This weekend, Audi marked the of its latest R18 race cars at the World Endurance Championships at Spa Francorchamps. Yet the most spectacular race car running on any track this weekend was thousands of miles away at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, in the 24 Hours of Lemons “Loudon Annoying” event taking place at the very same time.
Yes, that’s a camper trailer that’s been converted into a race car. And there’s . Now, before you click, see if you can guess what the car underneath is. (Hint, there’s another photo in the gallery that makes it very clear.) That answer is also posted , and it makes the whole rig even more fantastic.
Thanks to our friend (and ) Jake Fisher for the on-site photos!
In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re now actively using your suggestions for new episodes of . We started the series with a few of our own, but have been flooding our inbox since the first episode. ? That was your idea. ? Your idea. And so is today’s episode: Drive the PCH.
California’s Pacific Coast Highway is known as much for its amazing views as it is for the enjoyable cruising that can be had along its asphalt. It’s the type of drive where the destination is less meaningful than the trip that got you there and people you met along the way. In this episode of The List, Jessi and Patrick are given the keys to a suitably ostentatious droptop and sent north from Los Angeles to discover what the PCH has in store for them.
While the PCH is arguably one of the best roads in the country for cruising, every state has a similar road that shows off their unique, natural beauty. What’s the best cruising road in your state? Let us know in Comments so we can try it out the next time we’re in the neighborhood.
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While we’ve already , there’s no way their on-track training could prepare them for the the 24 Hours of LeMons.
This relatively recent phenomenon of endurance racing with $500 beater cars has grown into a 20-race season for 2012 that, as the , is “Inexplicably Presented by Car and Driver.” It’s legit racing with a laugh track, yet requires the same dedication to win, or even finish, as any real racing endeavor.
Jessi and Patrick caught up with the 24 Hours of LeMons at Buttonwillow Raceway near Los Angeles, California where we got them rides with a team full of masochists who field only tiny British cars. What could possibly go wrong?
to watch them check off “Race in the 24 Hours of LeMons” from The List.
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You can also to learn more about our hosts, Jessi and Patrick.
In an effort to stay on the bleeding edge of old crap-bucket technology, the 24 Hours of LeMons has now created a prize specifically for autonomous vehicles. The X Ceedingly Bad Idea Prize will award one million shiny new nickels to the first team that manages to pilot an autonomous vehicle to a win. We assume that carries a caveat of not killing anyone in the process. As always, the vehicle itself can’t cost more than $500, though the associated technological wizardry required to keep the driverless machine on the track doesn’t count toward that grand total.
Madness? Probably, but we would feel more comfortable sharing the course with a computer than some of the tactically inept drivers we’ve seen bashing around the track in our time. The next 24 Hours of LeMons race kicks off at New Jersey Motorsports Park on April 14-15, but you need to get your application in by February 4. Get cracking, people. In the meantime, to check out the press release.
Our favorite racing series just got a bit of competition, and it comes in a surprising form. We’re not saying this will take the place of the 24 Hours of LeMons, but it’s certainly captured our attention. Called the Power Wheel Racing Series, this form of electrified motorsports pits racers against each other as they pilot uprated kids toys around a track.
To put it rather simply: this is awesome, and we want in.
The series needs a bit of help, however, to go from a singular event into a full-blown season for 2012. The minds behind the mayhem have turned to Kickstarter, and they are accepting your cash in exchange for a differing level of gratitude based upon how much you’re willing to plunk down.
If you need some convincing, to learn more about the series. After that, head over to Kickstarter and .
Turbine-powered Batmobile – Click above for image gallery
Having a real-life Batmobile in your driveway sounds like a fun idea. Upon closer inspection, however, it’s not going to be that exciting. Most often, Batmobile replicas are powered by something like a junkyard-salvaged 350, featuring an interior reminiscent of a hastily cobbled together 24 Hours of LeMons racer. A man by the name of Casey Putsch decided he wanted a Batmobile to call his own, but he wasn’t ready to settle for second-rate.
This particular Putsch is the same man behind , an outfit that restores, designs and appraises all manner of items automotive. When we said that Casey Putsch wasn’t going to settle for a low-rent Batmobile, we meant it. Instead, Putsch has assembled what he says is .
Under the long hood of Putsch’s Batmobile sits a Boeing turboshaft engine plucked from a naval drone helicopter. The power output is rated at 385 horses, which is good for a vehicle that weighs around 2,800 pounds.
Besides the engine upgrade, this Batmobile has an interior that would make Bruce Wayne nod approvingly. That’s all you can hope for really, since it’s impossible to make Mr. Wayne jealous. Putsch strapped an Apple iPad into the center stack of his super(hero)car, which then acts as his avionics system and also supplies GPS information.
We have footage of Casey Putsch driving his creation available for you , which is worth it for the sound alone. We also have a handful of photos in the gallery below. Be sure to check out .
Racing is a rich man’s sport, no question about it. Sure, there are some ways to get into a bit of wheel-to-wheel that cost less than others, such as the 24 Hours of LeMons, but even that is more expensive than you might think. But regardless of the cost, some people still need to scratch that racing itch. One way to keep costs down is to get into spec racing – everyone uses the same type of car and they are typically kept showroom stock minus the addition of safety features such as a roll cage, harness and racing bucket. and understand this and the two automakers have decided to roll out a B-Spec racing series that utilizes the and .
If the thought of tossing either of these two cars around a track doesn’t sound fun, then you clearly have never driven either one. Though they are both down on power, they offer high levels of tossable excitement. Turn them into race-ready hoon machines and the volume knob twists to 11.
A spec series presents an even playing field for the competitors because the engines and chassis remain stock for all cars. Driving skill is what will win in an event like this, and every ounce of that behind-the-wheel prowess will be tested in these low-powered hatchbacks. to read the full press release.
[Sources: Mazda, Honda]
and Honda form B-Spec Showroom Stock racing series
So there are a lot of farm animals in New Zealand – last we checked there were at least six sheep for every one human. And they graze in paddocks, essentially giant sweeps of countryside. And when the sheep aren’t around, or, it appears, sometimes even when they are, the average New Zealander likes to engage in a sport called “paddock hacking.” That is when you take a clapped out junker and fly that sucker over and through and into anything else occupying the paddock. Think of it as 24 Hours of Lemons meets Home on the Range. With sheep.
Now, since we can’t find any official information on Paddock Hacking, we’ve pieced this together from what’s in the video above. That video was sent to us by a New Zealander who’s working on a pilot for a television show on the subject. We have no idea what kind of season-long dramatic arc you can get from Death Race cars and trucks rampaging over green antipodean hills, but it’s fun enough for now. for the action.
Q: What’s included in every Yugo’s owners manual? A: A bus schedule – click above for high-res image gallery
Everyone loves free stuff, right? Everyone also loves (and loves to hate) the Yugo. Well then, have we got a contest for you. Yesterday we posted our review of and many of you commented that you’d like to read the book. Friends, comrades, fellow travelers-now is your chance! Publishers Hill and Wang are sponsoring a contest where you submit your best Yugo-related story and (maybe) win a signed copy of The Yugo. Here are the details:
Jason Vuic, author of , wants to hear from everyone who has a Yugo story to tell. Whether you owned one, drove one, sat in one, passed one, or crossed paths with one, if a Yugo made a lasting impression on you, tell us about it. Love it? Tell us why. Hate the Yugo? Give us the cause. Jason Vuic will select his ten favorite stories, and Hill and Wang will include them in an updated ebook edition. The winners will also receive a signed hardcover copy of The Yugo. To submit, go to . Entries must be under 1,000 words and submitted by March 31.
In the interest of helping to stir the pot, take our own medicine and practice some preaching, here’s our best Yugo story.
As some of you may know, I’m heavily involved in the . At the 2008 race held at the mighty , the word goes out that someone’s bringing a Yugo. Which, at a $500 car race, makes a lot of sense. Not only does it make sense, but it makes us hard-hearted LeMons types oh-so very happy.
Sadly, the Yugo didn’t fair so well on the track. After about three laps (two to be totally honest) the extra weight from the roll cage was too much for the Zastrava-grade suspension, and after spinning and slamming into another car, the Yugo flipped over onto its roof. However, the Zastrava-grade roof quality (and aforementioned roll cage) held, and within moments emergency workers had pushed the little Yugo back onto its wheels and were towing it to the paddock. After much hammering, ritual spraying of WD40 into the Weber-derived carburetor, there was much rejoicing as the Yugo started back up.
Sadly for team Tito (or whatever they were called), the 24 Hours of LeMons has a rule called, “Why am I Upside Down?” If you do find yourself upside down in your race car, the car is done for the weekend and the driver is done for the season (don’t worry, it was December, the last race of the season). Shockingly, the Yugo team took the news very well. So well in fact, that they offered the Yugo to LeMons Chief Perp Jay Lamm. The conversation went something like this, “Take our Yugo, please.” Jay Lamm, a former Trabant owner, looked at the Yugoslavian race car, and after thinking things through for less than one second proclaimed, “Hell no!” That’s ours. .
24 Hours of LeMons at Thunderhill – click above for high-res image gallery
That’s right, the 2010 team will be sent to France to enjoy the . For reals. Says LeMons Chief Perpetrator Jay Lamm, “I think it’s only fit and proper that the very best team in LeMons see how seriously lame they still are in comparison.” The winning team shouldn’t expect the our man Damon Lavrinc received at last year’s Le Mans. Sayeth the press release, “We’ll pay the LeMons-grade airfare and lodging. (If you want to fly Emirates, enter F1.) We’ll hook you up with some teams to hang out with. We’ll even toss in some Fodor’s and Sartre.”
The big question then is why are they actually doing it? Why are they actually sending a bunch of greasy geeks used to fixing things with JB Weld and a Sawzal to Europe’s most elegant and sophisticated race? When we asked Jay where this idea came from, he replied, “Absinthe, if I recall correctly.” However, if you you can see second in command Nick “Deuce-Deuce” Pon’s longer, more thoughtful, slightly NSFW explanation of why plus the actual press release.
If you were following the news coming out of Infineon this weekend during the Sears Pointless 24 Hours of LeMons race, you might’ve heard about a nasty crash involving the ONSET Cavalier.
Going into turn 11 at about 1 PM on Saturday, the wagon – an easy top ten contender – squeezed through an opening on the back straight before being tapped on the left rear, sent into a wall and then flipped. The Cavalier slid well over 100 feet before coming to a rest mid-track and just as the driver was extracting himself from the car, the red wagon burst into flames.
Although he was able to remove his harnesses and wiggle his way out the window, the driver did suffer from a back injury resulting in two vertebrae surgeries carried out on Saturday and Sunday. We’ve gotten word from a close friend of Tyler that he’s recovering and doing well, and we wouldn’t be surprised to hear that LeMons could begin requiring HANS devices for future races.
we’ve got two videos of the wreck: One from inside the ONSET car and another from a vehicle traveling further back in the pack. Both are very telling and further proof that LeMons’ strict safety requirements work, even in $500 crap can racers.
One of the common, angry refrains that veteran 24 Hours of LeMons teams voice is the fact that the $500 junker series keeps increasing the safety requirements, especially when it comes to roll cages. After all, their cage passed the tech inspection last time, no problem. Why the hassle, man?
It can be safely assumed however, that the driver of the Ford Escort ZX2 sees no problem with tighter, tougher (and yes, safer) LeMons roll cage requirements. First and foremost, the driver walked away from the wreck (it took place at last weekend’s Gator-O-Rama 2010 race near Houston, TX) with zero injuries. Second of all, the following video is a very good lesson in why your wheels shouldn’t stick out past your car’s fenders. Sadly, the that the Escort climbed up isn’t visible. However, you can see a little piece of its side wing airborne in the image above. Watch the video, . Thanks to DrWife for capturing the footage!
