dismantle the Spindle was announced last summer, Myers and Carvey were asked if they might help the Spindle "party on!"
Carvey did not release a comment at the time, and a publicist for Myers e-mailed last July, "Unfortunately, Mike is going to pass."
Shuler himself was not interested in bidding on his own artwork either.
In an interview from Southern California, Shuler said: "It's pretty decayed," plus: "I don't have that kind of money.''
Shuler said he holds the trademark on the piece but not ownership of the actual Spindle, and couldn't agree with plaza ownership over ways to market the sculpture to raise money to save it.
Still, said Shuler, even if the Spindle ends up junked, "It's not dead.
"I still have all the images and the models," he said. "I could do it again."
The STNG Wire contributed to this report.
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