On a summer day in 1933, a handful of amateur daredevils risked life and limb racing down Big Hill Road in Oakwood, Ohio in their slapdash contraptions mounted on baby buggy wheels. While on assignment, Myron E. “Scottie” Scott, a Dayton Daily News photographer tasked with producing images of children at play, became riveted by the ingenuity of the boys and their homemade vehicles flying down the hill.
Myron E. “Scottie” Scott (Dayton Daily News)
Seizing an opportunity, Scott organized an impromptu race the following weekend for nineteen boys and their custom cars, which were manufactured from orange crates, sheet tin, wagon wheels, and any other materials they could get their hands on. Encouraged by the turnout, Scott successfully lobbied his newspaper to sponsor a larger, official citywide race, complete with a prize fund and $200 to promote the first derby. On August 19, 1933, a grand parade welcomed more than 300 entries and 40,000 spectators for “an Indianapolis Speedway classic in miniature form” (Dayton Daily News — August 20, 1933).
The unpowered vehicles, “ranging in form and beauty from the proverbial sublime to the ridiculous” (Dayton Daily News — August 20, 1933), started at the top of Burkhardt Hill at Smithville Road and relied on gravity to propel them towards the finish line. The racing dazzled the crowd, as the heats continued for nearly four hours, resulting in Randall Custer, an Oakwood High School student, named the “champion of champions” of the first ever soap box derby.
12-year-old Alice Cochrane, née Jones, future Kentfield resident, dared to be different and decided to participate in the 1933 race once it was announced, despite the event having been tailored for boys only. Bolstered by the help and enthusiasm of her father, Al Johnson, who built her racer, “Alice came down the stretch with four boys and held her own all the way” (Dayton Daily News — August 27, 1933). She finished third in the special group D-2 classification. Race organizers were intent on not letting a good photo opportunity go to waste and presented Randall Custer, the winner of the overall event, with a large bouquet of roses, which he gallantly turned over to Alice.
Champion Randall Custer, seated in derby car, and Alice Cochrane, née Jones, to his left (Dayton Daily News Archive)
The following year, Myron Scott acquired the copyright to “Soap Box Derby” and secured Chevrolet as the national sponsor of the first official All-American Soap Box Derby in Dayton, Ohio. The competition moved to Akron in 1935, on Tallmadge Avenue, due to its central location and natural hilly terrain. Chevrolet and Akron civic leaders started to recognize the need for a permanent local race track and through the efforts of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Derby Downs track was built in 1936 on George Washington Boulevard. Derby Downs has hosted the All-American Soap Box Derby Championship every year since, with cancellations only during the World War II years of 1942–1945 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
At its peak, the All-American Soap Box Derby was a marquee sporting event, in terms of overall attendance. Crowds could swell to over 70,000, with several famous television and movie stars making guest appearances. In 1947, James Stewart famously cancelled a weekend of Harvey Broadway performances to attend the event.
Chevrolet became synonymous with the Derby, supplying the kits youngsters used to build their racers, as well as awarding more than $1.7 million in scholarships to contestants over the years. Chevrolet dealers across the country sponsored local preliminary races each year, with winners qualified to compete in the official Akron Derby.
Marin County Chevrolet dealerships, including DeLong Chevrolet of San Rafael, sponsored several of these events. In 1966, DeLong and 33 other Bay Area dealers co-sponsored a Bay Area soap box derby in Fremont along with the Fremont Lions Club. Four Marin County youths were entered into the race by Campbell-Bishop Chevrolet of Corte Madera, who not only equipped the boys with paint for their racers, but also a mechanic who would assist the boys during the race. Two Greenbrae brothers took home second and third place honors in the event. The brother who won third place would later earn an all-expense paid trip to Akron the following year in 1967 after winning the second annual Santa Rosa Soap Box Derby.
Daily Independent Journal (April 7, 1966)
Other small-scale versions of the famous Akron competition were staged in Marin County during this time, as well. The Northern District of Marin Council, Boy Scouts of America sponsored annual Cub Scout coaster derbies. Not to be outdone, the Marin Country Club Estates hosted an annual “Bogey Invitational” on Bogey Lane in Novato for residents between the ages of five and 16.
Third Annual Bogey Invitational at Marin Country Club Estates in Novato (Daily Independent Journal — May 31, 1967)
Randall Custer, the “champion of champions” of the first ever soap box derby in 1933 would later marry the cousin of Alice Cochrane, née Jones.
Myron E. Scott is responsible for naming the legendary Chevrolet sports car — the Corvette. In 1937, Chevrolet hired Scott as an assistant advertising manager. In 1953, he and 15 other executives were tasked with naming Chevrolet’s new sports car. The only requirement: the name needed to start with the letter “C.” Scott picked up a dictionary and while browsing through the C section, stopped at “corvette,” which is defined as a small, fast warship used as a convoy escort. The following day, Scott dropped Chevrolet General Manager Ed Cole a note asking, “How would you like to go for a ride in my Corvette today?” Cole approved the name the same day.
Although 1933 is tagged as the first soap box derby, local youth “auto” races were taking place much earlier. In fact, Charlie Chaplin, Director Henry Lehrman, and cameraman Frank Williams pretended to be a news crew filming the Vanderbilt Junior Cup on January 10, 1914 in Venice, Los Angeles. Chaplin improvised gags in front of real spectators as they cheered on young boys and their “pushmobiles.” The gag/newsreel was eventually released as Kid Auto Races at Venice, also known as “The Pest,” the film in which Chaplin’s memorable “Little Tramp” character makes his first appearance.