We're back in Wisconsin for the second annual Chubba Cheddar (yes, that Chubba Cheddar) Enduro 24 Hours of LeMons, the weather is cold and rainy, and we've got five Ford Escorts, lots of ill-advised engine swaps, and a covered wagon. Let's take a look at the 80 or so teams willing to brave Road America in November!
The Pabst Blue Racing Northstar-powered Nissan Maxima is back for its second shot at Road America domination.
Internet Car Experts will tell you that this car should be amazingly fast, but the LeMons Supreme Court takes a more skeptical view: Class C for this car!
Also in Class C is the Tougher Than Leather Ford EXP of Team RUN-EXP. We've been waiting for years to see a LeMons EXP (or LN7) and now that day has arrived! With a car this good, a LeMons team really has no need for a great theme… but this team has gone the extra mile with excellent 1986-grade RUN-D.M.C. outfits.
Once again, the wretched 1987 Plymouth Reliant-K wagon that has been passed from team to hapless team around the country during the 2013 season is back, with glutton-for-agony Steve McDaniel back for more character-building at the hands of Lee Iacocca's evil brainchild. This car has never managed to clank into the top half of the standings in a LeMons race, in spite of the promises of major trophies for such an accomplishment, but Steve says that it's running great after its New-Hampshire-to-Wisconsin drive and should be in good shape when the green flag waves on Saturday morning.
Speaking of hellish road trips and low expectations, the Cannonball Bandits have hauled their Vortec 5300-powered Supra all the way out from California for this race. Along the way, their trailer shredded a couple of wheels and got stuck for many hours, and then the box containing the team's very expensive two-way radios bounced out of the tow vehicle and was never seen again.
What really set the tone for this race's lineup is the wide variety of junkyard-shopping-spree engine swaps. The Canadian Border Patrol Toyota Cressida was slow and unreliable with its original M engine, so now it has been upgraded (if that's the right word) with the 1UZ-FE V8 out of a Lexus LS400. We expect it to be slightly less slow and slightly less unreliable now (though there are concerns about the potential lifespan of the automatic transmission behind the engine).
The drift guys love this swap, and when are they ever wrong?
This RX-7 has a lot of mechanical woes with its original rotary engine…
…so the team installed the blown Pinto engine out of a 1980s Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe.
This former Index of Effluency-winning Volkswagen Quantum Syncro wagon got passed on to a new team, which has now installed the 20-valve turbo engine out of an early Audi A6. What could possibly go wrong?
Morrow's Racing is back with their AMC Gremlin, which is powered by a supercharged GM 3800 V6.
Our favorite engine swap of the race, however, is this 2002 Mercedes-Benz C230. The team captain owns a wrecking yard, and after all the good stuff was sold off this theft/crash-victim, he decided to make a LeMons car out of it. Only question is, what engine do you use for such a car?
Why, a Pinto 2300, of course! We're sure the howls of outrage from Stuttgart will be audible in Wisconsin this weekend.
Class C for an 11-year-old Mercedes-Benz? The judges have done gone crazy!
The judges have been enjoying the fine cheese, sausage, and beer products that Wisconsin has to offer. Last year, the Chubba Cheddar Enduro BRIBED stencil featured a cheese motif, so this year we went with Wisconsin beer. Our next Midwestern race, we'll make a sausage-themed BRIBED stencil!
Did someone mention sausage? Look what racers give judges at Road America: Old Style Beer Sausage, shaped like a beer bottle!
This team wanted their Neon to stand out from the crowd, so they made it into an upside-down cow.
Functioning udders! We're sure that Formula 1 will require this feature on all cars for next season.
This Princess Bride-on-a-shoestring-budget theme was impressive.
If you're racing a Taurus SHO, why not dress as the Fabulous Detroit SHO Girls?
After the inspections, many of the teams headed over to Siebken's legendary racers' bar. Tonight, we celebrate! Tomorrow, we race!
from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com
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