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The Boy Scouts are famous for many great traditions but one of the most fun ones is the annual Pinewood Derby. Primarily a Boy Scott event, the derby is an event where boys take solid blocks of pine wood and carve them into cars and race them.

The Pinewood Derby was created in 1953 by Cubmaster Don Murphy from Pack 280c in Manhattan Beach. Murphy had a son who was too young participate in the annual Soap Box Derby races and he suggested they make and race little wooden cars instead. The first event was a success and soon the event began to spread. For a great deal check out used vehicles today.

Living up to its name, the scout is given a solid block of pine wood, 4 wheels and 4 nails for axles and told to make a car. The car must use all 9 pieces, weigh under a certain amount (usually 5 oz.) and fit on the regulation sized track. The rest is up to the scout.

The main purpose is for the scout to spend time with his father or grandfather, creating the car. The car can be whittled with a knife, saw a rotary tool or any other shaping tool. The wheels are attached by driving the nails, to use as axles, through the tire hub and into the wood.

There are no set rules for the design but there are some common things to keep in mind when making yours. One is design. A car built for speed is sleek and aerodynamic. Endless sanding and polishing go into the body to make sure that there is as little wind resistance as possible.

The cars weight is arguably the most important factor. The car should weigh the maximum amount of weight, which is usually 5 ounces. But that is just the beginning. Grooves and holes are carved out to add weight. Lead fishing weights are melted and poured into the groove to add weight. It is a heavily debated process, as some insist weight should go in the very front, some in the middle, some on top or on bottom. Each person has their own opinion.

Next are the wheels. They need to be on tight but not too tight as to prevent turning. On the opposite side they need to be loose enough to spin, but not wobbly. You have to polish the nail axles to make them slick and add lubrication to ensure the spin properly. The tires also need to have some polish as well, to make them slicker, but not too slick, because they need to grip the tracks. Many people sand the inner and outer edges of the tires down to make them more narrow and reduce friction, but just like the weights, everyone has their own method of doing it. Come to trade in a car for a great deal.

Colors schemes are whatever you want them to be. Some are futuristic, some simple, some mimic real race cars and some you have no idea what they are. This is all just for the basic race, not even getting into the best in show and most artistic designs.

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If you have ever watched a James Bond movie, and hasn’t, then you will have probably noticed the narrow streets and tiny cars in European cities. If you are lucky enough to be in Paris over the next couple of months you might get a glimpse of the small car future. We like to call it the bubble car, but its real name is the BlueCar.

Here is what it is. The BlueCar is an electrically powered car that Paris is making available for rentals. When we say short term, we mean it, as in by the half hour. The project is called Autolib and in a testing phase for the next to months.

The project has an initial cost of around $321 million dollars with the city itself investing $47 million, much of the rest of the money comes from billionaire Vincent Bollore, whose company won the bidding for the project and makes the BlueCar.

The way it works is that people must purchase a membership to be eligible to use the cars. Once registered, they can rent a car at any station for around 4-8 euros per half hour. Dropping off and picking up cars at charging stations will be a simply process run by Bollore’s company.

The project is the brainchild of Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe. He came up with the idea after the success of his other brainchild, the Velib, a scheme that involved renting out bicycles that was so successful other cities copied the idea. We are still waiting for the plan that rents out skateboards.

While open to tourist, the plan is geared towards those who live in Paris and don’t own cars or rely on the the public transportation system.

They have an ambition plan. The idea is to redefine how people think about cars. Instead of buying them they want people to see them as something they use when needed but don’t need all the time. The first run will be 66 cars with 33 charging stations but will rapidly expand to 3,000 cars and over 1,000 stations.

The project has gained the attention of the auto industry. Nissan, Renault and Daimler have invested heavily in similar cars and want to see how they do. If the program does well, the other manufacturers may make a big push for their own electric cars. Other cities as well might be interested in the plan as well and London has tested out a very small scale version of the plan.

It’s ironic that tiny, 4 person (barely) car is made by Italian auto maker Pininfarina, the makers of Ferrari and Maserati. So maybe BlueCar isn’t a high powered sports car but Mayor Delanoe fully expects it to modernize transportation.

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