Apex's theme is fire (we like to call ourselves "the most fire buggy team"). Each of our buggies' names and paint jobs has been chosen to align with this theme.
We are one of the only teams to design and build a new buggy every single year. Traditionally, buggies are not officially named until they have been finished; instead, they are referred to by project names. Our latest build, which debuted in 2023 as Scorch, was called Project Fieri.
Scorch is our newest buggy. Building off of everything we learned from Nova, we were able to create a faster, sturdier, and better-designed buggy that we are so proud to add to our fleet!
Nova is our newest space-themed buggy and represents a huge departure from our traditional reverse trike design technique (having one wheel in the front instead of two). Remote classes and a two-year hiatus in Sweepstakes events enabled us to revolutionize our approach to Nova's shell and internal steering design, and many of her design elements were used in the construction of Scorch.
As the culmination of ten years of Apex Buggy and showcasing the safest, fastest, and most durable elements of every previous build, Molotov is the only front-braking buggy of his kind on the course and won Apex's first design competition trophy in 2021. Molotov combines mechanical simplicity with a swanky abstract paint job, making him a beast to behold on the Sweepstakes course.
Solaris' light and sleek design combined with her bright blue paint job make her one of the most recognizable buggies on the course. Iterating on and optimizing Azula's design process, Solaris strikes a balance between aerodynamic performance and mechanical elegance.
Firefly holds Apex's in-house record as well as multiple Sweepstakes trophies and is one of our most robust, consistent, and competitive buggies. Easy to drive and easy to maintain, Firefly is a staple both on the course and in Apex's regularly rolling lineup.
Phoenix is Apex's inaugural build, cementing us as the youngest rolling independent team in forty years. Scrappy and research-focused, Phoenix launched Apex from a small group of enthusiastic freshmen to an inclusive and competitive organization and is still one of our most iconic builds to this day.
Azula made waves as not only our smallest and lightest build at the time of her release but also our first front-braking addition to the fleet. Azula has since been donated, but her braking design and refined shell construction live on in Solaris.
Ember continued our research-heavy design focus after beginning with Phoenix, sporting a lighter shell and new steering geometry that won Apex's first-ever Sweepstakes trophy. Although Ember has since retired, her design and construction methods have continued to inspire modern Apex buggies in the years following her initial release.
