24 Hours Of Lemons, Thunderhill 2012: A Beginner’s Perspective

Posted on September 22, 2012 by needthatcar

This post originally appeared here, at Hooniverse.com.

The sun rose over the rolling hills of golden winter wheat and filled my tent with light.  I rustled, rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and thought, “Holy shit!  I’m first on the track today!”  This was my first-ever Lemons event and I was…um…nervous. 

When Pete sent me the invite just two weeks previous to join Team Killer ZomBees (You may remember the ZomBee itself as the Hooniversal Car of the Year for 2011), I did what any rational, self-respecting person would not do: I said yes.  What follows is my attempt to describe what the 24 Hours of Lemons was like.

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Posted in Event Coverage, Gems from the Dark Years (1971-1987), Race cars | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Quick Hitter: Totally Looks Like Edition

Posted on September 21, 2012 by needthatcar

This Nissan Rogue grille totally looks like a ’77-’79 Corvette flags emblem.
Who knew? There’s something interesting about the Rogue after all.

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Modern Art Monday: Cancars

Posted on September 17, 2012 by needthatcar

This post originally appeared here, at Hooniverse.com.

Sandy’s Cancars is a website featuring the work of Sandy, an English draughtsman turned technology teacher living in New Zealand.  Having been involved in the world of competition modeling, he had seen aircraft models made from aluminum drink cans. They always used the inside, plain aluminum of the can.  Then, the idea came to him to use the color and art on the cans themselves to celebrate and display the origin of the building material.  He also made the decision to build cars instead of aircraft.    

 

Click through for more from tin can alley.  Continue reading →

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Blimey! A1969 Mini Cooper Limousine

Posted on September 11, 2012 by needthatcar

For the record, I am against this. It’s not as bad an automotive crime as, say, building a Ferrari replica out of a Fiero, but it’s pretty egregious. What has happened here is that someone has taken one of the smallest cars ever and stretched it into one of the smallest limousines ever.  Brilliant! (If, by brilliant, you mean a complete waste of time, resources, and a cool Brit car.)  It’s also up for sale.

Hit the jump for more.

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Ear Candy: A Supercharged Inline 8 Cylinder Powered Roadster

Posted on September 10, 2012 by needthatcar

This post originally appeared here, at Hooniverse.com.

 

Some ideas just sound right.  An example of such an idea is taking a straight eight Packard engine, adding a McCulloch supercharger and four Stromberg carburetors and dropping the whole monster in a stripped down ’30s roadster body.  The result isn’t just an idea that sounds right, but a car with one of the greatest engine notes of all time.

Hit the jump for two videos and the aural delight.
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Midget Update: LeMons Prep

Posted on September 7, 2012 by needthatcar

This post originally appeared here, at Hooniverse.com.

I would like to announce that I have made the questionable decision to accept the poorly thought out invitation from the Killer Zombees Racing Team to join them at 24 hours of Lemons Thunderhill later this month.  Yes, it is just a short two weeks and a short drive (12 hours) away.  I have never participated in a LeMons event, so I am nervous and excited about the opportunity.  To ease my tension, my trusty companion, the midget, will be making the trip.  First, it needed a few upgrades.  

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Posted in EV Midget Build, Event Coverage, It's Electric! | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

24 Hours Of LeMons Thunderhill: NTC Will Be There

Posted on August 27, 2012 by needthatcar


“Ann Arbor MI — Today Car and Driver reported that the NTC writer, against the advice of mental-health professionals, will compete in the 24 Hours of LeMons — a wheel-to-wheel car race for heaps that cost $500 or less. His team — the unpromisingly named “Killer ZomBees” — hits Thunderhill Raceway Park, in Willows, California, on 09/15/2012 to 09/16/2012, where therapists and junkyard operators are already standing by.
One relative, on condition of anonymity, described the NTC writer’s family as “…saddened but unsurprised” by the news. “Unfortunately, we’ve come to expect such lapses in judgment,” the source told C/D.

Friends, coworkes, and relatives interested in staging an intervention and/or watching him do something incredibly embarrassing can find more information at the LeMons site.” – 24 Hours of LeMons

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Posted in Event Coverage, Race cars | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Fastback Friday Used Car Review: 1999 Ferrari Modena

Posted on August 24, 2012 by needthatcar

This post was originally written for, and appeared here, at Hooniverse.com.

(Phone rings) “Hello?”
“Whatcha doing?”
“Not much, how about you?  I haven’t heard from you forever.”
“I’m at the Costco, I got something to show you.  I’ll be there in five minutes, cool?”
“Sounds good.” 

Five minutes later, the doorbell rang and, as I went to open the front door, I glimpsed the Modena in the street in front of my house through the partially open slats of the front window blinds.

“Whaaaaa?”  
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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Quick Hitter: Separated At Birth Edition

Posted on August 23, 2012 by needthatcar

These two cars have a real Luke/Princess Leia thing going. Could it be they have the same evil father? Perhaps, and if so, he must be some special kind of ugly.

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1958 Ford Thames Trader: Newsreel/Advertisement

Posted on August 22, 2012 by needthatcar

This post was originally written for and appeared here, at hooniverse.com.

This film, posted to Youtube by the Ford Heritage Museum, details a rare trip with rare meat from London to Paris by truck.  The goal was to pimp the Thames Trader complete the delivery of seven tons of beef in less than 24 hours. 

Hit the jump to see if they made it.  (Spoiler:  They did.  Hit the jump anyway and watch the worthwhile video.)  Continue reading →

Posted in 1950s, Imports (Euro), Sweet videos | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment