As we’ve seen in past years, the Real Hoopties of New Jersey 24 Hours of LeMons race, held at New Jersey Motorsports Park, this part of the country gives us lots of BMW 2002s, lots of BMW E30s, lots of Volvo 240s, lots of nowhere-near-500-buck cars… and some excellent British machinery. Here’s what we saw during the inspections at the fourth annual Real Hoopties race.
Because this is New Jersey, we saw quite a few references to the governor and his current political woes. Here’s a nice framed portrait that one team gave to the LeMons Supreme Court, for inspiration during the weekend.
Bert One Racing and their Volvo 262C Bertone are back on the East Coast after a trip that had racing stops in Michigan and California.
They love their Volvo 240s around these parts, and we’ve got at least a half-dozen among the 160 or so entrants at the Real Hoopties.
The Bert Ones have been pursuing an elusive LeMons win on laps for years now, as have the Sorry For Party Camaro guys and several other teams present at this race. Lots of P2 and P3 finishes, but P1 has stayed tantalizingly out of reach.
If you like BMW 2002 race cars, four of them are racing at NJMP this weekend.
The infamous, insanely complex twin-turbo taxi is back for another shot at running for more than a few hours during the course of LeMons race weekend.
The intercooler on this car (which is a genuine New York City cab) now lives in a wooden box protruding from the right side. Will this be the race in which the Twin Turbo Taxi cracks the top 100 in the standings?
Precipitation is a real possibility this weekend, and all the Audi and Subaru teams are at this moment performing their preferred rain dances.
Some strange cultural shift has occurred that results in many teams giving the LeMons Supreme Court this horrifying liquid. Maybe we’ll see if a car can run on the stuff this weekend.
Speaking of LeMons Supreme Court bribes, this weekend’s BRIBED stencil honors the very LeMony Iron Duke engine.
We’re happy that Bosozoku has really caught on among LeMons teams. Here’s a Cressida with star-shaped exhaust, absurdly oversized splitter, and all.
Three Pedal Mafia arrived with four cars (actually, three cars and one boat) plus a disturbing key party theme.
3PM brought a new car this time, a funky old Cortina. With the original Ford Kent engine, it earned a place in Class C.
This team brought a good Artist Formerly Known As Prince theme.
This team chose a Volkswagen Super Beetle as their race car, but opted to ditch the old air-cooled boxer in place of something a bit more modern.
No, not the usual boring Subaru swap— this is a Ford Pinto engine hanging out of the back of the car. This swap was fairly common 35 years ago and was known as the Pinto Beans swap back in those days.
Hooniverse brought their Buick Park Avenue, and they’re hoping to stay out of the penalty box this time.
The droogs have arrived.
Google Street View will be mapping the race track.
The Ford Capri Mk1 has a glorious European racing heritage, but hasn’t done so well in LeMons racing (contrary to popular belief, this car was never badged as a Mercury in the United States, though it was sold by Mercury dealers).
With a genuine Cologne V6 under the hood, this car should bring tears to the eyes of homesick Brits and Germans, and it might even contend in Class C.
This car appeared to be the world’s ugliest Saab Sonett, but actually features an Audi A6 with S4 engine swap under the skin. Nice try, guys, but you’ll avoid those penalty laps if you bring a real Sonett next time.
Many Mustang teams have gone for the My Little Pony theme, but this one has a certain threadbare appeal that we can’t help but like.
With the Speedycop and the Gang of Outlaws win on laps at the Michigan race a few weeks back, the team needed just a Class B victory to have the complete set of LeMons trophies. This weekend, the Gang of Outlaws hopes to get that Class B triumph with their Honda Accordion.
That’s a tall enough order for any team, but Speedycop just doesn’t feel right unless he’s overwhelmed with multiple near-impossible challenges at a race. That’s why the team has put together this Lincoln Continental. How hard could that be, you say?
Well, it gets more difficult when you put a second V8 engine in the back of your 9th-gen, front-wheel-drive Continental, and that’s just what’s going on here.
9.2 liters, 16 cylinders, all-wheel-drive, 520 horsepower.
The car wasn’t quite ready to be inspected on Friday, what with the trunk full of random wiring-harness chaos and the second instrument cluster sitting among the wires, but both engines run and the car sounds great. We expect to see the W16 (or V8-V8, or whatever you call it) Lincoln on the track at some point during Saturday morning.
Best of all, we finally got a car we’ve been pleading for since the start of the series eight years ago: a Rover 3500.
The Super Grover features the original Rover V8 aka Buick 215 under the hood.
Some of the best hood scoops in automotive history right here.
The Super Grovers just need to be sure they have the scoops set to the “SUMMER” position for the race.
The first race session tomorrow should be packed with Jersey-grade drama, so be sure to check in on Saturday night for an update.
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