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Pinewood Derby Stories and Photos from Maximum Velocity
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PINEWOOD DERBY CAR SHOWCASE
Today's showcase cars are examples of scaling from model cars.
Venom - Steven & Noah Hunnicutt
Noah developed this design based on a Hot Wheels "Venom" car. The tricky part was drilling holes sideways and vertically, and carving out the shape with a Dremel tool. Two sets of tapered weights are screwed to the bottom. At the race, Noah won a trophy for "Most Creative".
Formula One - Lawrence Eaton
In November of 2007, Toyota (New York Region) started what (hopefully) will be an annual pinewood derby for the service technicians of all the Toyota dealerships in the region. The region is broken into districts, with the dealerships of each district competing, and those winners then compete against the other district winners at the Regional finals to be held in New Jersey. My district had its race last night (eight dealerships, thirty-one entries). Using parts, tools, and information from your web site, my Formula One car was not only the Best in Show, but also the
district winner.
'69 Mustang - Lyle D. Leis
I thought you might be interested in a pinewood derby car I recently built based upon a ’69 Mustang Hot Wheels car.
My son’s Cub Scout pack recently sought donations to purchase a new pinewood derby track. To show the pack’s appreciation, I was asked to build a pinewood derby pace car that would show the track sponsor names, and be used to commemorate the opening of each year’s race.
I chose the ’69 Mustang because of its classic appeal and its easily recognizable features. I limited myself to the wheelbase, overall size and weight of a standard BSA pinewood derby car, since I wanted to show the scouts what was possible within the confines of the rules.
The hollow car body was glued up from 0.25 inch thick pine based upon the profile drawing I designed. It was shaped, sanded, primed, and painted with sapphire blue metallic enamel followed by high gloss clear coat. Since the rules required the use of only unaltered official BSA wheels, the large wheels and low profile tires had to be simulated with paint.
Unlike most pinewood derby cars, the chassis and running gear was made as a separate unit and the hollow body was attached to the chassis. This allowed the body proportions to be more realistic. The small block under the body is a hollow compartment that holds lead shot, allowing for slight adjustments in weight to meet the weight limit.
The windows and sponsor names were created using a Testors custom decal kit available at hobby stores.
As you can see, I could not completely capture the original, but the car is clearly a ’69 Mustang. The second photo shows the body separate from the chassis. Many people can't appreciate the time and effort that went into this wooden car, but I think that your readers might have a pretty good idea.
The Pace Car was a big hit at the race and it was very rewarding to see the admiration of the Cub Scouts and parents. We hope to send photos to the sponsors showing their logo along with a note of thanks signed by the Cub Scouts in the Pack.
