Cyber Truck, Cheese Slice, ‘Swamp Thing’ Race In South Slope Derby

BROOKLYN, NY — Hundreds of spectators lined the hill on 17th Street for a beloved Brooklyn tradition on Saturday: the annual South Slope Derby.

The derby featured more than 100 kids rolling down the hill in homemade, gravity-powered cars with whimsical themes, such as a shooting star, a "swamp thing," a Tesla Cyber Truck and a cheese slice.

The 17th annual Derby was the culmination of a week-long car-building camp at KoKo NYC.

KoKo NYC is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that organizes camps and after-school programs where children are empowered to be artists and inventors.

At the camp, young inventors learn how to make a soapbox car from recycled materials — steering wheels, breaks and all.

"We're not instructing the kids to make something very specific," Monika Wuhrer, the artistic director of KoKo NYC, said. "The kids really made them by themselves. The adults are really just here to support them. It's all about creativity and having fun."

After the cars crossed the finish line, a panel of judges scored the teams based on creativity, design, engineering and speed.

Some cars swerved down the hill, some had to be pushed across the finish line, while others zoomed down the street as the emcee yelled, "Break!" but no team scored below a four out of five.

Ruby Giles, in the "Super Skate," placed first in the grand prize category for her roller skate-shaped car.

Hadrian Kim-Zucca, 12, and Henry Distelzweig, 11, built a zippy little car called "The Dragster" for its homemade spoiler.

"We built it out of a ladder actually, and it just started to get more and more triangular," Kim-Zucca said.

"The back kind of looks like a spoiler, so we just went with it," Distelzweig said shortly before taking off down the hill.

Here are some more scenes from the day.