The Best Hoopty-Ass “Ferraris” in 24 Hours of LeMons History!

Even though some improbable cars manage to squeeze in under the LeMons $500 budget limit (the Three Pedal Mafia Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow comes to mind), even the hooptiest, most biohazardous, undesirable Ferrari—say, a Mondial dredged out of a plutonium pond at the Hanford Site—is worth way too much for our racing series. Still, all racers love Ferraris, and that means that the resourceful teams of the 24 Hours of LeMons will find a way to get the prancing horse (or at least a prancing donkey, Great Dane, or elk) on their cars. Let’s check out some of the “Ferraris” we’ve seen in the series:


The Toyota MR2 isn’t just good as a starting point for building cheap twin-engined race cars. It’s also the cheapest mid-engined car that, if you squint hard enough, most resembles a genuine Italian supercar.


Throw some red Rustoleum on your MR2, print up some badges, and you can be just as passionately Italian as Team Furrari.


Another bunch of Texans with an MR2 got a bit more elaborate, creating a crypto-250 GT Breadvan with bonus Mr. Gasket Street Scoop.


Since that time, the TARP Racing Fauxrrari has evolved into a “Simca 1000″.


On the West Coast, Team Fugawi went with a later MR2 as the basis for their Failrrari.


Here’s the Failrrari F-150 (according to the emblems on the wing) dueling with the legendary Petty Cash Racing Jeep Cherokee.


The patriarch of the Failrrari Corporation, Eleanzo Failrrari, speaks only a strange tongue known as Fresno Italian.


Also in California, the Lamborrari MR2. Ferrari on one side, Lamborghini on the other, all LeMons!


It’s amazing what you can do with an inkjet printer and some packaging tape. Well, maybe amazing is the wrong word here.


Back to Texas, where we’ll admire another mid-engined LeMons “Ferrari.” The Pontiac Fiero responds just as well to the red-paint-and-emblems treatment as the MR2, and is only slightly less reliable on the race track.


The Team More Than You Can Afford, Pal Fiero even has Ferrari-style taillights to go with the team name.


Use a little imagination and this could be a scene from a somewhat pricier series.


Apparently inspired by the TARP Racing Breadvan, the members of Illinois-based Bad Mojo Racing took a look at a 1971 Opel GT and saw an even better baked-goods-hauling race car. A few thousand man-hours later, here’s their car at Gingerman Raceway.


Bread in the back, HAF BAKD vanity plate, all that’s missing is an ill-advised engine swap!


Hold on, Bad Mojo had that handled as well. In place of the Opel 1900 engine went a Pinto 2300 out of a Ford Ranger, complete with truck shifter extending nearly to the roof of the Opel’s cramped interior.


The attention to detail in Bad Mojo Racing’s creation really astounded us.


The Bad Mojo Breadvan, once it had a few races to work out the bugs, has become a reasonably quick LeMons car, often flirting with single-digit spots in the standings.


The quickest LeMons “Ferrari” of them all is the Corsa Nostra Alfa Romeo GTV6.


This car took the win on laps at the 2010 Bull Oil GP at Gingerman Raceway in Michigan. Do genuine Italian cars make better fake Ferraris?


To demonstrate that raw quickness doesn’t always equal success in road racing, here’s The Syndicate’s Volkswagen Jettarossa. This car looked like something banged together by a bunch of Sterno bums given a verbal description of a Testarossa, crude tools, and the order to build a Ferrari overnight in their hobo jungle. The Jettarossa was quick, though.


Most races, the Jettarossa made plenty of laps while accompanied by the wrecker.


Then the Jettarossa got a major makeover last year, courtesy of Syndicate member (and certified madman) Steve McDaniel. Now this bamboo-and-thatch-covered machine races as the Tikirossa.


When the race weekend is over, the Tikirossa becomes a functional tiki bar.


The Nissan 240SX looks a bit like a Ferrari 308, doesn’t it?


Of course, this is all a buildup for our favorite 24 Hours of LeMons Ferrari: the 250GTO campaigned by Team Kicking Ass on the West Coast a few years back. It sure looks like the most expensive car in the world when seen at Sears Point!


Thanks to ingenious use of spray foam and many hours of shaping, sanding, and painting, you can’t even tell that this was once a worn-out Datsun 240Z.


Some so-called real Ferraris were having a track day at Sears Point when the Kicking Ass GTO made its 2011 debut, and the authentic cars were hanging out just a few garages down from the LeMons inspections. We decided to bring over the GTO for a photo session.


The Ferrari folks seemed a bit horrified by all this, but we’re sure they spent the weekend rooting for Team Kicking Ass in the race.


Sadly, the Kicking Ass 250GTO was destroyed in a crash the following year, but it remains our favorite LeMons “Ferrari” of all time!



Continue reading...