IT’S shaping up to be the best Red Bull Billy Cart entry ever built.
The Hawkesbury entrants in this year’s Sydney competition have been busy building their Back to the Future Delorean billy cart this week, after their design was one of 60 chosen from thousands of entries (as described in our September 2 story).
Unlike other carts built for this competition, which is staged in different cities across the world annually, this billy cart is no painted cardboard cut-out.
Entrants James Hodder and David Reimer have spent more than 70 hours in the past two weeks, shaping their Delorean out of foam to be used for a fibreglass mould, which is hoped to be ready by the end of this week.
This Delorean cart will look so life-like that even David himself said he hasn’t found an entry so advanced, other than a Wayne’s World cart built for an event in New York.
Experience is certainly something David brings to his team, having competed in the Red Bull Flugtag in 2008 which saw him and his team build a home-made, size-and-weight-limited human-powered flying machine to launch at Sydney Harbour.
He is also the owner of Western Boat Repairs at McGraths Hill and has competed in the Sydney Boat Show’s boat-building competition for many years, and similar events in New Zealand.
“When James first approached me about entering we both sat and watched through clips of other competitions around the world,” David said. “We saw that many of the carts were made out of papier mache and cardboard, and we knew then we wanted to do something completely different.”
Using his skills at creating boats and parts out of fibreglass, David, with the help of James, got started on the foam mould which was cut to size and shaped with a grater and sandpaper. The men spent some afternoons working until midnight last week, in order to have the mould ready for the fibreglass process later this week.
To date, the men have spent upwards of $2000 on the project, but David said that if he were quoting the job through his business, the end bill would fall around $20,000.
“We want to make it as real as possible .... we will even mould doors for it,” he said.
“After the construction of the cart is finished, James and I will then look at all the computer fit-out for the interior.”
The team’s progress leading up to the event can be followed via their Facebook page, Team ‘Back to the Future’, where you will also find a link to their YouTube entry which blew organisers away.
James and David are also on the hunt for a sponsor in the lead up to the competition, and interested businesses are urged to contact them through their page.
The Red Bull Billy Cart competition will take place at a purpose-built course at Centennial Park in Sydney on November 15.
Competitors will be launched from ramps and weave through obstacles, all vying for bragging rights as winner and their slice of the $35,000 prize pool.
