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Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race
2008 Race Report: Popemobile



Here's a Sculpture!
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Popemobile

Popemobile is dedicated with love and reverence to the memory of John Paul II. It was piloted by Ross Dixon and Carolyn Black who founded the UMBC kinetic team. They managed to win an ACE award, but only through the most dramatic perseverance. On the water, their rear-wheel drive design meant that the floating tires didn’t get any traction—until one of the pilots straddled the back of the sculpture to weigh it down. Even then, they were unable to climb the ramp out of the water with pedal power, so they leaned over the handlebars and cranked the tires by hand. Combined with their duct tape construction, the judges awarded the Worst Honorable Mention given to the sculpture “whose half-baked theoretical ‘engineering’ did not deter its pilots from the challenge of the race.”

Nice hats!


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Please click here for more information just for racers.
  1. 2008 Champion: Rat Rod
  2. Wilma & the WOMBATS
  3. PLATYPUS
  4. HB1GF
  5. When Pigs Fly
  6. Fiah Twuck
  7. Think Tank
  8. Fifi
  9. 99% Chimp
  1. It’s Ben-Hur, Hon!
  2. Running with Scissors
  3. Three from Jemicy
  4. Garden of Kinetic Delights
  5. Camelot
  6. Nice Tots
  7. Otter Chaos
  8. Fish Out of Water
  9. Pirate Punks
  10. Coca-Cobra
  1. UMBC’s You’ve Got What It Takes
  2. Nautical Nymph
  3. Green Racer X
  4. Kinetic Airways
  5. AVAM’s Bumpo, Frog, and Rat
  6. Popemobile
  7. Festivity Among the Crowd
  8. Thank You, Baltimore Police
  9. The KineticBaltimore.com Team

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The Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race is sponsored and run by the American Visionary Art Museum. KineticBaltimore.com is the volunteer work of Tom Jones.
If you have suggestions about making this site better, or questions, e-mail Tom at tjones@spril.com.