Miss Canada Soapbox Racer (1951-54)

Last crawled date: 2 years, 11 months ago

This is a vintage soapbox derby racer named Miss Canada, which was driven by Gary and Marvin Thomas, both champions at the Optimist Day soapbox derby race in Stratford, Ontario from 1951 to 1954. Gary won in '51, then Marvin the next three years. Their success, they believe, was in the wheels. Sheathed in sheet metal, the sturdy-built car had a curvilinear body attached to a wooden floor. Axletrees ran through the body, the front axle being fitted with a working suspension. The driver sat upright against an upholstered seat. Peculiar to this racer was that it had no brakes, a condition commensurate with the kind of race being run in Stratford, where the winner was the racer that travelled the farthest down the hill. Unlike the American Soap Box Derby, cars did not run elimination heats of two or more racing side by side. This model is created from archival and recent photos I shot of the car, which is on display at the Stratford-Perth Archives. They kindly assisted me in my research.