Here at lovely Gingerman Raceway on the shores of Lake Michigan, we’re experiencing some invigoratingly brisk Upper Midwest Spring weather (in other words, howling Arctic winds driving icy needles of sleet right through our suffering flesh) and admiring the collection of 70 or so racin’ machines that have come to compete in the Cure For Gingervitis 24 Hours of LeMons. Now that your LeMons correspondent has stopped shivering long enough to work the keyboard, let’s take a look at some of the more interesting competitors.
Back from their Judges’ Choice triumph at the Chubba Cheddar Enduro last summer, the zany Canadians of Red Shirt Racing went to extraordinary lengths to obtain a genuine Sportbak for their Nissan Pulsar. Some members of the team felt that the Sportbak’s added 100 pounds of weight would be too much for their slushbox-enhanced 71-horsepower E16 engine, but the LeMons Supreme Court promised a coveted Class C berth if the team agreed to keep that crucial accessory on the car all weekend.
That means the Red Shirt Pulsar will be battling for a class win with the NSF Racing 1987 Plymouth Reliant-K station wagon. This car was purchased and prepped by the legendary NSF and is being handed off from team to team across the country, having now traveled from LeMons races in Texas, South Carolina, and New York before washing up here in Michigan. After this race, the K-car will be heading back to Texas as part of NSF’s infamous, 2.2-engine-killing “K-it-FWD” program.
Of all the teams that could have taken on the K-car for this race, the best possible choice had to be the Celica-killing New Zealanders of Apocalyptic Racing. Not content to shoot rods out the block of their hopelessly overcarbureted 22R engine the Apocalyptic guys have adopted the Reliant-K for the weekend. Fortunately, they picked up a spare 2.2 engine at the junkyard (a wise move for a car that has killed two engines per three races so far) and will be ready in case problems crop up with the K’s powerplant this weekend. If you can find a better car, buy it!
Also in Class C is the Zero Budget Racing Chevy Chevette Diesel. This car won the Index of Effluency trophy here back in 2011, but Zero Budget brought another car, one that shoves the Chevette right out of the spotlight.
<img src="http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/17-24-Hours-of-LeMons-The-Cure-For-Gingervitis-2013-BS-Inspction-626×426.jpg" alt="" title="17 – 24 Hours of LeMons
From: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/caranddriver/blog/~3/LUx87IaYqic/