mazda raceway laguna seca

Forget about primitive wooden contraptions driven by towheaded tykes down a homemade ramp in Your Hometown, U.S.A. The new—make that the extreme—take on the quaint old soapbox derby features sleek, futuristic projectiles riding on chassis meant to accommodate speeds of 50, 60, even 70 miles an hour.

Two years ago, Frank O. Gehry strapped himself into the driver´s seat of a V8 Dodge Dakota pickup with bald rear tires and drove onto a skid pad at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. It was a clear day, but the pad´s surface was wet, and within seconds he was sliding out of control-which was the point.