TAKerry Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 I believe the AACA had some of the Fisher coach models at their HQ a couple of years. Some amazing work. (sorry for the hijack) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted November 27, 2020 Share Posted November 27, 2020 6 hours ago, Buick35 said: Do they still have soap box derbys? I just became a grandparent and it would be fun to try to build him one someday. To answer your question, Yes. Look here. https://www.soapboxderby.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 The only benefit to cleaning my mom's attic is that I found some more pictures. So, I won in 1977, my next brother down raced in 1978 in Senior and then my little brother ran Junior in 1980 and won also. For some reason all the pictures of me are crystal clear from 1977, but after that it looks like we were using a camera from the late 19th century. Here is my brother's Senior car from 1978 or 79. He would have been 12 or 13. Notice it looks a lot better than mine. My dad got very interested after I won. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted December 3, 2020 Author Share Posted December 3, 2020 These are shots from 1980. During Derby week they would hold an open house on Friday I think. The cars would all be lined up for display. The Senior cars are in front here and the Junior cars are in back. You get an idea of the differences and level of sophistication. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozstatman Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 (edited) Caption for this photo is "Billycart racers raring to go 1928". Edited December 9, 2020 by Ozstatman spelling (see edit history) 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 1 hour ago, Ozstatman said: Caption for this photo is "Billycart racers raring to go 1928". We called those "gigs" as kids. The dirt road with those little wheels must have been something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 Great thread. We never experienced this as a kid where I was from, even though we had nothing but hills and mountains. I thought i would contribute this. I thinks it's an NOS Billboard circa 1971? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 2 minutes ago, auburnseeker said: Great thread. We never experienced this as a kid where I was from, even though we had nothing but hills and mountains. I thought i would contribute this. I thinks it's an NOS Billboard circa 1971? looking at the cars I might say late 50s to early 60s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auburnseeker Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 I could be wrong. I did get stuff from the son of a salesman , this being among it, that dated from the early 60's to mid 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL1630 Posted December 9, 2020 Share Posted December 9, 2020 (edited) On 11/20/2020 at 11:50 AM, trimacar said: It was not just the build and the day of the race, there was also an inspection day to make sure no rules were broken (and there are a lot of rules). There are ways to make a car go faster down a hill, I never learned them, obviously. The people that know the legal tricks and how to implement them do well. The forbidden tricks are a little more risky, minor things they’d let you fix on inspection day, a blatant cheating attempt and it was zero tolerance. Once a car was approved, the parent and driver didn’t see it again until race day, so no tricks after inspection. Just an example, you can shim your axles so that the driver can shift weight, and only three wheels touch the ground, thus less rolling resistance. Not allowed by the way. the most famous cheating trick was the winner of a 1970’s Derby. There was a metal gate which held the cars and then flipped forward to start race. Officials noticed the winner’s car seemed to jump forward when gate went down. Turns out there was an electromagnet hidden in the nose of the car... I thought this video was really interesting, it's all about the electromagnet car but also talks about the history of the derby and what the experience was like for the kids who ran in it. Worth a watch if you're interested in the derby. https://youtu.be/I2Fl-6JbWR0 Edited December 9, 2020 by AL1630 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted December 17, 2021 Author Share Posted December 17, 2021 I found some more negatives. The car on the right ramp is my little brother. I'm standing next to the ramp. That car didn't run well. No idea who the two cars in the other picture are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 You have to wonder if Chevrolet ever regretted withdrawing their sponsorship. Bound to think it was good advertising but Smith would probably have axed it anyway had it made it thru the 1980s. Several 1967-68 AMT Chevrolet annual model kits included brochures on the Derby. It was fascinating to me as a 12 year old but, no Soap Box Derbies in Southside Vajenya back then. Not that my dad would have supported any interest in it- if it didn't have to do with a tobacco field he considered it unimportant and not worth discussing.🙄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted December 17, 2021 Share Posted December 17, 2021 On 11/27/2020 at 9:28 AM, Buick35 said: Do they still have soap box derbys? I just became a grandparent and it would be fun to try to build him one someday. Yes they do. https://www.soapboxderby.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted October 14, 2022 Author Share Posted October 14, 2022 There were a few Soap Box Derby cars for sale at Hershey this year. I should have taken some pictures. One was a 1950s car which was pretty cool. I just scanned a few more negatives and found these. Two of my Senior champ car, one of my little brothers car before it was painted. Not sure who was in the ramp shot, but it shows you how little the slit was you were looking out of. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt G Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 Yikes - this gives me a whole new perspective of that with the photo of the "peeking out" factor! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 Those pics are so cool. You must have been having the time of your life running those things! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC38dls Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 Surprised you weren’t wearing sunglasses to make it more aerodynamic. Oh to be a kid again and build the coolest racer on the block. dave s 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted October 14, 2022 Author Share Posted October 14, 2022 It’s funny you guys should say that. When I was looking at the pictures I was thinking how awesome it was back in the 50s 60s and 70s to grow up in middle-class suburbia. So much great stuff going on and so much fun. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted October 15, 2022 Author Share Posted October 15, 2022 I think I'm just about out of pictures. These two are my little brother. He was third of three and this is him and his junior car before the race in Worcester which he won and went to the Championships . I think it was July 1980. He would have been 9. First year of elgibility if I remember correctly. The smaller the kid the better off you were. He's like 6-1 225 now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimm63 Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 (edited) Juniata College version- Fall 1974. There were two classes, bicycle wheels and no bicycle wheels. Won my class, but managed to crash into a parked car on the last run. Nothing hurt, other than my pride. Did put a dent in the car though, and the owner didn't have a sense of humor about it if I recall. That hill was a lot steeper than it appears in this picture. We got up to some pretty good speed. I am on the left in the first pic. Second pic is after I crashed. Others hit that car too, as evidenced by the debris. Edited October 15, 2022 by Zimm63 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted October 15, 2022 Author Share Posted October 15, 2022 I found my rule book for my Senior car in 1977. The book is 35 pages of rules and regulations and very detailed. Here are a few example pages from the begining. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Those dimension guidelines are very insightful. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted October 25, 2022 Author Share Posted October 25, 2022 Found some more pictures. These are from the fall of 1977 at a Rally in NH. My last hurrah as I did not fit in my car after that. Once you win a local race you are retired from the All American, so building another car just to rally didn't make much sense. So we built one for my brother the next year. Out of 40 cars I believe I placed 5th. Couple of interesting points, this hill was steep enough to not need ramps. You would change your weight distribution because of that. I ran 10-15 lbs heavy in the rear when I won on ramps, and for this race I ran even front to back. In the finish line photo (with me winning the heat) You can see the brake coming down on the blue car between the axles. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Dobbin Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 (edited) Great Thread, the sport not available on Princeton, NJ. My father, brother and I built a yard car with a big heavy 5 HP gas engine, to heavy to drive on the grass. Learned to drive a real car on 12th birthday and bought a motorcyvle to restore @ 13. About age 30 I bought a set of Soap Box Derby steel wheels, never had kids and sold wheels at a flea market 20 years later, after retiring from the Great American Races, which satisfied my need to race. Edited October 26, 2022 by Paul Dobbin (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted October 26, 2022 Share Posted October 26, 2022 5th place overall…….seems you were slow back then also. 🥸 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Dobbin Posted October 27, 2022 Share Posted October 27, 2022 I think 5th place in any National Competition is pretty darn good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
30DodgePanel Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 Found this photo recently. No affiliation, just wondering if anyone recognizes it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheelin Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 I stumbled upon this topic and this is in the hopes that alsancle or any of you others can help me. I have the #384 Senior Division racer from the '77 Derby. Built by the Industrial Arts Class at Hampstead Hill Jr. High. I did not pilot the racer nor did I compete in The Derby. I just came across the racer many years ago. Anyway, I have been acquiring documentation, history, etc. on the racer since I came across it many years ago. I have an original program from the '77 Derby ( 40th ) as well as an original rule book and one news article from a local paper ( Baltimore Sun ) from when the car won its' local qualifier for The Derby. I have the Champion's Banner from that Derby although this racer was NOT the Champion. The racer was piloted by Brian Bernat. Any additional info would be greatly appreciated !!! Thank you one and all in advance. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 1 Author Share Posted March 1 12 minutes ago, freewheelin said: I stumbled upon this topic and this is in the hopes that alsancle or any of you others can help me. I have the #384 Senior Division racer from the '77 Derby. Built by the Industrial Arts Class at Hampstead Hill Jr. High. I did not pilot the racer nor did I compete in The Derby. I just came across the racer many years ago. Anyway, I have been acquiring documentation, history, etc. on the racer since I came across it many years ago. I have an original program from the '77 Derby ( 40th ) as well as an original rule book and one news article from a local paper ( Baltimore Sun ) from when the car won its' local qualifier for The Derby. I have the Champion's Banner from that Derby although this racer was NOT the Champion. The racer was piloted by Brian Bernat. Any additional info would be greatly appreciated !!! Thank you one and all in advance. That is cool. He was in Akron the same year I was there. Of course I don’t remember anything about it. Or remember the car. However, I’m sure there were many local newspaper articles at the time. I was in a bunch of them as it was a relatively big deal back then. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freewheelin Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 Thanks for the reply. I was looking at all of the pics you posted to see if I get an image of "my" racer in the back ground and / or even a pic of Brian. I contacted the school years ago which is no longer a Jr. High and they said they would have no info. They do but just don't know it. I'd have to make a road trip and find it myself. I was looking to get a pic of the shop class that built the racer. I know there is "stuff" out there somewhere. I got hold of a photographer at The Sun who's father also worked for The Sun and worked the local qualifier and was able to at least get a copy of the article I do have. That's all of the provenance I have ( other than the program and rule book ). Speaking of the program, whoever had it penciled in the names of the heat results so I was lucky to get that. "My" racer got third in his heat. Oh well, it was worth a shot and I appreciate your interest. Thanks again !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 The list of cars in participants for the All-American should be available somewhere. Also look at the pictures of my car towards the end of the thread. You can see that it has the all American numbering stickers on it. Your car should have those also if it raced. They don’t come off easily, and mine are still onto this day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadster Willy Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 When I was on the 2003 Model T Tour Across America, from California to Detroit, I rode with Gil Klecan. In discussion with him, I found he had been a Soapbox Derby racer, and actually made the front cover of either Life or Look Magazine at the time. He had put graphite dust on the exterior of his car in an effort to make it faster, and wound up looking like a 1910 Indianapolis Race Driver, with the black dust all over his face. It was quite a dramatic picture. I believe this was in the early 50's or late 40's when this occurred. He was only 12 years old or so. But he DEFINITELY looked like a real race car driver! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bloom Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 AJ, thanks for starting this thread a few years ago. A good read this morning with my first cup of coffee. It is Nostalgic for me and in keeping with a conversation we had last night with some close friends who came over for dinner. After food and a couple bottles of wine, we spent 30 minutes talking about how lucky we were growing up in a middle class neighborhood with parents who loved us and were responsible. I am so thankful for that and don't want to take it for granted. This thread on Soap Box Derby has me wanting to do it today......and I'm 59. We never did anything this organized or official, but prior to discovering girls and getting our license, we were "builders". It was always something........Cars made from wood with no engine, an assortment of Minibikes and gocarts (store bought and home made), Dams of creeks to build a pond with dreams to have the "best fishing spot in town", Treehouses, so many of them, in our yards (or the neighboring 50acre woods)...no parental help, no one to explain the limits of a Cantilever design (leading to a collapse from 15 feet up and a broken arm for my buddy), Ramps at the edge of the Lake so you could ride your bike as fast as you could down the driveway, keep going down the hill to the lake, hit the ramp and get 10-12 feet of vertical air and maybe 25 feet out into the water when you and bike splashed down in water over your head...... Before girls and cars, we woke up everyday when there wasn't school and started on the next hairbrained scheme we had cooked up the night before. We did all this crazy stuff because no one stopped us or told us not to. Fishing, football/basketball/baseball in the neighborhood, and Building crazy stuff. That was our youth. It was the best. I still remember the first buddy in our group telling us that he liked a girl in our class and started doing stuff with her instead of hanging with us. We thought he was crazy.........until one by one, we followed his lead and that magic season came to and end. I see periodically a Soap Box Derby car for sale, I've thought about picking one up with good aesthetics for garage art, but kind of feel bad doing that since I didn't ever build or race one. This thread is a great read for the kid in me....in all of us. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Yes, Great thread. John B. you and I are about the same age, as I just turned 60. Your experiences as a kid mirror mine and we could have been hanging out in the same group! Just like AJ's post sparked your memories yours has sparked mine! Thank you. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bloom Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 5 minutes ago, TAKerry said: Yes, Great thread. John B. you and I are about the same age, as I just turned 60. Your experiences as a kid mirror mine and we could have been hanging out in the same group! Just like AJ's post sparked your memories yours has sparked mine! Thank you. At our age, I am very sensitive to the fact that some had a difficult childhood. I'm sure everything wasn't rosy for mine, but I have selective memory after all those years. I remember it all being good. Luckily we didn't kill anyone playing with fire and trying things that wouldn't have happened with more adult supervision. Sorry for the hijack AJ......back to Soap Box Derby cars. Kudos to the people who brought that whole concept to the public circa 1934? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 (edited) It was a great time for most all of us baby boomers. All of the things we could do without supervision by just "go outside and play" stuff we did it is a miracle that any of us survived compared to today's bubble wrapped kids. It was a great time of imagination where we did not have the diversion of electronics and could expand our imaginations and learn lessons that would last a lifetime. My car stuff besides working on cars with my Dad at that age, I participated in the Fisher Body Craftsman guild and built two cars that I still have. Good memories. Edited March 2 by Larry Schramm (see edit history) 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcapra Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 I guess a soap box car does not have an engine, so these cars from the early thirties are called what? I didn't know Groucho and Harpo raced these. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 From 1968. I'm sure the spear was outlawed the next year. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 Which was probably a good idea. This is me 9 years later t-boning my opponent. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yachtflame Posted March 15 Share Posted March 15 On 3/2/2024 at 8:30 AM, Larry Schramm said: It was a great time for most all of us baby boomers. All of the things we could do without supervision by just "go outside and play" stuff we did it is a miracle that any of us survived compared to today's bubble wrapped kids. It was a great time of imagination where we did not have the diversion of electronics and could expand our imaginations and learn lessons that would last a lifetime. My car stuff besides working on cars with my Dad at that age, I participated in the Fisher Body Craftsman guild and built two cars that I still have. Good memories. Didn’t happen if no pictures! 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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