The article reports on the 27th annual Portland Adult Soap Box Derby in Oregon, where participants build and race gravity-powered cars that combine speed with extreme pageantry. The event features 42 unique cars, including designs inspired by popular culture such as "The Flintstones" car and a dragon built from a Honda ATV chassis. Approximately several thousand spectators attended the event, which organizers describe as a party atmosphere with creative cars hurtling down Mt. Tabor Park's hill. The Portland Adult Soap Box Derby focuses on joy and creativity rather than pure speed.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
In Portland, this soap box derby combines downhill speed with extreme pageantry
Gravity is an inescapable force.
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Gravity → combine → pageantry
It's why Earth has its atmosphere and orbits the sun.
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Earth → have → sun
It can bring us to our knees.
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It → bring → knees
And it makes the race known as the soap box derby possible.
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race → make → derby
This gravity-powered American tradition is usually a speed race for kids.
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tradition → power → kids
But not in Portland, Oregon – home of the Portland Adult Soap Box Derby, which just celebrated its 27th annual run.
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which → celebrate → run
A practice from early car history
The use of aerodynamic, gravity-driven cars has been around for a long time – though it wasn't always known as a soap box derby.
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it → drive → derby
The event was also sometimes called a "pushmobile" race.
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event → call → ?
But the soap box derby became an American institution in the 1930s, when a national race launched in Ohio (which still hosts the Soap Box Derby World Championships).
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which → become → Championships
It also showed up in midcentury TV shows – everything from Dennis the Menace to Bewitched to The Danny Thomas Show.
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It → show → Show
The classic design of the soapbox derby car is sleek and streamlined, to minimize drag.
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design → streamline → drag
And as time went on, it got even more technical – with fiberglass bodies and titanium bushings, for example – to reach truly impressive speeds.
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it → go → speeds
But other derby events emerged with a different focus.
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events → emerge → focus
"How many times do you get to race a dragon down a volcano?"
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you → get → volcano
On Saturday, 42 cars of all shapes and sizes gathered in Mt. Tabor Park for the race.
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cars → gather → race
While a few cars are designed for speed, most focus on maximizing creativity.
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most → design → creativity
This year's cars included a giant sloth head, a Heated Rivalry-themed zamboni called "The Ice Melter," a replica of the Flintstones car, and a car depicting Oregon's famous exploded dead whale.
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cars → include → whale
The derby has a few rules relating to helmets, safety training, and brakes.
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derby → have → helmets
Cars are constructed from wood, metal and plastic, and are sometimes covered in fake fur or hot-glued mirror tiles.
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Cars → construct → fur
John Nurse used hula hoops, spray insulation foam, and the chassis of a 1979 Honda Odyssey ATV to build a dragon based on his 10-year-old's direction.
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Nurse → use → direction
"My kid drew a picture, and then it was up to me to figure out how to build it," Nurse explained.
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Nurse → draw → it
"How many times do you get to race a dragon down a volcano?"
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you → get → volcano
An event for more than just racers
Several thousand Portlanders turned out to watch and cheer.
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Portlanders → turn → racers
They brought folding chairs, set up blankets with friends, and spent hours watching the creativity come hurtling down the hill.
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creativity → bring → hill
Organizers say the crowds have grown every year.
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crowds → say → ?
"It's always so much fun," said Brittany England, a creator of the Rocky Roadster ice cream truck.
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England → say → truck
"There's so many people, the vibes are great, the energy's awesome."
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energy → be → ?
David Paulsen, president of the Portland Adult Soap Box Derby, says that it's basically a party that Portland throws for itself every year.
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Portland → say → itself
Paulsen himself fell in love after attending his very first derby in 1997.
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Paulsen → fall → 1997
He described the event as "booger-welded garbage cars racing down a mountain.
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He → describe → mountain
"
"I saw it, and I knew that they were my kindred spirits," he said.
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he → see → it
The derby operates as a nonprofit, and Paulsen stresses that it's all volunteer run – from clearing the brush before the event, to cleaning up the trash after.
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it → operate → trash
While these cars may be shaped like a giant athletic sock, or a deep-sea anglerfish, they can actually reach some pretty impressive speeds.
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they → shape → speeds
The derby has all contestants sign a waiver before they take the wheel, because there is definitely an element of danger.
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they → have → danger
But as Michael Orczyk, who hurtled down the hill in a Conestoga wagon, pointed out, that's part of what draws people in.
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what → hurtle → people
