North Dallas Hooptie 24 Hours of LeMons Inspections: Aliens, Toxic Waste, and a 210ZX

Six months have passed since the last time the 24 Hours of LeMons Traveling Circus visited Eagles Canyon Raceway near Dallas, and the Texan LeMons racers have spent that time making their cars better… or at least different. The LeMons Supreme Court inspected most of the 70 or so entrants today, so let’s take a look at the teams that will be cooking their rotors on this brake-killing course this weekend.


The 1964 Dodge Dart that won the Class of ’64 Trophy (by beating a ’64 Ford Fairlane) at the ’13 Southern Discomfort race is back, this time with a bigger carburetor on its 225-cubic-inch Slant Six engine.


Our first sighting of the Datsun “210ZX” of Ratsun Racing came at the 2012 Gator-O-Rama in Houston, and the KA24-swapped B210 with funky late-70s body kit managed to creak out a mere six laps. On paper, this car should be fairly quick… but we feel that the Ratsun 210ZX belongs in Class C, competing with the Dart.


Also in Class C is the peripatetic 1987 Plymouth Reliant-K wagon, a car that has now competed (if that’s the word) in nearly every LeMons race this year as part of the K-it-FWD program. NSF Racing in Florida bought and caged this car, which has since been passed from team to team around the country.


Unfortunately, the K’s habit of killing 2.2 engines has struck again, this time during Friday practice laps. The good news is that NMF Racing, which raced the K at the Cure For Gingervitis race in Michigan two weeks back, bought a spare 2.2 and stuck it in the back of the wagon for its trip to Texas. This engine is now being installed in Lee Iacocca’s Chrysler-saving wagon and should be ready by the time the green flag waves on Saturday morning. Four races, four dead engines so far for the K!


The Border Patrol Jeep Cherokee is back, this time with the first-ever Jeep Comanche pickup to compete in the 24 Hours of LeMons. We put the Cherokee in Class B, but the four-wheel-drive, totally loose, French-transmission-equipped Comanche will be battling the Reliant-K and 210ZX in Class C.


We’ve got some fast cars as well, including the Model T GT, which was driven (towing a trailer!) 1,700 miles from California to be here. The T GT has won just a single LeMons race so far, but its all-star driver roster and a small field (compared to the usual California 170-team event) should give it an edge here.


Your LeMons correspondent made his usual region-specific commemorative BRIBED stencil for the race, honoring Texas-made J-B Weld epoxy.


Justin, the heroic Oklahoman responsible for prepping the Reliant-K for this race, honored your LeMons correspondent by making this very nice bonus K-car-themed BRIBED stencil.


We saw some fairly decent team themes and costumes, including this toxic-wastoid fourth-gen Firebird.


The ends of the “leaky chemical drum” on the roof pop open when the driver hits the brakes. It’s the details that count!


This D.B Cooper-themed team had a nice snack tray in their “727.”


The Everybody Wants Some BMW E30 team performed their rendition of Van Halen’s “Ice Cream Man”, complete with appropriate costumes.


The teams that broke stuff will be wrenching all night, while others will eat chili and shiver in the unseasonably cold Texas weather. The green flags come out Saturday at 10:00 AM, so be sure to check in tomorrow night to see how the session went.



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