So, you may be wondering what types of machinery show up to a race with a $500 limit on car purchase and preparation. I took a stroll around the pits Saturday morning before the race to document some of the many flavors of crappy racecars, and the wacky atmosphere that is LeMons.
Team Motoring J Style brought a rare and pretty cool little car, an Isuzu I-Mark RS, pitted next to us.
These guys had a crumpled MR2 with a Star Wars Snowspeeder theme...cool! They were pitted right next to us.
Hula hula! This AE82 Corolla FX16 was wearing a grass skirt. I wondered if there was body damage hidden underneath.
Three MR2s, one for racing, and the other two for parts? Or else these guys just love and know MR2s.
The TuRD RA60 Celica has competed in every LeMons event to date and keeps on truckin'. I was marveling at the feathered outer tread blocks on the front tires, and one of the guys running the cars said that if they enter it for a sixth time they might rotate the tires!
Pretty! Apparently this B13 Sentra wasn't an SE-R, but it looked sharp.
Fantasy Junction Integra and the Mazdasaurus Wrecks...both of these cars were amazingly fast. So fast, in fact, that the whole field (and organizers) seemed to doubt that they were built for anywhere near the $500 budget cap. The Mazda sure sounded sweet totally wound out down the front straight with long tuned headers.
The Rustang guys struggling with trying to weld rust together. Yup, it has to be before the race because the car still has all the body panels!
This CRX had a wing bigger than ours and an exhaust tip to make the entire world envious.
Datsun 210 hatchback...I like these little cars! One of the Saab Stories in the background.
Team Fieldfind brought a weathered but amazingly complete Mercedes 190 sedan...pure class! Well, maybe not the bungee holding the trunk lid closed, but still...
Cold wet track and foggy skies.
Judging by a lot of the street cars parked in the pits, there seemed to be a distinct theme of teams running models they were familiar with and enthusiastic about.
BMW (E28?) with every body panel showing some wrinkles...what else would you expect from an aging car? I think this thing was an automatic, too!
These guys were great, very friendly. They are a group of dads who decided that if their wives were going to get together and have a moms social group, they could have a dad group and do manly things like race old beater Volvo wagons!
This RX-7 was one of the few cars that looked like it might have been driven off the street instead of driven out of a scrap-metal yard or chop-shop! I was curious to find out how/why it running 4-lug 4x114.3 Toyota Supra wheels on what should be a 5-lug car, but never got the chance.
Heritage racing paint scheme nonwithstanding, this FC RX-7 was pretty rough...and fairly fast.
Newer and older. The Civic had devil horns and the Plymouth...well, just look at the size of it!
SHO pulls into tech inspection. You have to be a special kind of crazy to race one of these things!
B.S. Judge at tech inspection. He didn't seem to bat an eye at our Corolla, which was gratifying.
WOW! An Alfa boattail Spider...or at least a pile of rust and welds that once was an Alfa. Team Ecurie Ecrappe; this car was soooo cool.
The Alfa had a rear-mounted radiator and the front was a shell which had been cut off, reinforced, then tacked back on for demolition derby antics. This car was fast out of the box but faded not too long into the race.
The line for Tech and B.S. inspections grew rapidly. This Camaro with the accordian sheet metal on the rear was rattelcanned gold and ran as "The Rockford Pile!"
Ratty Alfa again.
Tech inspection.
Free M. W. Looks pretty good!
This ratty Alfetta was pitted next to us and the guys were a lot of fun, they ceratinly added to the spirit of the event! Once again, every body panel was wrinkled!
Line of beat-up cars.
So THAT's what a $500 Porsche looks like. I always wondered...
Sherlock Holmes and British Police color scheme...and look...a 16 Valve badge...ooooh!
Darn it! The 16-valve had long since been pulled, and a singlecam now lives in this wagon.
Team "Prelude to Greatness."
Tidy RX-7s...I think only the white one lasted, and it did pretty well.
Zebra-striped Alfa with HUGE wing struggled in an attempt to make it to the start...I don't think they made it.
Not often you see a Porsche with an American-flag paint job. I like the mesh windshield, but the beer and the nose-picking really make the overall scene...classic Lemons!
Sure...the body was wavy, but this Martini Porsche 914 looked pretty good. These two "classic" convertible sports cars stood out in a field of mostly old ratty sedans and coupes.
Snowspeeder MR2 again. The cardboard sign at tech inspection reads, "New Muffler? See Team #7 Chia Neon" Hahaha!
Look closely...this started as a CRX.
This BMW looked really good, but they couldn't keep a rear window in it.