Hackney soapbox racers Hoodoovoodoo came 37th out of the 64 teams that competed in the international Red Bull soapbox car race at Alexandra Palace on Sunday.

Their soapbox car got down the course without crashing in 36.7 seconds with a top speed of 26mph.

Team member and soapbox driver Russell Wynn told the Gazette: "Apparently [I was] the first to do it standing up." He thanked the team at the Anchor and Hope pub for their support, vowing: "In 2021 we will break the sound barrier."

They were at Springfield Park last week test driving their voodoo-inspired dream machine near the pub in Clapton where Russell has worked for 30 years.

Hoodoovoodoo, the team's latest incarnation, started life in 2013 as the Coffin Dodgers. They came second that year. Two years later they got "best crash". Russell's previous work as an undertaker has inspired deadly car designs. This time they were zombies riding a Haitian grave down the hill.

The "wacky races" are put on by the Red Bull Company and welcome cars of all shapes, sizes and designs - and all budgets.

Russell told the Gazette: "When we came second the machine that beat us cost £30,000 to £40,000. This year there are ones that are CAD [computer-aided design] designed.

"I think it takes away from the whole thing. When you're a kid you make a trolley out of pram wheels, a bit of string and bit of wood. But you know that's the way it is. That's the way it's going. It's like being in an old mini against a ferrari. We're for the little man."

Their up-cycled car cost £50 to make and took about a month. Richard Brockway, team member and carpenter by trade, built the machine, "We just made it out of stuff from the workshop," he said. "[Except for] welding rods and cutting discs, it's all just made out of bits lying around."

Soapbox cars run on manpower and gravity alone. The race includes jumps, steps and obstacles to steer clear of - and a ramp at the end.

Team Gas Gas Gas from Melksham, Wiltshire, finished in first place with a "zombie apocalypse" inspired survival car.