WSU Helmet Car Sells for $8,000 to Lucky Fan

Dusty? Check. Bald tires barely clinging to reality? Check. Giant Cougar helmet slapped on the front? Double check. This relic of WSU’s quirky past just sold for $8,000 at auction—starting bid: $800.

The “Palouse Frankenstein” first appeared on WSU Surplus’s social media feed in July, alongside old laptops and standing desks, immediately inspiring fans to start plotting: tailgate hero? Mobile cheese delivery? Beehive taxi? Flashy mower? Scariest Uber ride of your life? The possibilities were endless.

Get our free mobile app

Enter Andy Largent, co-owner of the Flatstick Pub franchise, a mini-golf and games chain founded in Kirkland now with six locations across the state. Largent, a lifelong Cougar fan, was lucky enough to win the auction. Plans for the car are still in the brainstorming stage: mini-golf hole? Pub mascot? Star of the next fundraiser? Promises are being made that it will be seen by the public, because why own something that cool and hide it?

The helmet car’s backstory is pure 1990s WSU magic: gifted by the Seattle Seahawks, cobbled together from a Ford Granada, and painted crimson and gray. It mostly lived a life of parade appearances and wobbly glory.

Now it has a new chapter—and maybe a few more near-death experiences at mini-golf courses and tailgates. Cougar fans, rejoice: the helmet car lives on. Well, in spirit at least as currently, it doesn't run.