Tunachuckers Can-O'-Blog

Now that we've all had a chance to recuperate from the debacle that was the February 24 Hours of LeMons race at CMP, I thought I'd start amassing the photos that were taken at the race and do a few entries on them.  The other Saturday while at work, Anthony (crazy Peruvian driver) handed me a memory stick full of the pictures he'd managed to snap while not busy working on the car or taunting drivers who came in for black flags.  So I'll start off with some of his pictures.

There were 61 cars (or so someone told me- I have trouble couning past 10 with my shoes on) at this race, and here's a sampling of...the competition.  You know, the 60 other cars all vying for that covetted spot in the winner's circle and those 30,000 nickels.

These guys in a feather-covered Porsche 944 camped next to us.  In fact, I think they've camped next to us for the past 3 or 4 races.  Their car always seems to break something, much like ours, and we've found ourselves swapping tools on more than one occassion.  Good neighbors.

I have only a vague idea of what this car is.  I feel like I've seen it at some races before, and something tells me its some sort of 1970's Opel.  But the first time I saw it I thought it was a Maverick (no, not this kind of Maverick, the crappy 1970's Ford product).  But, let's face it, it could be about any crappy 1970's car.  (Is crappy being redundant?  I think so.)

Ze Germans always come out en masse for these races.  Not because German cars are particularly well suited for LeMons.  Actually, kindof the opposite.  In a weird sort of way, there's usually a lot of German cars at LeMons races because German cars are so bad at LeMons.  They are complicated, expensive to fix, and depreciate fiercely.  So while its very possible to pick up a $500 beater German car, its quite probably not a terribly smart thing to do.  And yet, here we are:

This car actually tried to disguise itself as a Mercedes, but apart from the grille, there was a decidedly Shintoist vibe about this particular vehicle:

Japanese cars have mixed results at LeMons.  Hondas like to blow head gaskets and bearings, but Toyotas do fairly well and Mazdas are nigh unstoppable.  A few Datsuns show up from time to time, and usually don't last.  But they are fun to watch, especially when powered by American V8s and shod with giant plywood spoilers:

This Mitsubishi looked nearly showroom-fresh.  I can't imaging what kind of paperwork they conconcted to slide this ringer through BS inspection.  Surprisingly, it didn't get The People's Curse, but it didn't seem to win anything, either.  And who knows- it could have been a flood car, or had a blown engine that got replaced with a duesenberg straight 8.  I didn't get that much of a chance to inspect it, but apparently the Judges thought well enough of it to let it race.

Gotta go take the puppy to the vet, but stay tuned for Part ][ of The Cars of LeMons...coming up whenever I next feel a smidgen rancateourish.