Yeah, I know... It's off topic. But one of the things that I have always enjoyed about the younger generation of hot rodders is the creativity they (we) bring to the table. A lot of us were in... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
I caught onto these guys when they first made a video, I laughed my ass off watching them battle down the road, It seems to be there cars keep improving as well, the videos are great. I look at my soap box every once in a while that I ran almost 30 years ago.
awesome.. cool of you to dig a little deeper with an interview, answers a few questions I had... Kansas needs better hills
Great interview. Learned a new word: manque'. The videos are terrific, and I've shared them around to friends. I'd like to know about the use of wide slicks by some cars, and bicycle style tires by others. And why the bike tires are often canted (cambered?) inward: roadholding, I suppose. Gotta smile at the car bodied with road signs, and another bodied with a shopping cart - nice rake on the shopping cart 'body'. All in all, hilarious, good, clean fun.
Good fun indeed. The bicycle wheels are canted so they don't collapse. A bicycle wheel doesn't have nearly as much strength laterally as it does when the forces are radial (between the axle and rim). If you put a bike wheel on its axle and placed force on the rim it'll distort or collapse. Man, those 5 years as a bike mechanic are really paying off!!
Each kind of tire has different advantages. Bicycle tires are quick off the line and you can get ones that you can inflate some of them to 100 psi +. Go kart wheels grab better, are slower off the line but hold well in turns etc. Canted bicycle wheels help to counteract the small contact patch, thus less grab in the turns. There is a whole science to the thing that makes a winning car. We race a different course each time, no car performs well in all courses.
FYI: manqué a. (fem. -ée pron. same) 'lacking'; defective; having failed to achieve ambition; falling short of hopes or expectations.
You guys sure know how to have fun and have fun in style. I like it. Just be aware of safety at all times which I am sure you guys already. I was going to attempt to build a soap box car using the old hood for the chevy(idea from dreadman) was underway until someone offered me good money for it. I like the video, the edit and especially content. Laugh my ass off everytime.
Insane! That is 30 minutes of my life I'll NEVER want back. Watch the last two videos first - the production gets better and the audio makes them. I've driven the valley for years and I don't feel safe in an SUV, much less a grocery basket on steriods. Made my day!
Looks like a lot of fun. Reminds me a lot of "Steady as She Goes" by the Raconteurs.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZYQr3Ivg6w
Hmmmm...anyone have a dragstrip with an adjacent hill for the HAMB drags?? There could be soapbox racing for uncompleted hothods! All you would need finished would be the wheel bearings, maybe brakes for the weak at heart... Ultimate Outlaw Soapbox!
Way cool! LOVE IT! and the dude who's editing the footage is a genius. LOVE the Seseame Street theme song. Makes me wanna build one and race it.
i wouldn't worry about it being "off topic" i think it fits well into the spirit of the board. before today i didn't know such a thing existed. i always wanted to build a Soap Box Car, but my roof was the longest incline i knew growing up and since the bath towel parachute never worked i didn't take it any further.
Just don't do a burnout......that would be too dangerous.......... As for the SFVISBF.........hoodlums to the core.......kinda gets back to your roots/childhood, when all ya wanted to do was have fun........dig it man....
I was watching these videos until 2:00 AM when I struck me what I was using my sleep time for. Great idea, and yea I think it fits here (wheels and welding right?). Probably be a law against it in a year or two. That would be alot of fun down Transmountain Rd. in El Paso, a rolling car will hit at least 85 off this hill.
I'm glad this has finally come to Southern California.High speed Outlaw Soapbox Racing has been going on for over 10 years in San Francisco where creativity,Balls out guts,and good laughs are the norm. i want to check this out next time they run!
Tell me more about SF EDIT: The SF one seems too polished for me. Pit crews? Some of their derby cars look more expensive than my real car. http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/sets/1258403/ http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1997/05/13/DD57735.DTL&type=travel
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