Minor league baseball teams have a long history of coming up with promotions that make you do a double take, and the Dubois County Bombers just topped the list. Tomorrow night the Indiana team is giving away a used SUV to one lucky fan at the ballpark, and no, this isn’t your typical raffle prize.
The vehicle up for grabs is a former Indianapolis Police Department Ford Interceptor, the kind of retired cruiser that usually ends up at a municipal auction with a few dents and a lot of stories. This one apparently has more stories than most. According to the team, the SUV is barely running, which is either the most honest promotional copy we have seen all year or a genius way to lower everyone’s expectations before the engine even turns over.
What makes this particular Interceptor stand out is its alleged connection to a genuinely famous moment in Indianapolis sports history. Back in 2010, Colts punter Pat McAfee was arrested for public intoxication after a predawn swim in the Indianapolis Central Canal, a story that has followed him from the locker room to his broadcasting career and back again. The Bombers say that per this SUV’s oral history, it was the very cruiser used to haul McAfee off to the station that morning.
Whether or not you can trace the paperwork on that claim, it is exactly the kind of local legend that makes a used car feel like a piece of memorabilia instead of a liability. And if the McAfee tie-in wasn’t enough of a hook, wait until you hear what happened to this SUV after its law enforcement career ended.
A Mystery Modification Nobody Can Explain
At some point after retirement, someone got their hands on this Interceptor and made a change that has left even the team scratching its head. The entire back seat was ripped out and replaced with two full sized toolboxes. Not a toolbox and a spare tire, not a toolbox and some folded seats. Two giant toolboxes, bolted in where officers and, allegedly, a shirtless punter once sat.
Nobody involved seems to know why. Maybe a contractor bought it at auction and needed hauling space. Maybe someone just really, really loves organized storage. Whatever the reason, it turns this already odd giveaway into something closer to a rolling time capsule.
How to Win a Piece of Indiana Lore
The giveaway happens tomorrow night at the Bombers home game, and all you need is a ticket to be in the running. Given the backstory, this might be the most entertaining “barely running” vehicle to ever cross a home plate promotion.
The hilarious ticket page states: “Tonight is not about luxury. It is not about reliability. It is not even about good decision-making. Tonight is about winning a car that has absolutely refused to quit on life. One lucky fan will leave the ballpark as the proud owner of a vehicle that has more character than horsepower, and more stories than miles left on the odometer.”
Anyone over 18 that buys a ticket will receive a raffle ticket at the gate. You can buy additional tickets during the game, with proceeds going to the Dubois County Bombers Charities.
Minor league teams thrive on exactly this sort of thing. A brand new car giveaway is nice, but a busted up ex cop SUV with a celebrity rumor and a random toolbox conversion is the stuff fans actually talk about for years. Sometimes the weirder the prize, the better the story that comes with owning it.