Soap Box Derby World Champion (1946)

Last crawled date: 2 years ago

The All-American Soap Box Derby World Champion for 1946 built and piloted by Gilbert Klecan of San Diego, California. Dubbed 'The Graphite Kid' - for smearing graphite on his car, ostensibly to reduce wind resistance, Gil was the first post-war era All-American Champion. This followed Soap Box Derby's suspension of the All-American from 1942 till 1945, during which time the United States had entered the Second World War. Since 1946, the All-American has continued ceaselessly to this day. This racer was typical of the some of the best designs of the day, low and tapered over a teardrop plan, with a long wheelbase. The windscreen, fashioned from a sheet of celluloid, was a design feature not unfamiliar on the race circuit. Its use on racers after 1947 was prohibited by the Derby in an effort to govern potential hazards stemming from ever-increasing velocities. Gil was clocking speeds of 35 mph. An innovative feature of this racer was the body blisters on both sides of the fore-apron, situated below the windscreen, to accommodate Gil's elbows while he steered the car. Young Gilbert sat well forward and crouched, his body snugly filling the cockpit cavity. Steering hardware comprised a rudimentary pitman arm assembly that turned the front axle. The chord of the axle trees was also unusually long. This model is created from color photographs taken when the extant racer went on display, from historical black and white photos capturing Gilbert's victory in Akron, and blueprints published May 1947 in Mechanix Illustrated. It is shown here as it did at the All-American (without the graphite), equipped with the Soap Box Derby, Firestone Champion wheels, which were painted bright yellow and emblazoned with official decals. This was the Derby's penultimate generation and final steel wheel used till well into the 1970s. They were superseded by today's generation of z-glas plastic wheels. Based on the blueprints I installed a rudimentary, vertically-mounted steering setup. The livery shows the car's sponsor, The San Diego Journal, and the car's number when Gil competed in Akron. Dimensions (estimated) Overall length: 80' Overall width: 36' (note: regulation standard) Overall height: 20' (note: includes windscreen) Wheelbase: 66' Body width: 12' Ground clearance: 3 5/8' Cockpit opening length: 20 1/4' (note: from cockpit rear to where helmet meets windscreen) #Akron #All_American #Soap_Box_Derby #World_Champion #AASBD #San_Diego #gravity_racer