High School Welding Class Builds ‘Carolina Squat’ Truck Just to Sink It Into the Sea

Off the coast of Port St. Joe, Florida, more than 290 artificial reefs host scores of sea creatures. The idea is to provide a habitat for aquatic life where natural reefs are either damaged or absent altogether. Sometimes, old ships are sunken so animals can make their homes inside, while other artificial reefs might be made of concrete. The welding class students at Port St. Joe High School had a better idea for one, and it pays tribute to one of the automotive world’s most polarizing trends: the Carolina Squat.

This life-sized pickup replica is roughly the width and length of a third-gen Toyota Tacoma, but it’s several feet taller—especially at the front end. That’s the signature Carolina Squat look, where the front of a truck points to the sky while the rear sits at stock height. Because of that, its front end is high enough to shame the average NBA player, and its roof is even taller.

It has a shark cutout windshield that would make Jimmy Buffet proud, tubular front and rear bumpers, and wheels that look borrowed from a steamroller. Inside, there’s a single bench seat with a three-spoke steering wheel, a tall shifter made from welded chain links, and even some fake gauges. There’s no floor, though. Maybe it’s supposed to mimic a Rust Belt truck because I’ve definitely seen some from Michigan without a floor.

Port St. Joe students have built artificial reefs before. Since much of the Gulf of Mexico has a barren floor without a hard bottom, they help foster ocean life where there wouldn’t be any otherwise. In turn, these students get to help the environment while also practicing their welding craft. And even though it’s tough to inspect the quality of their welds over the internet, a few photos prove these high schoolers are a hell of a lot better at metal fab than I am. Their taste in trucks is a little suspect, but maybe the Carolina Squat part is an inside joke between them.

The exact coordinates for the reef drop apparently haven’t been decided yet. Either way, once it’s there, you can bet it’ll stay for a while. It weighs around 5,000 pounds, according to one of the students who helped build it.

I’d like to think that when life eventually resets and a new post-human civilization starts exploring the ocean floor in millions of years, they’ll find this squatted reef truck and think it’s some sort of ancient, sacred relic. But really, it was just some high schoolers messing around.

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