CraigsList Pick of the Week: Soap-Box Derby Domination

[cjforumadmin]

http://www.bangshift.com/blog/CraigsList-Pick-of-the-Week-Soap-Box-Derby-Domination.html

[Loren]

Re: CraigsList Pick of the Week: Soap-Box Derby Domination

Whatever happened to rollin' your own? ??? :D

As kids our neighborhood had a great hill and many were into soap-box-type cars. Most had rope steering, literally a rope attached to each side of a center-pivot axle and which was held by hand, but a bud and I used a metal handle for ours. Generally no one's parents helped out and you could tell by the construction quality...but my dad made the steering part as he wouldn't allow us to go out there with a rope setup and indeed they were scary.

Among the fastest was a girl, definitely the Shirley Muldowney-type. Not nice, and out to beat the boys' butts. I wonder what ever happened to her.

A cousin's kid won the World Championship in '66. The car was built in the family cabinet-making shop. In those days the rules stated that construction materials couldn't exceed $40 but was commonly ignored. In the early '70s the series was marred by a cheating scandal where the winner used an electro-magnet in the nose of the car body which tugged at the metal starting gate as it flipped down, that car was said to have around $10,000 into it. Chevrolet dropped out as a sponsor and the idea that any kid could ever build a competitive car faded.

From Sports Illustrated:

August 22, 1966
Faces In The Crowd

David Krussow, 12, of Tacoma, Wash., was timed in 27:17 for the final heat to win the All-American Soap Box Derby championship, plus a $7,500 college scholarship, in Akron. When not preparing for the Derby, David plays football and baseball.

They went back next year but finished well back in the crowd. Things were changing rapidly in those days..

[fedsrule]

Re: CraigsList Pick of the Week: Soap-Box Derby Domination

I built one last year. You HAVE to buy their kit (stock or super stock) and then it's inspected by a rep and locked up overnight.
There are little if any modifications you can do. During local eliminations wheels are swapped from car to car so noone gets an advantage there. You can't paint the body, but you can use vinyl graphics. It seems the most speed is gained from polishing the axles and "adjusting" caster/camber.

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: CraigsList Pick of the Week: Soap-Box Derby Domination

If there's a race, there'll be someone out bending the rules and claiming that they had not choice.
With the latest in coatings, you could easily coat the axles to be close to zero friction.

[SpiderGearsMan]

Re: CraigsList Pick of the Week: Soap-Box Derby Domination

in the service department in best chevrolet [hingham,ma], there are like 20 soap box derby winners hanging up in the rafters , collecting dust -yucky , I wondered what they are doing there

[62-impala-ss]

Re: CraigsList Pick of the Week: Soap-Box Derby Domination

Did that science project that Chad "helped" with have any fire involved?

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: CraigsList Pick of the Week: Soap-Box Derby Domination

There are still pieces of the school's lab floating in low Earth orbit.

Brian

[oldsman496]

Re: CraigsList Pick of the Week: Soap-Box Derby Domination

ya know those little pinewood derby cars...'bout 8-9" long or so...and kids gravity race 'em down a little track for prizes at school or cub scouts? ..... I'm sittin in the stands at my kids private school watching the competition when I see my kids teacher holding up the car my son built ( he really built it - himself ) and hanging off the front of it is a paper clip. and she's pointing at my kid giving him the " Please explain this" look. He was disqualified. the car was painted black and gold and was number 13. his choice of paint job. I couldn't have been prouder.