Teams

Crustacean Revenge

Garage Headquarters: Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston

Driver: Colin Warren

Mechanics: Raff Montes, Dan Murphy, Eric Difava

Nuts and Bolts:

Lemon wedges? Check. Giant shell cracker? Check. “Rock Lobster” recording? Check. Crusty old fisherman? Check. Man-size lobster? Check and double-check. Looks like the Crustaceans’ Revenge team is ready for the Red Bull Soapbox Race! What else would you expect from a group of students based at Boston’s Wentworth Institute of Technology – baked beans?

Eric Difava, Raff Montes, Dan Murphy, and Colin Warren got to know each other as students in Wentworth’s Industrial Design Department. Although Murphy has since transferred to the Massachusetts College of Art, the four juniors have remained tight. Warren, their designated soapbox driver, explains, “We share the common bond of design and creativity, and the desire to improve the world around us functionally and aesthetically.” Several of the teammates have studied engineering as well as industrial design, and they’ll be putting all of their collective skills together to build a (hopefully) speedy racer out of materials including wood, metal, and – for those important decorative touches – modeling foam. The fisherman-versus-lobster theme was of course a natural choice, and they’ll be playing it up big time to earn some important creativity points. Warren says, “We’ll attempt to win over the crowd with our outrageous costumes, corny nautical jokes, and bad horror movie references.”