MotoringFile Does the 24 Hours of Lemons
A wrap-up is coming this week with results and tons of photos.
Things will be a little quiet this weekend at MF as myself and a few frequent contributors are heading to Michigan for this weekend’s 24 Hours of LeMons at the Gingerman road course.
This is our second race (see a recap of our first race last year) and I have to admit I’m feeling pretty confident a decent showing. Out of respect for the rules of LeMons (cars can’t cost more than $500 including upgrades) I can’t say what we’ve covertly upgraded or replaced, but lets just say we’ve made some changes (yes those rear wheels are OZ Ultraleggeras off of a MINI).
We also managed to talk BMW into giving us what could be the ultimate team support car, the new 550 GT (we would have loved a MINI Countryman but those are off-limits to the public until later this year).
If you are interested in getting regular updates, you can follow our progress on my personal Twitter feed: @Gabrielbridger
What is the 24 Hours of LeMons?
>Each LeMons race is for cars purchased, fixed up, and track-prepped for a total of 500 dollars or less. But before reaching the grid, you’ll have to survive trials like the Personal-Injury-Lawyer Anti-Slalom, the Marxist-Valet Parking Challenge, and the Wide Open Throttle Rodthrowapalooza. Twelve hours into the race, the car voted People’s Choice is called in and awarded a cash prize; simultaneously, the car voted People’s Curse is called in and summarily destroyed. At the end of 24 hours, a gala awards ceremony plies the survivors with trophies, plaques, and four-figure purses in canvas bags full of nickels. What’s not to like?
More information can be found here.
<p>is the 5-er the support car…? :P</p>
<p>Looking forward to another entertaining Lemons story!</p>
<p>That angle you shot the 5GT at is probably the most flattering picture of that car I’ve seen.</p>
<p>Good Luck guys – Bring it home for Motoring File and Detroit Tuned!</p>
<p>That champagne colored support beast really ups your “maturity” quotient! ;-)</p>
<p>love the Rebel Alliance decal! set your foils in attack position!</p>
<p>Good luck Gabe & company… should be a blast! Gen1 mr2’s are awesomely twitchy corner carvers and tend to be robust too. Look forward to the coverage!
Man, I always seem to be where you guys are not… this week I am not in Windsor, which means I won’t be close enough to come watch the wheel-to-wheel hijinks at Gingerman. :(</p>
<p>Looking forward to hearing more – the article on last year’s competition is one of my all time favorites!</p>
<p>The first thing I noticed where those wheels, and that shiny exhaust. I remember when the first gen MR2 came out. They were fun.</p>
<p>For those following Gabe’s twitter feed, by “camping” he means curling up on the back seat of an 80k 5GT.</p>
<p>And by “head on a roll of paper towels” he means avoid drooling in your sleep all over the 80k upholstery.</p>
<p>Actually that’s not true. I’m too tall to fit in the back so I slept on tje ground in the tent. Did I mention it got down to 36F lastnight? It did.</p>
<p>oh, yeah – thats right. The Tent.</p>
<p><em>we wont tell</em></p>
<p>Congrats on your 17th-place finish. Pretty impressive!</p>
<p>Looking forward to hearing about your LeMons adventure as I am part of an MR2 team looking to race the full 24-hours here in Florida this December. If we can successfully replace our head gasket, that is.</p>