Cal State LA is, as you might guess, a state university in Los Angeles. Not known as an engineering powerhouse. So when they won Sunrayce 97, it was a huge deal for that school. They sold shoes with the car logo on it in the school bookstore.
Cal State LA has some alums fairly high up at Mattel, so naturally, this was the first solar car to be honored in this very public way.
The car must have cost Mattel more than the average car to make, since the slim size required a whole separate piece of clear plastic to hold it in place in the container.
When I worked for Sunrayce, we ordered a ton of these direct from Mattel to give out to people to promote things.
We were all secretly hoping that Mattel would start to make other famous solar cars. We fantasized about getting GM Suraycers, Swatch/Biel cars, hell, even a Michigan car would be cool. But no such luck. Cal State LA did get their car remixed quite a bit (see future posts).
The back of the box text says "North American Champion of Sunrayce 97 - the SOLAR EAGLE III is the result of the remarkable talents of Cal State LA Engineering & Technology students."
There was quite a bitter rivalry between Cal State LA and Cal Poly Pomona (who were always a bridesmaid, never having won a major race but coming very very close).
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