Yesterday, we brought you a story about a man’s tragically thwarted attempt to carry a car bumper from the Clipsal 500 on a public train. Local comedian Joshua Cruse had snapped the now famous photo around 10pm on Sunday night, writing on Facebook that he had “no idea” what was going on, but was “sure it is great”.

Today, we are proud to report that ripitup.com.au has secured an exclusive interview with ‘The Bumper Dude’ himself. His real name is Luke, and by the sounds of it he had a really, really great weekend.

via Joshua Cruse

As Luke recounts the tale, he and his mate got the bumper from the Australian GT trophy series on the final day of racing. “We were walking past Pit Lane,” he tells ripitup.com.au, “and it was sitting there. We asked, ‘What are you doing with it?’

“They said ‘Nothing, it’s rubbish‘.

“We said, ‘Do you mind if we take it as a souvenir?’

“They said ‘Yeah, no worries.‘”

Mario Labrosciano of Veloce Motorsport confirms Luke’s account. “I gave those two guys that bumper at the track,” he says. “It broke off our race car Porsche 997 GT3. They were so keen at 1.00pm to get it home!”

The souvenir became particularly handy later in the day when rains threatened to wash out the race, at which point the industrious pair used the bumper as a makeshift umbrella as captured by ripitup.com.au reader Alexander Leary.

via Alexander Leary

Sadly, as we revealed on our exclusive story yesterday, the bumper never made it onto the train to Seaford (not Gawler, as initially reported). “Basically, the security there at the train station said we couldn’t take it on the train because they said it was ‘dangerous’”, says Luke. “They said it was a sharp object, and somebody could get hurt.

“I basically said, ‘Mate, I’ve seen people with fishing rods, bikes, all kinds of stuff on the train, and there’s not that many people hopping on the train’ – but nope, no go.” It was Luke’s friend who was most looking forward to taking the bumper home. “My mate, he’s a major Porsche fan and he was pretty stoked.” When the security said they couldn’t take the bumper on the train, Luke’s mate “wasn’t too happy about it.”

Police who were present came over. “The cops were basically just saying, you know, watch your language. They were pretty good about it all. They weren’t too agro.”

It was a heartbreaking moment, especially since they’d been carrying the thing around all day. “On the way back from the Clipsal we actually stopped in a few different bars,” says Luke. “We didn’t have an issue anywhere.”

via Kara Pickard

What’s more, Luke’s mate had already figured out where the bumper would go. “There’s a bonnet above his TV from a Valvoline car from 2005. He’s got a rear bumper above the fire place. There’s also a Jack Daniels bumper in the hallway. He’s thinking of sticking this front bumper above his bed.”

Still, Luke the Bumper Dude is resolute. “We will be getting it,” he confirms, “but I don’t know exactly when”. The bumper sits, at the present moment, in storage at Adelaide Central Station waiting to be reunited with its new owners.

If the bumper finally makes it onto that train, ripitup.com.au will be there to let you know. You all seem pretty invested in this grand tale.

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Main image:

Alexander Leary / Facebook