Vintage Soap Box Derby racers on exhibit at Memory Lane Museum, a private automotive and transportation museum located in Mooresville, North Carolina
The Soap Box Derby is a youth-oriented soap box car racing program which has been running in the United States since 1934. Proclaimed "the greatest amateur racing event in the world", the program culminates each July at the FirstEnergy All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship held at Derby Downs in Akron, Ohio, with winners from their local communities from across the US and abroad travelling to compete.
Since the Soap Box Derby's creation, numerous kid-built racers have since been retired, most of them probably meeting their demise, but many ending up in the attics, basements and garages of countless American households. Today some of these survivors have been finding their way into public venues like bars and restaurants as decorative examples of Americana, with many more being exhibited in museums honoring Soap Box Derby's heritage as a cherished American institution.
Museums with Soap Box Derby racers
Below is a list of various museums and historical institutions as well as venues open to the public that have in the past or are currently exhibiting Soap Box Derby racers or adding them to their permanent collections, usually acquired via donation by the cars' original owners.
Hosted an exhibit in 2023 titled Hub City, which featured in the children's area a transportation-themed display comprising two Derby cars that visiting kids could climb into.[4][5] Among them was a racer piloted by 2010 Super Stock World Champion Tucker McClaran.[6][b] Another car piloted by Allen Blake, who competed as a class A entry in Salem, OR in 1953[8] and 1954,[9] is exhibited as well.[10]
Home of the Soap Box Derby, dedicated to showcasing Championship racers that won in Akron since the program began. It houses about half of the 140+ vehicles that have crossed the All-American finishing line as winners over the years. They include a replica of Robert Gravett's Old #7 racer from 1933 used in the official logo, and 1947 World Champion Kenneth Holmboe (pictured).
On exhibit
1952 World Champion Joe Lunn's racer, dubbed "The Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia"
1961 Colorado Springs, Colorado racer Bob Carter's racer, a unique example of a car that did not win in Akron
1963 World Champion Harold Conrad's racer
Ken Cline's 1967 World Championship racer, dubbed "the Grasshopper"
Karren Stead's 1975 World Championship lay-down racer
1983 Senior World Champion Mike Burdgick's lay-down racer
Has on exhibit a few Derby cars, including a blue class A entry from New Castle, Pennsylvania piloted by Ronnie Boy,[16][17] who won the Best Constructed Award in 1970.[18]
Hosts an exhibit with a 1940 Derby car[19] said to be from the community, along with a helmet and race jersey from 1941 Anderson Champ Joseph E. Harbin displayed above.
A retail facility in an historic property has a Derby car piloted by 1994 Goshen Masters Rally Champion Greg Koop[21] suspended above the retail floor.[22][23]
The museum hosted an exhibit titled A Race To Remember: Catawba County's Soap Box Derby (1967–1972), which opened on March 9, 2024.[30] It featurd six Derby cars of local champions from those dates.[31] A film by Richard Eller, which features interviews of Hickory Derby director John Vaughn, as well as past racers,[32] was shown on the opening day, along with sales of a book titled Down the Hill – A Race to Remember that Eller compiled directly from transcripts of those interviews.[33][34][35]
Was on exhibit
The exhibit included cars piloted by the following Champs: Mark Steven Cockerham winning in 1968, Mike Bolch in 1969, Keith Whitener in 1970, Keith Throneburg (pictured) in 1971, and Buster Carpenter in 1972. Rounding out the six was Andy Killian, who took 2nd in 1972. The exhibit ran through the summer.[36]
Mike Bolch's 1969 car (pictured) has already been on display at the museum as early as 2018.[37]
Collection
Clinton County Historical Museum at Paine-Gillam-Scott House
Has three Derby cars suspended high above the exhibit floor,[40][41] including those piloted by 1950 local champion James Roy (pictured), and 1957 champ Robert S. Briggs.[42]
Has an interactive exhibit titled Story of Us: Explore the History and Geography of the Pikes Peak Region,[43] which features, under the letter "D" on the website,[44] a Derby car piloted by 1947 local entry Al Bates.[45]
Home of the Detroit News newspaper from 1917 to 2014, housed in its reference center a Derby car piloted by 1964 Suburban Detroit Champion Patrick Shorkey. By October 2014 it was one of the last remnants remaining[52] at the property while the newspaper was relocating to a new facility.[53]
Hosted an exhibit by Brooklyn-based artist, activist and professor Gregg Bordowitz, titled I Wanna Be Well, an art installation on the AIDs pandemic continuing to exist worldwide. The exhibit included a piece titled Drive 2, which was a lay-down Derby car of unknown origin covered in vinyl stickers.[56] After the 2018 exhibit, it opened again in 2021 at MoMA PS1, a contemporary art institution located in New York (Queens), with the same Derby car.[57]
Hosted in concert with The Courier Express is a series of exhibits titled Turn Back the Clock, which in April 2024 features a Derby car piloted by 1950 DuBois Champion James M. Shaffer. The exhibits can be viewed at the E. D. Reitz Museum in DuBois.[58]
Has multiple Derby cars, including racers piloted by 1940 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Champion Jack Finney[59][60] and 1970 York County, Pennsylvania Champion Mark E. Ilgenfritz, both exhibited above the Soap Box Derby display case.
Hosted an auction of historic wax figures on May 13, 2017, which included a Derby car[64] piloted by 1980 Montgomery, Alabama Senior Champion Allen Young.[65]
Has on permanent display a Derby car piloted by 1959 Ellwood Champion Eddie Berendt. Exhibited in 2019 is the Bernard "Bucky" Kline miniature collection of Ellwood Champions from 1936 to 1962, of which Berendt's car is replicated.[68]
Is hosting an exhibit from March 22 to Oct. 6, 2024 titled A Woman’s Place: How Women Shaped Pittsburgh, which includes a Soap Box Derby display that features a car piloted by 1982 Western Pennsylvania Senior Champion Jessica Clark.[90]
Hosted from February to March 2023 a Derby-themed exhibit featuring photographs of past participants, memorabilia and a single racer (pictured) driven by 1953 High Point, North Carolina racer Henry Clyde Williams Jr. (1937–2022).[93] A panel discussion and question period was also held on the last Saturday of the exhibit. Invited to speak were Harrison "Bud" Lyon of Durham, the first African-American youth to win High Point's Derby in 1954; Bill Blair Jr., who participated in High Point's first Soap Box Derby in 1951;[d] and Gail Simpson, one of the first girls to race and the first to win High Point's Derby in 1972.[94] Ms. Simpson was unable to speak due to an illness.
Was on exhibit
Historical and Genealogical Society of Indiana County
Has in its collection a Derby car donated in 2002 by owner and 1957 Indiana, Pennsylvania Champion Kennard Fairman.[95][96] The car was exhibited in 2022,[97] along with trophies for his Championship win in Indiana and his Best-Design award at the 20th All-American World Championship in Akron later that summer.[98]
Has two Derby cars on exhibit, a 1960s entry from Birmingham, Alabama piloted by Matt Wright,[105][106] and a second by two-time (1997 and 1998) Birmingham, Alabama National Derby Rally (NDR) Masters Champion Will Waldrip.[107][108]
Has a single Derby car piloted by Johnny Altman, who raced in Orange and won the Best Constructed Award in 1960. Mr. Altman donated the car in 2013.[109][110]
Has a racer in its collection that was piloted but Russell Dille,[111] who took sixth place in the local Topeka Derby race in 1973.[112] Included with the car is related memorabilia like Dille's helmet and photos of him constructing the car.
Exhibited at their 49th annual banquet was a Derby racer piloted in 1955 and 1956 by Larry Shively. Held at the Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion in Warsaw, speakers also included fellow racer Tom Plew, who came second at the local championship in 1957.[114]
Has a large collection of their local champ cars on display at their topside building.[115] Some of their earliest entries, all sit-ups, include those piloted by Scott Straley in 1956—their oldest car, Jerry Campbell in 1957, Don McCellan in 1958, Dick Kraner in 1959, Larry Wilkins in 1960, Larry McCoy in 1961, Ben McCoy in 1963, Jeff Engel in 1964, David Beach in 1966, Rick Wilkins in 1967, Jim Hunt in 1969 and David Brenstuhl in 1970. Early lay-down models include Ray Blair in 1971, Pike Hull in 1972, Bill Hunt in 1973, Brian Hunt in 1974,[f] Mike Roth in 1975, Ken Hoffman in 1976, Lisa Spires in 1977 and Lori Roth in 1978.
Has a Derby racer in pristine condition that was piloted in 1967 by Amherst, Ohio Champion David W. Gard (1953–2006).[119] Gard's children donated the car and its memorabilia in 2012,[120] which has remained on exhibit by the main entrance ever since.[121][122]
Hosted from January 2023 to January 2024 a Derby-themed installation featuring pamphlets, photographs[123] and a 1971 racer loaned by its owner, driver Stephen Longo.[124]
Has twenty-one vintage Derby cars in their collection.[127] They include examples from Dan Parks of Charlotte, North Carolina, who finished his long career in 1965 as a class A;[128] Neil Castles Jr., also of Charlotte, who took 6th place in the Senior Division of that local in 1985;[129] and Mark Whitley of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who competed at the All-American in 1990 in the Kit Division, winning his first heat.[130] The following year he raced as a Senior at the All-American, taking 8th.[131]
On exhibit
Steve Matlock of Knoxville, TN, who competed from 1955 to 1958, taking 2nd in 1956.[132]
Has two cars piloted by 1965 Charlotte, North Carolina Champion David Alexander, and 1966 Charlotte, North Carolina racer Mark Alexander on the showroom floor.[137]
Held an exhibit titled Design Aerodinâmico – Metáfora do Futuro[138] (en. Aerodynamic Design – Metaphor for the Future), featuring a 1940s Derby car from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.[139]
Has numerous Derby cars on exhibit,[140] including examples piloted by 1934 Indianapolis, Indiana Champion Raymond A. Kern, 1949–51 Muncie, Indiana class B racer Garland Ross Jr.(pictured), 1962 Detroit, MI Champion Robert Joseph Hanlon, as well as 1969 entries from Mark Larivee of Detroit and local Steve Fralin of Lincoln.
Home of GM Futurliner#10,[141] has on display two Derby cars,[142] one a blue class B entry from the 1960s,[143] and the second an orange lay-down design from the 1970s.[144]
Has several Derby items, including two cars. One (pictured) was piloted by 1961 Hartford, Connecticut Champion Robert J. Pusateri,[145] and the second by 1994 National Derby Rally Stock Division Champion Laura Shepherd[146][h] from Kent, Ohio. The cars are not on public display.
Has three Derby cars hung on a wall display,[150][151][152] including one piloted by 1982 Junior World Champion Carol Ann Sullivan. 1954 Hartford, Connecticut Champion Denny Zimmermans's car (pictured) was on exhibit there in 2021,[153] on loan from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Hosted an exhibition titled Derby Doings: The All-American Soap Box Derby, which celebrated the history of the sport and specifically Albany's participation in it, with its first competition held in 1940. Featured were two local Derby cars, one built by 1949 entry Richard Russell and a Super-Stock entry piloted by Michael Morawski, who raced in 2007.[154]
Has a single racer (pictured) in their collection, piloted by 1972 Chapel Hill, North Carolina Champion Priscilla Freeman, who took fifth place at the 35th All-American.[155] The car is currently not on public display.
Situated at the Bad Dog Brewing Company in Torrington, has two Derby car as floor exhibits, both sponsored by the Torrington Fire Department,[156][157] including an example piloted by Tommy Petrovits.[158]
Hosted an exhibit by artistMark Dion titled The Marvelous Museum, that featured overlooked "orphans, curiosities, and treasures" seldom displayed nor borrowed by other museums.[159] In it a Derby car from pre-1948[i] was included, and was like many of the items in the exhibit presented in its storage crate.[161]
The museum has a wealth of Derby-related ephemera in its archives and several cars tucked away in storage, including 1938 Portland, Maine Champion Perley Bartlett.[168] As recent as 2017, it along with two others were exhibited in the museum.[169]
Pennsylvania College of Technology, which opens its masonry laboratory annually for construction of cars used in the Williamsport Soap Box Derby, exhibited in 2012 a Derby car piloted by 1951 World Champion Darwin Cooper, who hails from there. The car was put on display at the entrance of the college's Madigan Library.[172]
Has in their collection a class B car built in 1955 and raced in the area. The driver's name is withheld pending permission of the donor, who was original owner and builder of the car.[173] It is currently not on public display.
Housed at Lincoln-Tallman House in Janesville, and in the basement, are two cars in a Derby-themed exhibit[174] piloted by 1948 Janesville, Wisconsin Champion Carliss H. Shuler and 1949 Janesville, Wisconsin Champion Gerald S. Wells.
Situated above the restaurant bar is a Derby car[175] piloted by 1972 Springfield, Illinois Champion Robert Wayne Wieks, along with other memorabilia like a flag and trophy connected to the car's history. Mr. Wieks hadn't seen the car since his win in 1972 until much later when it was put on display above the bar. Now back in his possession, the car remains on exhibit.[176]
Hosted a Derby-themed exhibit on the history of the Soap Box Derby in St. Catharines featuring photographs, trophies and related memorabilia.[177] In it were two cars piloted by 1954 Champ Larry Tracey (pictured), which is in the Museum's permanent collection, and 1972 Champ William Roy "Bill" Hand.
Has exhibited vintage racers piloted by Peter Voronovsky of Schenectady, New York,[179][180] who was awarded the Best Constructed trophy in 1951, Linda Lee Aidala of Albany, New York,[181] who competed as a Senior Division entry in 1981, and Jordan Milner of Windsor, Connecticut, who competed as a Stock Division entry in 1995.[182]
Seiverling Museum, a car and pedal car museum, entered a float at the 88th Ephrata Fair Parade,[183] which featured a Derby car piloted by 1973 local Champion Brad Kreider, whose family were volunteers. The parade took place on Main Street, the same thoroughfare that Brad had won on 50 years earlier.[184]
Has at least four cars, including a replica of 1937 Sioux City, Iowa Champion Wayne Johnson's "mushroom car", which he constructed in 2008 and donated to the museum,[186] and 1967 Sioux City, Iowa Champion Mark Lehmann (pictured),[187] both suspended high above the museum floor. In 2023 a show entitled New to You: Recent Artifact Donations exhibited recent acquisitions, including two Derby cars driven by 1970 Sioux City, Iowa Champion Stephen T. Lalley[188] and 1990 Sioux City, Iowa Masters Champion Wendy Van Waart.[189][190]
Displayed a derby car in 2019 dubbed "Miss Canada," which was raced in Stratford from 1951 to 1954 by brothers Gary and Marvin Thomas. The car is in the collection of the Stratford Perth Museum, who loaned the car.[196]
Has multiple examples in their collection, including cars piloted by 1951 class A racer Richard E. "Dick" Zicari[197] (1936–2011),[198] donated by Mr. Zicari, 1964 Rochester Champion William Lentzer, which has been on display as recent as 2018,[199] and 1975 Rochester Champion Dave Marra, donated by Mr. Marra.[200][201]
Hosted a Derby exhibit in October 2018 that was pitched to the museum by the Swift Current Soapbox Racing Association, which at the time was celebrating 35 years of continuous racing. It featured several racers, including a senior lay-down car piloted by Aiden Jahnke.[202]
Has three cars on exhibit, including examples from Roy Garren, who raced in the Senior Division in the DeKalb County, Georgia, race in 1984, and David Garren, who won the Junior Division Championship in Atlanta in 1985.[205]
A single example, an all metal-clad racer from the 1960s, was exhibited in the Bodymotive Services kiosk at the Motorama Custom Car & Motorsports Expo in 2020.[206] In 2022 the car competed at the Elora, Ontario soapbox derby.[207]
Featured two Derby cars[210] piloted by 1960 Albuquerque, New Mexico Champion Lawrence Martin[211] and 1966 Albuquerque, New Mexico Champion Richard E. Martin.[212] The museum closed in 2023, with its collection being relocated to the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska.[213]
Annual exhibit taking place during Race Week that culminates in the All-American World Championship in Akron, Ohio. The exhibit showcases extant vintage Derby racers and memorabilia that invites any and all Derby alumni to attend and participate, and is open to the general public. At its inaugural exhibit in 2022 an array of classic Derby car designs (pictured) was put on display.
Was on exhibit
Oldest car at the 3rd Vintage Show in 2024 piloted by 1952 Soap Box Derby World Champion Joe Lunn, showing collision damage
Oldest car at the 2nd Vintage Show in 2023 piloted by Indianapolis, Indiana Champion David M. Knight in 1953
1956 Valparaiso, Indiana racer Doug Hoback's car at the 3rd Vintage Show in 2024
An original and unrestored racer piloted by 1961 Ashland, Ohio Champion James Stine
1961 Mansfield, Ohio Champion Timothy Boyer exhibited at the 3rd Vintage Show in 2024
1969 New Philadelphia, Ohio Champion Jeff Bitticker's car at the 3rd Vintage Show in 2024
1974 Conshohocken, Pennsylvania Champion Edward L. Myers, who took 3rd at the 37th All-American, in 2024
Has Tim Royer's orange Super Stock car from 2001 to 2003,[215] Roanoke, Virginia Champion Michael Jay Dobie's blue car from 1966 and Roanoke, Virginia Champion Charles Lineberry III's yellow car from 1969.
Has numerous cars on exhibit, including those piloted by 1950 German Champion Alfred Hänle, 1955 German Champion Heinz Soethof, 1967 German Champion Klaus Rohde, 1968 German Champion Bernd Schacherl, 1971 German Champion Karl-Heinz Peter[216] and 1983 German Sr. Champion Rieke Monschauer.[217]
Located at 5003 Troup Highway in Tyler, TX, this fast food restaurant has an interior décor that honors the Soap Box Derby,[220] including a single lay-back racer standing on its nose inside of a glass-enclosed display case.[221]
Hosted an exhibit titled Zoom! Whiz! Wow! A High-Speed History of Madison's Soap Box Derby, which ran July 26 through September 11, 2010. Included were memorabilia, trophies, photos of boys that participated, and some cars, including one by 1957 Madison Champion Van Steiner.[222][223]
^Tucker McClaran, who hails from Salem, Oregon, competed in the Ultimate Speed Challenge Division in 2015, placing 2nd.[7]
^Johnny Carson, who hails from Norfolk, entered the Derby[66] and built a racer at age-13.
^Blair's family has a long history of racing in High Point and beyond. His father, Bill Blair Sr., was one of the pioneers of NASCAR
^Racing as an adult, Zimmerman was awarded Indy Rookie of the Year in 1971 and, as of 2011, is the only All-American Soap Box Derby participant to compete at the Indianapolis 500.[102]
^Laura Shepherd won Rookie of the Year in 1994.[147] In 1995 she placed 4th at the All-American, then clinched her second National Derby Rally Championship, this time in the Kit-Car Division a week later.[148] Called "Lightening Laura," the Stock Division car was inducted in 1997.[149]
^ According to the Official Rules Books of the All-American Soap Box Derby, cars built before 1948 were permitted the use of wind-screens,[160] which the exhibit car had.
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