Teams

Tramlandia and the Tramps

Garage Headquarters: Portland, OR

Driver: Ann Molteni

Mechanics: Paul Gibbons, Dina Radzwillowicz, Stacy Bengtson, Natalie Hutley

Nuts and Bolts:

Interior designers appreciate good design, especially when completed on time and on budget. This group of five designers from Portland has big plans to redecorate the city’s controversial $57 million, taxpayer-paid aerial tram; this time without exceeding the proposed budget by more than 300 percent. “The tram’s destination is the Oregon Health & Science University, so medical staff are frequent riders,” says the most senior designer, Paul Gibbons. “Our skit will have a naughty nurse and doctor theme...ooh-la-la!” Chassis construction features a welded steel frame and the body, a composite foam, lauan, and fiberglass shell. But, the accessory that will pull it all together is, “Our city guardian, Portlandia, who will sit atop the car in the form of a toga-wearing, trident-wielding blow-up doll, complete with speared, hatchery-bred, fin-clipped Chinook salmon.” Who can top that?