BC

Uh...

certz

The rule of buying a car for $500 is in the Lemons rules, but I have never heard of them buying a car (it may have happened, I just have not heard of it). I believe it is a deterent for you to not show up in your "real" race car, because I have seen plenty of cars that were worth more than $500. In fact, at one of the races this year someone showed up in a 911 - it was a beat up 911 but most of the panels looked straight and you cannot buy a straight fender, much less a whole 911, for $500. The story I heard was the team said it was a neighbor's project car and that he "gave" them the car. This is not the story you want to show up with. Nonetheless, Lemons did not buy their car they just assessed them 2000 laps or something like that.

Also, in that rule, it does state you would be given time to remove safety equipment and the like prior to them buying your car. As for the crushing rule, I do not think they have crushed a car in over a year. It is still voted on and the possibility exists, but it seems like most teams are not interested in destroying another teams car so there are not enough votes placed for a team to get their car crushed. Not saying it could not happen, it just has been a long time since the last one. You would also be given a chance to get your safety stuff out of the car prior to crushing.

DAVISRILEY

All true. The last car that was claimed was at Gingerman, spring of 10, iirc. It was actually claimed for the motor, and should have been. Pratt and Miller, the race team that won the real LeMans a few times with corvette brings a few cars out now and then. They showed up with a camaro with an insane small block in it. During tech they had them pull a valve cover, and it was full of all kinds of cheaty parts, roller rockers, etc. There was absolutly no way that motor cost less than our whole car. The Pratt and Miller guys were cool with the whole thing, they knew just what they were doing. It was incredibly fast. like 3 seconds a lap faster than anything else. They had a good time, and afaik, they shipped the motor to LeMons.

As far as crushing cars, since the 944 incident at Nelson's, you have to really drive like a dick, and somehow **** off almost everyone to have that happen to you. In all the races I have gone too, the 944 was the only one that got it(sorry dan, sam). It is done by balloting all of the drivers at the end of day 1, and i think that you have to get 50% of the available votes. If you come out, have a good time, don't punt everyone off track, etc, you will be fine. No one there wants to see anyone's car crushed, no one.

Phokaioglaukos

At one of our LeMons races the guys who would have got the curse packed up and left after the first day. No curse. They were back the next morning. Still no curse. I cannot see how they can crush a car or buy it from you if you do not cooperate. The cheater cars just get a lot of laps tacked on, as far as I can figure out.

certz

Agree with both of the above. The owner of Weathertech (yes, the floor mat company) showed up with a Caprice at Autobahn a couple of years ago (they Randy Pobst as a driver). The engine was far from stock and very shiny and they had what looked like a brand new 401 rear-end. They sent one of their mechanics to the BS inspection as a joke because they knew they were going to get beat-up. In the end, they were only given 401 laps as a penalty (due to the rear-end). Of course, it might have helped that they had mounted a stripper pole to the roof of the car and they brought strippers to swing from/on the pole during pit stops. They also had a sign painted on the car that said "If you crush this car the strippers go home." Want to guess whether they got any votes or not?

Adam@Autometrics

LeMons is not a race, its an event. Penalties are at the sole discretion of the judges (bribes other than alcohol work much better). Don't think there is a concrete rule set that you can follow (or not) and avoid penalties (or not). Tons of BS paperwork is surprisingly effective, as they don't want to look at that garbage.
And you will notice after about 5 laps, that there are TONS of cars that would take $5k or more to build.

The curse is not really in effect anymore. It seems to now be a volunteer thing.

The judges live in California IIRC. They aren't likely to buy your car, in any case.

Remember, its not a race and not about being fair; its an event that is about having fun. Leave your competitive side at the gate for your first race, then see where the "rules" can be manipulated, and come back to win later.

RollingArt

Your life will be made miserable if you show up at Lemons with a clean 928. Even a beat 928 will be heavily scrutinized.

Here's a video a gal with our team made back in '07 of the people's curse in action. I have a feeling that environmental concerns put an end to the crushing of the people's curse car.





Phil

DM993tt

This happened to me years ago when I had Leh Keen on my team. We were one bolt away from getting the engine out. (BUT WE TOTALLY DESERVED TO GET CRUSHED)

Here's a bit of Leh's stint - yea we had a police siren in the car.

DCP

Leh Keen in a Lemons race? That's like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

IcemanG17

they didn't even have a peoples curse last time.......it appears they are moving away from this...........

IcemanG17

some hints on how to be successful (sorta anyway) in lemons


distraction is your best friend........giving free prescriptions (booze) to the crowd is encouraged....having naughty nurses giving out prescriptions is even better

here is the same car on slicks racing against a lotus challenge elise...guess who wins

xsboost90

i cant even watch or read about Lemons anymore. I heard about Lemons in 04 in a car mag at the Ford dealership. Finally got a chance to build a car, bought a 944 for 250 bucks from a Rennlister, built it fair, stuck to my budget. Got gigged fifteen laps because we were all PCA members - EVEN WITH **** AND BOOZE!!! Blew the head gasket, spent six hours in the pits putting the motor back together, finally got out on the track and managed 109th place before we got the curse and they seized our motor with "clunker bomb" because someone thought our car sounded like it had a supercharger. Damn balance shaft belts..... we had a blast up till that point, then decided chumpcar all the way F them hillbillys.

jittsl

Umm. I'm really confused. Why would anyone want to take a clean 928 (that is obviously worth more than $500 - no matter what BS you tell yourself) to a race designed for $500 cars? Why not sell the 928 for what it is really worth and spend the money on an appropriate car?

BC

That does sound very frustrating. I understand its about the event, and not specifically the race, but there is an element to the hard work that people will not like being ripped apart.

I don't even want to know what a clunker bomb is.

BC

I don't really want to get a whole 'nuther car. I like these. I have spare parts for these, and 12 years of intensive experience with every nut, bolt, and piece.

You are basically right however - why don't I enter the car where it would fit in better.

This thread has been very helpful though! I appreciate everyone's responses simply because just reading the rules does not provide this info.