Kinsmen Coaster Classic



The Kinsmen Coaster Classic, also named the All Canada or All-Canadian Coaster Classic, was a youth-oriented soap box race car program that took place in the City of Montreal, Canada from 1938 until the early 1970s. Organized by the Kinsmen Club of Montreal, it was the first city-wide soap box race to be held in the municipality. Cars competing in the event raced downhill, propelled by gravity alone. Competing in two separate classes, boys raced hand-made cars on various streets throughout the city until a permanent site was chosen in Montreal's east end.

The American Soap Box Derby was inaugurated in 1934, making Montreal one of Canada's earliest entries into the sport just four years later, as well as one of the first non-US entries worldwide. Rules for the race followed those of its US counterpart, with eligibility for boys set at ages 9–15, and a car construction allowance of no more than ten dollars in its inaugural year. Like in the US, boys were expected to build their own cars with as little assistance as possible from a senior mentor. Competitors from anywhere in Canada were welcomed to attend.

A winner of the Kinsmen Coaster Classic was awarded the Henry Birks Trophy and a brand new bicycle, with a second bicycle being awarded to the runner-up. In addition to the fastest car prizes, awards were handed out for Best Looking and Best Constructed cars. Although styled like the Soap Box Derby, the race was not affiliated with nor was it a registered franchise of the American Soap Box Derby organization in Akron, OH, and therefore could not use their trademarked name nor refer to itself officially as the Montreal or Kinsmen 'Soap Box Derby', instead using the title 'Kinsmen Coaster Classic.' It did not send its champions to compete at the All-American World Championship in Akron.

In the Seventies public interest in the Soap Box Derby began to fade, brought on by an unforeseen loss of its national sponsor and a cheating scandal that damaged its credibility as a trusted American institution. At the same time the Kinsmen Coaster Classic lost its race venue in 1973 when the street it had used for twenty years was redeveloped for construction of Montreal's Olympic Park in preparation for the 1976 Summer Olympics.

History
The Soap Box Derby began in the United States in 1934, founded by Dayton, OH native Myron Scott, a photojournalist employed by the Dayton Daily News. For the first two years it hosted the All-American Soap Box Derby National Championship for boys from all across America, but in 1936 competitors from outside the US began competing as well. South Africa was the first country to send a foreign competitor, with Canada following suit a year later with a champ from Toronto, ON. Canada remained active in Soap Box Derby, having sent Champions to Akron for decades, its best showing at the All-American being Andy Vasko from St. Catharines, ON, who won third place in 1957.

In 1938 the Kinsmen Club of Montreal discussed plans to conduct its own soap box race, the first one for Montreal, as a means of raising charitable funds for under-privileged children in the city's poorer neighborhoods. An ophthalmological ward at a hospital was required, with the intention of offering free eye exams for the kids, and the idea was to raise funds from various groups and individuals that would be willing to sponsor contestants in the race. Race preparations were made to help boys that needed various items like axles and wheels, items they could not manufacture themselves, and a budget of no more than $10 with which to construct the car body was set, although most entrants seldom went over $1.

Leading up to the first race there were as many as 400 applicants wanting to participate, but that number was paired down significantly upon inspection of the cars, most being deemed unacceptable. The location of the race was kept secret until a few days before the event so that eager young lads would not venture out into traffic to test their cars. To govern against such an occurrence, organizers stipulated that if they did, they would be barred from entry.

Inaugural race

The first Kinsmen Coaster Classic was held on October 8, 1938, with fifty-six boys running as either class B (ages 9–12) or class A (ages 13–15) entries. Before a crowd of an estimated four- to five-thousand, eleven-year-old Bill Telfer, driving his stout-built "Thunderbolt," defeated class A winner Leonard Applebaum, 14, in the final, becoming the first Kinsmen Coaster Classic champion. Award-winning Québécois photojournalist Conrad Poirier was present to document the event (pictured). Cars from the race were put on public display at the Eaton's Toyville on the forth floor, including Telfer's winning "Thunderbolt," and racers by Best Looking Car Award winners Hans Gruninger and Earl Mackintosh. The following year the race took place in Montreal's east end under an afternoon shower, with class A entry Sydney Wright, 14, taking the top prize, and Gus Mell, 12, winning in the class B category. Bill Telfer returned in his "Thunderbolt" and was cheered on by the crowd as he clocked an excellent time while testing the track, but after the rain began his car became hampered, and he lost to Mell in the semi-final round.

Because it was also called the All Canada or All-Canadian Coaster Classic in the media, racers came not only from all over Montreal, but elsewhere in Quebec, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Ontario. From 1941 to 1943 however, it was won by just one boy, Tommy Butters from NDG in Montreal, who was also runner-up in 1940. During his tenure he won in three categories; class B, class A and Ball Bearing class, and at three separate track venues. He also placed second in the Best Constructed car category the second year he was crowned champ.

From the same neighborhood was Richard Powell, who made excellent showings also by winning in 1951 and 1953, taking runner-up in his class in 1952. He won soap box races in other communities as well, taking home five bicycles in the three years he competed. From out of province, champs winning in 1950 and 1952 were (in order) Mervyn Roberts from Perth, ON, who won the Standard Trophy for best constructed car in 1949, and Bob Jackson from Oshawa, ON. Beginning in 1954, races were being dominated by boys from the same community east of Montreal, Shawinigin-Falls, QC, having two winning streaks of three years each and one streak of two. The 1969 champion, Peter Miller, who raced the year prior but damaged his car, hailed from Montreal's West Island community of Pointe Claire, QC.

Races continued annually up to the early seventies with the exception the Second World War, when they were suspended from 1944 to 1947. When the United States entered the War in 1941, the American Soap Box Derby suspended its races immediately, resuming in 1946. Not following suit, Kinsmen organizers felt that the successful fundraising benefits of the race to help Montreal's needy far outweighed the minute amount of rubber used by the boys needed for the war effort, and held off for two more years. Races resumed in Montreal in 1948.

Rules


The Kinsmen Coaster Classic was ostensibly a Soap Box Derby race, just not in name, and thus followed the rules set forth by its American counterpart so that, in the event that a boy was invited to compete at the All-American, he would pass inspection and thus qualify, In the end no champ ever attended officially.

One of Derby's first rules was that the car had to be boy built, without the assistance of a mentor. This was seldom the case, as most boys did require some help simply because they lacked the skills to perform such a feat, acquiring them eventually as the car was constructed while under the tutelage of an adult. Sometimes a boy was asked to demonstrate knowledge of how the car was built during inspection if judges had doubts about who actually built the car.

Boys raced in pairs down the hill (two lanes) in single elimination heats. Once a boy lost he was out of the race. Prior to the War, contestants were divided into two classes based on age: 9-12 raced as class B, 13–15 as class A, as stipulated by the Soap Box Derby in the US. In 1942 however, race officials redrew the distinction, this time by the kinds of wheels used, either "Ball bearing", the Official Derby wheels being used by boys in the States, or "plain bearing" or non-bearing wheels often found on wagons and baby carriages. In 1954 the classes were renamed. Although the distinction was the same, "ball bearing" became "Official wheel," and "plain bearing" became "unofficial wheel." This practice continued until the end.

General restrictions concerning the car's construction included a maximum weight of 250 pounds for the car and driver together (verified during a weigh-in prior to the race), an overall length of no more than 72 inches or six feet, a wheelbase of no less than 40 inches, height not to exceed 30 inches and a wheel tread of between 30 and 36 inches. The front axle was mounted on a single kingpin, and directional control governed by steel cables, a single steering column and wheel. No ropes were allowed. The brake was to be a friction or drag type, usually an armature through the floor that was activated by a foot pedal. Wheels were to be the solid rubber type, not pneumatic, and measure no more than 12 inches. Finally the driver was to be seated upright, though the practice was to crouch forward to minimize wind resistance. Pre-race inspections verified that the car was well constructed according to strict observance of the rules, and safe to drive.

Mishaps

In spite of strict regulations ensuring safety for the boys, mishaps did occur. In the media at least one occurrence of a crash or crack-up was reported per race, sometimes even about a boy requiring a trip to the hospital. In 1939 for example, both champion Sydney Wright and runner-up Gus Mell experienced crack-ups on their way to their individual victories, with Wright suffering damage but quickly repairing his car before the next heat. In 1960 Don Norberg of Pointe Claire, QC was injured slightly and taken to Maisonneuve Hospital after his car rolled over when struck by another vehicle.

Venues


Locations for the Kinsmen Coaster Classic, which ran on city streets, varied across five separate venues during its lifetime. The inaugural race in 1938 took place on Van Horne Avenue between Victoria Avenue and Van Horne Park, chosen because it was well paved and free of houses along both sides of that corridor, allowing traffic to be closed off and spectators to gather safely. The next two years, races took place on an 1,100 foot track on Aird Avenue in Montreal's east end neighborhood of Maisonneuve (pictured), between Sherbrooke St. E. and Boyce Street (now Pierre-de Coubertin Ave). Today the site is occupied by Montreal's Olympic Stadium, constructed in 1976. Aird was in a less developed neighborhood at the time with little traffic, ideal for races. In 1941 it moved back to Van Horne Avenue for one more year, then to the Trenholme Park neighborhood in the west Montreal neighborhood of NDG, remaining for two. Featuring a high starting ramp next to the park, the cars headed southbound on Park Row East Road down a 600-foot course situated between Sherbrooke St. W and de Maisonneuve Blvd.

After cessation of hostilities in WWII the Kinsmen Coaster Classic resumed races in 1948, this time on picturesque Duluth Avenue West by Fletcher's Field between Park Avenue and Esplanade Avenue. Measuring approximately 525 feet in length, it was the shortest of the five venues, requiring a starting ramp that stood ten feet in height., and was used until 1950.

A permanent home

In 1951 a venue was selected on Desjardins Avenue, again in Montreal's east end neighborhood of Maisonneuve, nearby its Aird Avenue location eleven years earlier. Like Aird it was a quiet thoroughfare ideal for running races, measuring 865 feet in length, with cars starting on a ramp at the top of the hill and crossing the finish 750 feet below where they were met by bales of hay if they could not stop in time. This was the Classic's last venue, becoming a permanent home for over twenty years.

The end

In 1973, construction began on Montreal's Olympic Park in preparation for the 1976 Summer Olympics, with the portion of Desjardins Avenue used for the race, between Sherbrooke St. E. and Boyce St., being redeveloped to accommodate the International Plaza, Pie-IX Station for Montreal's Metro subway, and underground parking accessed from Pie-IX Boulevard.

Races


The table below lists the Kinsmen Coaster Classic race year, names of the champions and runners-up, their ages, hometown of champion, specific date when the race took place, number of entries that day, the race venue, and track length.

Cars


Boys that participated in the Kinsmen Coaster Class habitually gave their cars interesting names, plays on word like "Jake's Crate", an assonance, "Butch's Bullet", an alliteration, "Will E. Win," and "Slo-Mo-Shun." Cars boasting of speed had names like "Cloud of Dust" and "Speed Demon," two cars from the 1959 race. There was of course Bill Telfer's "Thunderbolt", Tony Bush's 1956 champ car "Sky Rocket," Johnny MacMoyle's 1960 champ car "Swift One," and Richard Powell's 1953 champ car "Winged Arrow," which was really about driving one's car "as straight as an arrow" in order to win. Historical names included "Citation", Franz Gruninger's 1948 champ car named after the champion American Thoroughbred, "Rocket Richard," after Montreal's beloved 'Rocket' Richard, and "The Red Baron", of the famed WWI flying ace, on cars painted red. One car made of miscellaneous scraps of wood was called, simply enough, "Miscellaneous."

The images below represent cars from both ends of the Kinsmen Coaster Classic's history, two from 1938 and two from the late sixties.

Notes, citations and sources
Notes

Citations

Sources

Books



News



Websites