MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Gravity is an inescapable force. It gives us our atmosphere and our orbit, and it can bring us to our knees. It also makes possible the Soap Box Derby. This gravity-powered American tradition is usually a speed race for kids - not in Portland, Oregon, as Deena Prichep reports.
DEENA PRICHEP, BYLINE: The classic Soap Box Derby car is sleek and streamlined, a sort of bullet shape to minimize drag. But very few of the entries in Portland's 27th annual adult Soapbox Derby fit that description.
JOSH MYERHOLTZ: We are the Giant Sloth Head.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORN HONK)
ELOISE HOATLIN: So this is our heated rivalry-themed big, gay zamboni. It's called the Ice Melter.
BLAKE TURNER: So we're Elvis' Pink Cadillac. We got one real Elvis and three impersonators.
PRICHEP: That's Josh Myerholtz, Eloise Hoatlin and Blake Turner illustrating exactly what makes this event a mix of race and art exhibit and block party. Several thousand Portlanders gathered this past weekend to see cars built out of wooden crates, fake fur and all sorts of things.
JOHN NURSE: We got a combination of hula hoops and irrigation pipe. The chassis is a 1979 Honda Odyssey.
PRICHEP: John Nurse used those salvaged materials to create a giant purple dragon.
NURSE: Well, my kid drew a picture, and then it was up to me to figure out how to build it, 'cause how many times do you get to race a dragon down a volcano?
PRICHEP: The Derby course runs down Portland's Mount Tabor, which is technically a defunct volcano. And as they compete for crowd favorite and best rookie, the cars can pick up some speed, even a recreation of the "Flintstones" car or a giant deep sea angler fish with a bobbing disco ball.
(CHEERING)
PRICHEP: The Soap Box Derby became an American institution in the 1930s, when a national championship launched in Ohio. It turned into a staple of mid-century childhood, showing up everywhere from "Dennis The Menace" to "Bewitched."
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "DENNIS THE MENACE")
JAY NORTH: (As Dennis) I'll show him. I'll build a soap box racer that'll beat his all to pieces.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BEWITCHED")
ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY: (As Samantha) I knew it - he'd do it. I knew he could do it.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As announcer) George Cooper, Brad Healy, Leroy Travis.
DICK YORK: (As Darrin) Atta (ph) boy, Johnny.
PRICHEP: Those early fans might not know what to make of soap box racers shaped like a giant sock or an exploding whale. But day drinking aside, Portland's event, for the most part, is similarly wholesome. Brittany England built one of two derby cars shaped like ice cream trucks.
BRITTANY ENGLAND: It's always so much fun. There's so many people. The vibes are great. The energy's awesome.
PRICHEP: It really is. Leah and Allie, whose parents asked we just use their first names, are only 11 but have been coming to the derby for years.
LEAH: I think it was last year, there was this car that had, like, a whole model of Portland on it. That was really cute.
ALLIE: Oh, yeah, that one.
LEAH: That one was so cool.
PRICHEP: The whole day is a show of engineering and creativity. It feels like a goofy party Portland throws for itself. And yes, there is a slight element of danger in subjecting yourself to the force of gravity, but the fire department is here in a little, red Soap Box Derby car spraying the crowd with water.
For NPR News, I'm Deena Prichep in Portland, Oregon.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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