While Purdue Pete may be the athletic mascot, the official university mascot is the Boilermaker Special. Built on a truck chassis, it’s outfitted to look like a Victorian locomotive that Purdue’s engineers researched. Like live animal mascots, there are different “editions” of the Boilermaker Special, and even a club dedicated to its maintenance. This rendition was an alternate Purdue logo from 1994 to 1996.