Just in case we have fallen short on our coverage of the two-engined MR2/FX mashup Lemons build, here’s one more post about it. Many of the commenters in the previous posts have asked for more photos of the build process. Well wish no more, for here are all of the pictures, strung together, into a 7 minute video of the whole process.

Click through to see the three month build (and the race at Sonoma Raceway) in ultra-fast forward.

The guys at Stick Figure/Volatile Ram racing had the foresight to have the time-lapse camera running whenever anything was going on with the car.  So just about every moment of the process is included here.  A special hat tip goes to Larry S. for stringing the thousands of photos together and picking just the right music to set it to.  (“March of the Swivel Heads” by The Beat)

Note: The claim in the title of this post is based on thousands tens of hours of research in this area. If you want to pick nits, perhaps it should read, “World’s Nicest 1982 Capri RS 5.0 4-Speed Is Up For Sale”. The point is, this thing is sexy sweet and you need it. You may not have even known that you needed a Capri RS. Well, now you do.

Click through for more of the best beige you’ve ever seen.

Mercury’s version of the Fox platform Mustang came out in the same year as Ford’s.  The Mustang sold very well in 1982, with 130,000 units sold.  The Capri certainly didn’t keep pace, but still sold a respectable 59,000 units.  Of those, only 8.800 had the RS option.  Most of those are (let’s face it, they were built in 1982) long gone now.

This particular example, while being an alarmingly tan shade of beige, has some great options.  A manual transmission is right at the top of the list.  The RS package, (which included sweet “RS” stickers on the front fender), a 5.0 engine, a removable sunroof, and of course, a hatchback all add to the reasons to buy this car.

Further, the seller claims that it only has an original 45,000 miles on the clock. If that claim is true, the $5000 ask seems downright reasonable.  Click here for the ad.

(For the record, Hooniverse realizes that Fox platform FoMoCo products have a huge following and that somewhere out there, someone is muttering to himself about how this isn’t really the nicest example of an ’82 Capri.  Whoever you are, you are wrong.)

[image: caranddriver.com]

The guys over at Flaming A-Holes racing put together one of the greatest Lemons cars in the history of ever.  A Hillman/Sunbeam Imp.  Not only did it start the race, which was an impressive acheivment, it accomplished several other amazing feats.  First, it raced all day Saturday.  Second, it raced all day Sunday.  (All with the original Rootes Group rear engine goofiness, mind you.)  Third, it won the coveted Index of Effluency award.

Was that enough for this little British turd?  No way.  Along the way, it did some great drifting.  Click through for a short video compilation of the Imp racking up style points in turn 11.

Now, this guy is no Ken Block (thankfully), but keep in mind that he’s driving a 60 hp, rear-engined econobox from 4-plus decades ago.  Pure Lemons magic!

The FX not only made it to the race, but was downright competitive, finishing 3rd in the all-important “C” class and 30th overall.  Unfortunately, the rear engine lost a water pump and we had to finish most of day 2 with only one motor.  So goes Lemons.

This post is merely a collection of favorite racing action photos from the weekend.  You may notice that they are team-centric.  No apologies will be offered for that fact.  Hit the jump for the slide show.

Click any of the photos for a 1320×720 wallpaper-sized version.  They are much better when viewed in all their glory.  Click!

Turn 11, Cortina in the background.

The MRolla, looking good.

The FX, following the Index of Effluency winning Sunbeam Imp.

The FX, being a hero.

Heavy traffic in turn 11.

Sonoma is a beautiful track.  This is the turn 1/1a hill climb.

Just a shot to demonstrate how great Sonoma Raceway is.  The dragstrip can be seen running through the middle of this shot.  Overflow gransdstands are seen in the background.

This shot is all about juxtaposition.  The Audi sportscar experience in the foreground and three butt turrible Lemons in the background.

The Tweedle brothers, owning turn 11.

One of many, many cars that had trouble negotiating turn 11.

Finally, the FX, all framed against the Toyota billboard.  Toyota geeks rejoice!

The guys at Stick Figure/Volitile Ram Racing continue to amaze. They have the (Mr.) FX32 right on schedule to make it to Sonoma in March. For anyone who isn’t familiar with this project, it boils down to this: Weld the back half of an MR2 to the front half of an FX16 to make a single race car with two seperate drivetrains driving all four wheels. What could go wrong?

Stripping the areas to be welded.

At this time, the two chunks of Toyota goodness have been fused into one car that actually looks like a car again. The roll cage is nearly finished, both engines are in, and a theme is being developed.

A million details always seem to remain, and this project is no exception to that rule. Wiring, brakes, fuel delivery, instrument clusters, and cooling systems are still on the list.

It is really quite impressive how well the fitment of the two bodies came together. Except for a few minor visual cues, nobody would guess that the heart of an MR2 beats behind the driver’s seat of an ordinary-looking FX.

Stay tuned.

Hit it for more.

The donor truck had been given the blackout treatment by its previous owner. I suppose that look is good for who it’s for. The tail lights on the NTC Arrow are cracked and glued (poorly) back together, but the lights on the donor truck are in great shape…except for all that silly black paint.  With nothing to lose regarding the tail lights, I decided to try to remove the ugliness.

I tried several different chemicals, and found that acetone worked relatively well.  Acetone is nasty stuff, make sure you have chemical gloves and a well ventilated area. 

The paint removal process was simple – keep the paper towel soaked wet with acetone and change to a clean part of the towel or a new one as soon as it starts to get clogged with black.  I used about half a roll of paper towels in total. 

In the nooks and crannies, an old toothbrush was used to get out the last bits of paint.  The photo above shows how the acetone left the plastic with an unsightly haze.  The last steps were to wash the lenses in soap and water and then polish them with 3M Dark Glaze. 

The result is a nearly perfect set of tail light lenses.  The devil is in the details.

It’s at this point of a project that many ambitious and enterprising folks take a step back, assess the situation, and realize they this thing will never run and that they were morons to take even a single step down this insane path.  Our team is certainly not that smart, so onward we go.

The plan with this car is to build the whole thing on Saturdays between now and the race at the end of March in Sonoma.  Can it be done?  Well, if we keep getting attendance like we have the first two weeks, I think it may well happen.  We’ve had 6 guys thrashing on both of the first two Saturdays and the net has been a nicely disassembled MR2 and a torn-down engine (needs a head gasket, maybe more).  Go team!

This is what is left of the MR2.  As I mentioned in the first post, this car will end up looking much more like the FX, and will carry most of that sheet metal when it is completed.  So, from the MR2, we’ll have what you see above, plus engine and transmission, fuel tank, wiring, gauge cluster, and cooling system.  Everything else will be FX. 

Oh, and it’ll have two drive trains.  That’s the part that makes me a little giddy every time I think of it. 

The folks at 24 hours of Lemons HQ reportedly had twice the number of applications for this particular event than it had room for.  Luckily, both of our cars/teams were accepted.  So now all we have to do is turn what you see in the above photo into a running race car in two months. 

We’ll make it, or we’ll be committed, or both. 

Bonus mystery car:  Name the vehicle behind the MR2 carcass?

Ok, I promise, this will be the last midget post for at least a week or two. 

In August of 2012, a group of friends and I attended Speed Week at the Bonneville Salt Flats.  That group had hooked up with accomplished pin-up photographer Mitzi, who took some great shots some of our pin-up gals with our cars.  The results were fantastic.  The folks at Car Kulture Deluxe must have thought so too, as they picked up a couple of the shots for their spread about Speed Week. 

As you can imagine, we were very excited to see our friends and our cars in this great magazine. CKD features traditional hot rods, which we love so much.  Let’s don’t tell them the midget is electric. 

That’s Dustin Everett’s T bucket in the photo above.  If it looks like those two are having fun driving it, it’s becuase that car is a total riot to drive. 

The photo of the midget features Kayla H. (let’s face it, it probably made the magazine becuase of her, not the midget, but I’m totally ok with that.)  She looks great in the photo, which appears both in the table of contents and in the Bonneville spread.

That’s right folks, the NTC midget has been awarded the most prestigious award in the automotive world. Thanks to everyone out there who helped and/or followed along.

(Note: No thanks to the guy at Peach Days who asked why I didn’t put legitimate parts in it. That guy can stick it.)

The announcement post can be found here, at Hooniverse.com.

So what do you do if you have the only twin-engined, AWD car at the track?  You build another one so it doesn’t get lonely. 

That’s right, they are at it again, and I’m elbows deep in the madness.  This time, it’s an MR2/FX mashup.  Unlike the MRolla, this car will end up looking much more like the Cute little FX hatchback than the MR2.  There is a clear plan on how we will accomplish this feat, but I have no idea what it is.  Unlike builds of my own, I am mostly just cheap (ok, free…wait, I’m paying them…) labor.

We are still looking for a name for the car.  Post your suggestions in the comments below.  The best I’ve come up with is MFRX2, which is clearly weak.

This is the actual FX donor.

Not the actual MR2, but a much nicer facsimile.

It’s refreshing to let someone else do the planning and just do what you are told sometimes. 

Day 1 of the build netted a completely stripped, donated MR2 in two pieces.  Luckily we got the George Carlin warranty: “If it breaks in half, you get to keep both halves!”

There will be much more to come on this build.  It will come soon too, as the goal is to race this FrankenFX at Sonoma Raceway in late March.  Now where are my crazy pills?