Teams

The Wrath of Kong

Garage Headquarters: Burlington, VT

Driver: Colin Hutchens

Mechanics: James Westcott, Andy Tochette, Shanta Keller, Matt Cole

Nuts and Bolts:

“The inspiration for our soapbox is the old 1933 “King Kong” movie – not the new one with the computer generated imagery and whatnot,” says Colin Hutchens, adding wryly, “We don’t have the money to pull that off.” Hutchens and his “Wrath of Kong” teammates are undergrads at the University of Vermont, and they’re going all out for their race day presentation with every low-budget effect they can think of. Their co-pilot (James Westcott) will be dressed in a gorilla suit, while the mechanics (Matt Cole, Shanta Keller, and Andy Touchette) will portray 1930s reporters and photographers. They’ve built a car that looks like the Empire State Building – complete with an airplane spinning around it – and their driver will be none other than Fay Wray herself, or at least as close a facsimile as Hutchens can pull off.

Such extreme effort isn’t unusual for these teammates. Among them, they’ve got experience competing on UVM’s American Society of Civil Engineers steel bridge team, working with Engineers Without Borders, running on the university’s track and field team, playing lacrosse, and more. And the whole crew likes to ski and snowboard “a lot.” They think the thousands of spectators at College Hill will go ape for their entry, because, Hutchens declares, “Everyone likes gorillas!”