This work presents the Race Party, which is a project-based learning approach utilized at the University of Minho to teach dynamics and design of mechanical systems. The Race Party, launched in 2015, has been incorporated into the “Integrated Project in Mechanical Engineering” course, which is part of the second-year curriculum for the bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. The Race Party is a pedagogical activity in which the students, supervised by a tutor and organized in groups of five, are required to design, develop and build a dragster-type minicar to race five meters in a horizontal and regular surface, as quickly as possible. The implementation of the Race Party project involves various pedagogical approaches, including lectures, laboratory activities, assignments, deliverables, written reports, oral presentations, and individual exams. Thus, the main focus of this work is two-fold: first, to present the Race Party project within the spirit of course; and second, to discuss preliminary results related to the perceptions collected from the students’ opinions. In the sequel of this process, the main features of the course “Integrated Project in Mechanical Engineering”, along with some challenges encountered during its implementation, are briefly described. Overall, students and instructors have recognized the Race Party as a highly challenging and demanding task, yet well-suited and rewarding in terms of effective teaching dynamics and mechanical system design.