pleahy

A little off topic, but I wanted to share with you the Pinewood Derby car my son (9) and I made for this year's race. It started w/ a Shelby Cobra kit (pre-cut block and some glue-on plastic body parts). We used molding clay to make the majority of the rear end and windshield. We left the front fenders out because it made the wide-body rear look better! It is certainly with its flaws, but that makes it fun. After reading a few books on the "secrets" of Pinewood Derby cars, it seems that the key to speed is rear weight bias, and attention to the wheels/axles. We will see how it fares in the race, but either way, we enjoyed the process. Studying the curves of the 911 and trying to recreate it really makes you appreciate!

chuck911

When I clicked on this I was half expecting to find that Pinewood Derby cars are now made with cad-cam or maybe even a 3D printer. Its encouraging to see some things haven't changed so much after all. Thanks and good luck!

Cuda911

Nice job!

Seems to me, we only got a raw block of wood to start with, no pre-cut kits. Also, we all had to use the same wheels, much narrower than on your car. Are there more options now?

pleahy

Thank you! The Cub Scout Pack does give each boy the standard wood block and basic kit stuff, but without access to nice wood working tools, the Cobra kit seemed like a good starting point.

GSIRM3

I remember doing that 50 years ago when I was a Scout.

ScottKelly911

Oh man, this brings back memories! My one and only entry to Pinewood Derby. I worked so hard on may car. I worked feverishly for 2 weeks on it and made it look just like a NASCAR, I even carefully cut the rear spoiler for down force. It by far was the best looking car and really looked the part. I had painted it to look just like the King. I had it painted blue and red just like Richard Petty's car, number 43 on the sides, and even painted STP on the hood and all. I thought no way was I going to lose, this thing looked like it was built for serious racing, only thing missing was the deep rumble of a purpose built V8. You can imagine how proud I was. Forward to Race time. I go up on the blocks set my car down onto the starting line of our two lane track. In the lane next to me was a big ugly lump of wood. It didn't resemble a car at all. It wasn't torpedo shaped like others I had seen, it wasn't one of those low slung aerodynamic cars. It wasn't aerodynamic in the least. In fact, it barely looked like he did anything at all to the block other than barely scrape off the squared edges. He must have spent a total of 5 minutes on it including paint and putting on the wheels. It was painted a terrible dark brown and had a red number crudely painted on it. I just remember thinking, that thing literally looked like a piece of $#!+ with a number painted on the sides, this is going to be a slaughter! The question wasn't if I was gonna win, it was by how much? Would I possibly set a new record? Win with the biggest lead? So many thoughts go through your mind as you're waiting for the gate to drop. Then it happened...The gate dropped, the cars began their descent on the hill. Immediately, within 3 feet of the drop a 1 foot lead was had, over before it had even started. By the time a 1/4 of the track had been covered, the results of the race was apparent, the lead was obviously insurmountable. By halfway, the lead was still growing. Finally the car hit the end and a new record was set! Everyone was cheering and excited. A new record, the biggest margin of victory of the day, it was amazing. To this day I'm still pissed that I lost to that ugly damn lump of brown $hit log

I learned a valuable lesson that day, no matter how much time you spend on something, no matter how much attention to detail you pay, if you don't win, you aint $hit!

pleahy

^^ Awesome write up of a classic memory!

ScottKelly911

Thanks Pleahy, can ya tell it stuck with me lol Best of luck to your son. regardless of the outcome of the actual race, the two of you will always look back with fondness of the time you guys spent together building the car. Which I only truly appreciated later on many years after that beat down I received on the track. Have a great time and tell him the Porsche community loves his car!

Hammer911

You and your son have already surpassed the GM design team. Good luck!

LexVan

Looks great. Brings back loads of memories.

yonkers

Nice, pleahy. Is that pdk or manual?

lol scott, great read.

oldman40

great story, love the car. per scottkelly911's story, hope they still let someone win, or does everyone get a trophy nowadays?

pleahy

Thank you! Fortunately, there is still a trophy only for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the race, and in the design categories.