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Contestants Square Off to See Whose Scrap Boxcar is Fastest, Most Creative

Ioana Patringenaru | May 21, 2007

Saws made deafening buzzing noises and sparks flew as fire met metal in the welding shop. Welcome to the junkyard, also known as Parking Lot 705, where 29 teams put together boxcars they hoped would win the Triton Junkyard Derby last week.

Jean-Claude Inauen drives the Lowrider team's boxcar to victory in this year's Triton Junkyard Derby. Junkyard Derby Video Andrew Chan, Daniel Leu and Vincent Bantigue were on the team that won last year’s Triton Junkyard Derby. As Team Gotham, they created a Batmobile look-alike. This year, they were back with a new team, Team Spirit, and a new theme, “Back to the Future.” Click here to watch a video where Chan, Leu and Bantigue talk about their attempt to win the 2007 Triton Junkyard Derby.

Building a boxcar that can make it down Peterson Hill without falling apart is trickier than you might think, many contestants will tell you. Making the speediest boxcar is entirely another matter. Contestants also get points and awards for their vehicle’s appearance, adding another layer of complexity. The derby, co-sponsored by the UCSD Alumni Association and the Triton Engineering Student Council, is part of UCSD’s Sun God Festival, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year.

Three teams emerged as winners Friday. The Chariots of Fire team won the judges’ award for the most creative use of junk. The Bluffbusters team proved the most popular with the crowd that gathered to watch the derby. Finally, the Lowrider team built the fastest boxcar of them all.

“We were not expecting to win after we finished building it,” confessed Jean-Claude Inauen, Lowrider’s driver.

Inauen and his classmates used a computer-server rack for the boxcar’s body. The rest was mostly made up of bike parts. Taking apart the bike’s crank shaft was a nightmare, said team member Mark Kraz. “We had some fun with power tools,” he added. The team grabbed a nice chair and some carpet to pad their vehicle. “We wanted to make it as comfortable as possible,” Kraz said. That’s what the lowrider theme was all about, he explained. The boxcar’s features also included a boombox, which played the 1970s hit “Lowrider” at full blast as Inauen barreled down Peterson Hill.

Lowrider team members pose after their victory. (Photo / Betsy B. McCue, Housing & Dining Services) Click here to view the slideshow.

It took the six Lowrider team members 13 to 14 hours to build their boxcar. They were done by 8 p.m. Thursday night. By contrast, last year’s champions, who came back this year as Team Spirit to defend their title, worked on their boxcar until 4 a.m. Friday. The team’s seven members weren’t going for speed. They were going for style.

Last year, they had turned their boxcar into a Batmobile look-alike. Andrew Chan drove it dressed in a Batman costume. This year, Chan, who is now an alumni, and his teammates were creating a replica of the DeLorean that becomes a time machine in the movie “Back to the Future.” Daniel Leu would drive dressed up as Marty McFly, the movie’s hero, played by Michael J. Fox. Team members weren’t sure they could replicate last year’s success, though. “We thought the Batmobile was the coolest car ever,” said Chan. “I mean, who doesn’t know Batman,” Vincent Bantigue chimed in.

By 5 p.m. Thursday, they had assembled the skeleton for their boxcar. They’ve been using the same basic set-up for several years now: a shopping cart surrounded by a metal frame, Chan said. A complex network of bamboo and PVC pipes would hold up all the cardboard that transformed the boxcar into a DeLorean look-alike.

Andrew Chan, Daniel Leu and Vincent Bantigue work on their boxcar.

Team members said their task was more difficult this year. They’re all alumni, working for big-name companies in San Diego and didn’t have as much time to work on their boxcar, they explained. “I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves because we won last year,” Bentigue said.  The trio said they were surprised to find out another team had chosen a DeLorean theme. “We’ll just have to blow them out of the water,” said Leu.

By Friday morning, the pressure started to show in Chan’s puffy, red eyes. Leu said he only got two hours of sleep. Their DeLorean look-alike won its heat in the derby’s time trials, but didn’t post one of the eight fastest times and didn’t make it to the last round of racing. So they were left to watch other contestants race after Frieder Seible, dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering, told them to “start their junk.”

The team wasn’t going for time, Leu said. But this year, they also failed to win over the crowd and the judges. So around 12:30 p.m. Friday, they headed back home for some sleep or back to work, leaving others to celebrate. “I’m a little bit disappointed and sad that we didn’t get to go further,” said Leu. “But it was still fun.” “We had a really good time,” added Chan. Both vowed to come back next year.