The Spindle (Car Kebab) at Paisan's

The story

In 1989, artist Dustin Shuler impaled eight full-size cars onto a 50-foot steel spike in Berwyn’s Cermak Plaza shopping center parking lot. The resulting monolith, officially named The Spindle, became suburban Chicago’s ultimate piece of absurdity—and entered pop-culture folklore in 1992 when Wayne and Garth cruised past it during the opening headbanging sequence of Wayne's World. But roadside oddities rarely survive corporate real estate shifts. In May 2008, despite local protests, the original structure was torn down to clear space for a Walgreens, leaving Cermak Plaza without its defining car kebab.

Fourteen years later, local artist Pete Gamen brought the concept back to town, though built to a different scale. Backed by a state grant celebrating the 2026 Route 66 centennial, Gamen constructed a 23-foot homage in the parking lot of Paisan’s Pizzeria and Bar along Ogden Avenue (Historic Route 66). Instead of heavy sedans that rusted out and attracted roosting pigeons, this recreation features seven sealed fiberglass go-kart shells skewered on a central pole, topped off with a red Volkswagen Beetle branded with Paisan’s and Enjoy Illinois logos.