Teams

Love and Death

Garage Headquarters: Brown University, Providence

Driver: Andrew Nager

Mechanics: Jacob Matlick, Adam Hoffman, Deborah Vacs Renwick, Sharon Langevin, Max Tuttman

Nuts and Bolts:

It’s a spoof of a spoof. A send-up of a send-up. It’s “Love and Death,” the Red Bull Soapbox team that’s playing on the 1975 Woody Allen movie of the same name. The film was a riff on the themes of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” while the soapbox racer puts a spin on…”particularly, the cover of the movie, which shows a human cannon,” says Andrew Nager, who is set to drive a massive munition down Waterman Street. “We will most likely construct a large, tricycle-type vehicle without pedals, then place a standard plastic trashcan at an appropriate angle forward over the handlebars,” he explains. “Finally, the base of the cannon will be adorned with plywood and cardboard, and everything will be decorated with a fuse and other details.”

Nager’s partners in parody are Adam Hoffman, Sharon Langevin, Jacob Matlick, Deborah Vacs Renwick, and Max Tuttman – all proud Brown University students who plan to major in engineering. Nager predicts that a substantial portion of the student body will turn out to support their team on home turf, including members of the university’s band, who will play a war chant for the entrance of the cannon racer. Nager says with anticipation. “Hopefully, it will be something like a small parade!”