A pair of smoking-hot pumps — maybe a Jimmy Choo-like number with preposterously high stiletto heels — says a girl is going places, she's on the move.

OK, they're brutal to walk in, but if you take the idea of just one shoe, outsize it to say, oh, no more than 7 feet high and 20 feet long, attach wheels and a steering mechanism, you've got yourself an official entry into the Red Bull Soapbox Derby in Philadelphia on Sept. 6.

A vehicle of this sort is under construction in the engineering lab at Sweet Briar College, the product of the nerve, imagination and fashion sense of a team of students and a gentle prod from their faculty advisor.

Katelyn James (left) and Maxine Emerich ponder how to attach the wings.Assistant professor of engineering Scott Pierce was perusing The Onion online when an ad popped up for the derby sponsored by Red Bull Energy Drink. "We should do this," he said within earshot of a couple of his students working in the lab over the summer.

"Little did I know they'd take me up on it," he said later.

Engineering majors Katelyn James '11 and Maxine Emerich '10 learned from the derby's Web site that judging is based on creativity, speed and showmanship. The cars must be human-powered, designed and built by the contestants, and not weigh more than 176 pounds or exceed the aforementioned height and length restrictions.

Speed, while important, takes a back seat to creativity. The more ostentatious, the better, say the criteria. "Your soapbox should be an extension of you, so have fun when you design it," they read.

Undaunted by YouTube clips of spectacular wrecks and scary-looking ramps used in previous races — Red Bull has orchestrated some 35 derbies in the United States and abroad — James, Emerich and fellow students Kate Montemurro '10 and Jessie Waitt '09 formed Team P.I.N.K. and put their heads together.

They sketched a high-heeled shoe — Sweet Briar is, after all, an all-women's institution — on paper, and made it pink for the College's signature color. Wings were added to the concept drawing, because Red Bull advertises that it "gives you wings."

The contest organizers accepted the design.

Max Emerich explains the derby car's steering mechanism.Although the team has four official members, MaryAnn Haslow-Hall '11 and Lauren Schwartz '09 also are helping to build the car. Schwartz, a biology major and high-heeled shoe aficionado, is the chief artistic designer, having several pairs in her closet from which to draw inspiration.

Her favorites makers are Choo and Manolo Blahnik, but the team ultimately decided to work from a Nine West design.

"Seeing the actual structure of various kinds of shoes helps us to decide what would work best for the car," Schwartz said by e-mail. "[For example], what kind of shoe: peep toe, d'Orsay heel, Mary Jane, straps, etc. Of course I am keeping my eye out for anything that may just add that something extra to our ideas."

Scoring also is determined by showmanship, and past competitors have employed skits, soundtracks and bizarre costumes to impress to the judges.

The team plans to hammer out many of those details when they return to campus in August for the fall semester. Work on the giant pink pump is on hold until then, although the lumber frame has been constructed, and the students have begun attaching chicken wire to form its papier-mâché exterior.

"It's going according to plan," Emerich said confidently. "We're making up the plan as we go along."

James, who is slated to drive the craft with Emerich as her co-pilot, agreed, noting that the latest issue is whether it should be a left or a right shoe. "We decided whatever it looks like at the end is what it's going to be."