Mustang & Shelby

The 16th race in LeMons history took place at Stafford Motor Speedway last weekend, and we saw Hondas, Alfa Romeos, and Volvos absolutely dominate this time around.

In fact, the only Top Ten cars not made by Honda, Alfa Romeo, or Volvo were a Nissan 240SX and a Lincoln Continental Mark VIII (in 6th and 10th place, respectively). We saw some great themes and costumes at this race, too, as you can tell by looking at the above photo of the Victors Of War team, a Golf-racing bunch of New Jersey mooks. We also saw an extremely tough Index Of Effluency field, including a Saab 99, a Datsun 510, a ‘63 Corvair, a Peugeot 504, and a Chevy Citation X-11.

Chief Perpetrator Lamm, his flinty cold heart apparently slightly softer than usual for some reason, allowed the Citation X-11 team to substitute their Corolla- which we last saw upside-down at LeMons South- for the Chevy, which blew its engine during the transponder testing laps (it actually gets worse than that; we’ve seen LeMons racers blow up getting off the trailer in the past). After that, the Endurance Karting Miata team- you may remember them as the winners of the New England ‘08 race- was permitted to substitute another so-called $500 Miata after their engine started spitting valves out the tailpipe.

Here they are, every single car that managed to limp through at least a single lap at the 24 Hours Of LeMons New England 2009. Thanks to Nick Pon, Blake Rong, Jim Brennan, Terry Shea, WTIC Fox 61, Andy Wallwhore, Ron Vickers, and The Knights Who Say Ni-ssan for the photos!

#1: Kielbasa Kids, Honda Civic
Overall Winner
Best Lap: 31.011

#2: Scuderia Limoni, Alfa Romeo Milano
Winner, Class 2
Best Lap: 33.629

#3: Scuderia Testa di Spillo, Alfa Romeo Milano
Winner, Arbitrary Recipient Of A Bag Of Milano Cookies
Best Lap: 32.925

#4: Team Pro-Crash-Duh-Nation, Alfa Romeo Milano
Best Lap: 31.699

#5: Vermont Cow Tippers, Volvo 245
Best Lap: 33.165

#6: The Crazy Swiss & Crazy Chick, Nissan 240SX
Winner, Class 1
Best Lap: 34.307

#7: Keystone Kops, Volvo 244
Best Lap: 33.094

#8: Rhinoceros Racing Team, Honda Civic
Best Lap: 32.658

#9: Team Submarine, Honda Civic
Best Lap: 32.643

#10: Police Brutality, Lincoln Mark VIII
Winner, Least Horrible Yank Tank
Best Lap: 33.854

#11: Team Teflon, Saturn SL2
Best Lap: 33.212

#12: Near-Orbital Space Monkeys, BMW 528e
Best Lap: 33.001

#13: Vlad The Impala, Chevrolet Impala
Best Lap: 32.868

#14: The Dirty E-Thirties, BMW E30
Best Lap: 34.262

#15: Nutjob Racing, Toyota MR2
Best Lap: 32.899

#16: Duct Tape Motorsports, BMW E30
Best Lap: 31.505

#17: Hertzwen I.P. Racing, Volkswagen Jetta
Best Lap: 34.441

#18: Jackal And Hyde, Volvo 245
Best Lap: 33.702

#19: Boxy But Good, Volvo 740 Turbo
Best Lap: 33.992

#20: Buffalo Knuckles, Toyota Supra
Best Lap: 31.724

#21: Camry Full O’Babes, Toyota Camry
Best Lap: 34.736

#22: Team Elemonators, Toyota Camry
Best Lap: 33.951

#23: Team UDMan/Trailing Throttle Oversteer, Chevrolet Corvair
Winner, Index Of Effluency + Class 3
Best Lap: 36.602

#24: Adopted By Jets, Saab 99
Winner, Grassroots Motorsports Most From The Least Award
Best Lap: 32.382

#25: The Ducks Of Hazzard, BMW 325iS
Best Lap: 32.225

#26: Team WWF, Datsun 510
Best Lap: 31.747

#27: Victors Of War, Volkswagen Golf
Best Lap: 33.175

#28: Call On Your Mom, Mazda RX-7
Best Lap: 31.348

#29: The Knights Who Say Ni-ssan
Best Lap: 33.730

#30: NFW, Honda Accord
Best Lap: 33.582

#31: Got Wood Racing, Nissan Sentra
Best Lap: 32.531

#32: No Budget Racing, Pontiac Firebird
Best Lap: 33.279

#33: Chard Beef Racing, Buick Regal
Winner, Organizer’s Choice Award
Best Lap: 32.343

#34: Cap’n Slow Racing, BMW 535i
Best Lap: 33.721

#35: Schumacher Taxi/Holy Crapitation, Chevrolet Citation X-11/Toyota Corolla FX16 (First car blew up, substitution allowed)
Best Lap: 32.822

#36: Dentonators, Volkswagen Golf
Winner, I Got Screwed Award + Whiny-Ass Crybaby Award (to team captain Yannis)
Best Lap: 31.637

#37: Endurance Karting/Just Having Fun, Mazda Miata (First car blew up, substitution allowed)
Best Lap: 31.416

#38: Monger Garage, Subaru Impreza Wagon
Best Lap: 33.183

#39: Team Farfumwinnin, Volkswagen Fox
Best Lap: 32.484

#40: PT Losers, PT Cruiser
Winner, Terrible Driving Even By Boston Standards Award
Best Lap: 33.504

#41: Sikorsky Hawks, Ford Mustang
Best Lap: 33.887

#42: Jake & Elwood Racing, Ford Escort
Best Lap: 35.605

#43: The E-Lemon-Ators, Mercury Cougar
Best Lap: 34.160

#44: Rust In The Wind, Nissan 300ZX
Winner, Dangerous Homemade Technology Award (for leaf-blower supercharger)
Best Lap: 34.659

#45: Pimpala, Chevrolet Impala
Best Lap: 33.278

#46: Crumpled Rusted And Pathetic, Plymouth Laser
Best Lap: 34.649

#47: The Pride Of Stig (The P.O.S.), Nissan Sentra Wagon
Best Lap: 35.322

#48: We Buy Subprime, Subaru Outback
Best Lap: 32.586

#49: Cornell Ass Wheels, Saab 900
Best Lap: 34.794

#50: The B-Team, Ford Escort
Best Lap: 34.063

#51: Go Green Racing, Honda CRX
Winner, Most Heroic Fix Award
Best Lap: 33.904

#52: Team Panzers, Audi 4000 Quattro
Best Lap: 34.244

#53: Elmo’s Revenge, Saturn SL2
Best Lap: 34.859

#54: Safari Taxi Co., Peugeot 504
Best Lap: 36.591

#55: Team Recession Racing, Nissan 300ZX
Best Lap: 34.574

#56: Wee Beastie Racing, Volkswagen Golf
Best Lap: 34.742

When you’re done here, check out UDMan’s account of his Corvair-racing adventures over at CarDomain. Above is the story the folks at Fox 61 in Hartford did on the race; click on the links below to see the top cars of previous races.

This clever ABT-tuned VW GTI advertisement from Asia reminds us why turbocharged cars are so much fun once they spool up their snails. Apparently they’re powerful enough to launch jets off an aircraft carrier. Whodathunkit?

The Planelopnik-esque advert was created by Young & Rubicam of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia under the creative direction of Marcus Rebeschini and illustrated by Foo Guan Foong, Heng Yik See and Randy Lee. [AdsOfTheWorld]

The ABT Golf GTI. With enhanced turbocharger.

Advertising Agency: Y&R Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Executive Creative Director: Marcus Rebeschini
Copywriter: Randy Lee
Advertiser’s Supervisor: Wan Ahmad Wan Abas
Account Supervisors: Sunny Ramalingam, Donny Ewe
Art Buyer: T L Tan
Art Director / Typographer: Heng Yik See
Illustrators: Foo Guan Foong, Heng Yik See, Randy Lee
Creative Group Head: Ida Rahman

One of the better, if mostly forgotten, Geico commercials featured “Lauren Wallace” as the cousin, twice removed, of NASCAR driver Mike Wallace. This Max Fischer-esque character may only be nine, but he’s got his sights set on Mike Wallace, explaining that, though he’d go fishing with the man, any story with him and Mike end with “me putting him in the wall.” This also includes those little remote control boats, in case you were wondering. Unlike the odd little Gecko or tired cavemen, we thought Lauren deserved more screen time. In fact, there was a debate online as to whether or not he was actually related to Wallace (we doubt it). But there’s no do DNA test needed to link EvoCS to his son. Nor is there any doubt as to how he wants his kid to turn out.

My boy is 14 months old. We brought him home from the hospital in our Evo. He’s “watched” countless F1, ALMS, and Indy car races, along with decent chunks of 2 Le Mans broadcasts. Soon I think I’ll start strolling around car shows with him, like it was just a normal, everyday kind of thing. If he’s anything like me, this won’t matter one bit. My parents didn’t do any of that stuff, and here I am, infected with car.

If he’s not into it, I would be lying if I said it wouldn’t kill me a little bit. But having said that, even though my folks weren’t remotely close to the car geek I am today, they certainly didn’t discourage my automotive fixation. So, if the boy is more of a sports fiend or is an artsy kid, fine. He’s got all my support.

But, he will learn how to drive a manual transmission. That is law in our home.

Amen.

Even if you bought and installed every automotive tchotchke in stock at your local Pep Boys, you couldn’t even hold a candle to the Space Car: The Goddess Of Maximalizm(sic).

Feast your eyes on the bounty of doo-dads on this VW monstrosity. Oh, sure, there are driving lights, antenna aplenty, various guards and flaps and such, those are so pedestrian though. How about the wagon wheel on the back? Or a ladder. Custom innovation, meet your new master. [Resound]

Yesterday we talked about the 2009 Toyota Venza, the seventh crossover or SUV to join the Toyota lineup. It’s big, expensive and not particularly fuel-efficient versus other crossovers, so how about everything else?

Exterior Design: ***
The Venza tests the limits of the company’s traditionally conservative styling direction. It’s weird, yes, but we’ve always felt certain kinds of weird are good. This is one of them. Our tester looked handsome in chocolate brown and the 20″ wheels minimize the perceived size of the vehicle. Its a shocking form at first, but as you live with it, the styling grows on you. For a hefty crossover, that’s not too shabby.

Interior Design: **
Inside the car is hard to measure. The seats are wonderful; soft in all the right places and supportive where they need to be. Visibility is mediocre and the position of the wheels is hard to judge from the driver’s seat. The gauges and information screen at the base of the window are easy to read and navigate. Rear seat accommodation is just as nice as the front, with the second sunroof introducing plenty of light and a nice airy feeling to the cabin. There are major flaws with the IP and center console; The asymetrical design is strange and only made stranger by the weird texturing. Storage is massive, but the various doors and trays make using it a test of patience and will, the purse pocket on the side with a an electrical outlet above it is a welcome touch for the target buyer.

Acceleration: ***
With a 3.5-liter V6 making 268 HP, there’s a pretty decent amount of scoot for a rig weighing in around two tons. It’ll get you onto a freeway without any drama, but it’s not exactly a rocket ship. We shudder to imagine what the four-pot mill wailing away underhood with 182 HP is like.

Braking: **
They exist, they stop the car, but, like the rest of the car, the brakes aren’t designed to take you’re breath away. Repeated braking doesn’t produce noticeable fade until you really beat on em, but if one of these ever sees the business side of a track we’ll eat our hats.

Ride: **
The ride was one of the more surprising elements of the car. We expected to find a soft-riding, corner-hating, floaty beast, but such was not the case. The car was fairly well sorted and rode much firmer than most others in the class. It soaks up the gentle bumps but is surprisingly jarring over expansion joints and pavement heaves. Maybe the large wheels are to blame?

Handling: **
Aggressive driving is rewarded with howls of protest from the tires and moderate body roll, but again, this isn’t intended to be a sportscar. Steering is unfortunately light and sawing back and forth through twisties doesn’t give you much off-center feel. The tighter than average ride gives the illusion of aggressive handling, but actually putting the car through the corners tells you otherwise. It’s sporty feeling, not actually sporty.

Gearbox: ***
What’s there to say? it’s a Camry transmission, it does the job without getting in the way. As is the case with most manumatic transmissions, the option to shift it yourself is there, but only reminds you how much fun an actual manual transmission would be in its place.

Audio: ***
The six disc in-dash CD changer mated to the JBL Synthesis audio system is pretty strong, with a good balance of power and clarity. If nothing else, the Venza is a rolling iPod dock, with three different places to put the thing and a dedicated dock next to the shifter. Great if you’re a pod-head but not particularly useful if you aren’t.

Toys: ***
The Venza has a fairly standard toybox for the segment: backup camera, Sat/Nav system, power liftgate, Bluetooth connectivity, that nice audio system and optional DVD players. It’s not a car which smothers you with technology, but it doesn’t really need to be, it’s a family hauler and a tool of transport more than anything else.

Value: **
We’d be hard pressed to call the Venza as a steal, in fact it gets pretty expensive very quickly. Optioned with the basics at around $25k, it’s a reasonable balance of space and cost, but not terribly exciting to hang out in. With our tester ringing the bell over $38k and a lot of really strong competition in the segment, it’s feeling overly dear, especially considering the paltry fuel economy.

Overall: **
The Venza feels like an offering that would have been a home run in the early part of the decade, back when SUV’s where the hottest thing on the market and fuel economy was something only patchouli-scented hippies cared about. The Venza does everything, but none of it particularly well. The interior is odd and isn’t assembled with the greatest of care, it’s comfortable, but not remarkably so. In short, the Venza feels like a crossover-shaped punt from Toyota and an expensive, thirsty, one at that.

Also see:
• 2009 Toyota Venza: Part One

Remember when Local Motors asked for novice car designs? They’ve settled on the P-51-inspired, BMW turbodiesel-powered Rally Fighter. Reserve one for just $99 — and a large measure of faith. (H/T to Mike) [Boston Overdrive]

Siler’s talking Muscle Car Wars on Fox Car Report Live today at 5pm. [Fox News]

What you’re looking at are some of the first images of the full production version of Audi’s upcoming 525 HP 5.2-liter V10 R8 Spyder. It looks remarkably similar to our speculative illustration created last year.

It’s rumored to launch with only the 5.2-liter V10 under its new vented rear deck, though it’s likely that the 4.2-liter V8 will show up later on in the production cycle. Gone are the trademark sideblades on the coupe, creating, what we feel, is a much cleaner execution. Performance figures for the Teutonic ragtop are expected to be similar to the R8 coupe with a top speed that will land slightly lower on the chart.

Initially thought to be revealed during today’s Audi Centennial celebration, the R8 Spyder will likely make its formal world debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September with a cameo in the upcoming comic book sequel, Iron Man 2 in 2010.

[Note, these photos have apparently been on GermanCarBlog since August. Based on information we have it seems as though this is almost identical to the near-production V10 model. The last photo in the set is the photo illustration we previously posted]

Image © Kors Design

Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ managed to grab exclusive video from a gas station on the corner of the I-75 service drive and Nine Mile Rd. Watch as the tanker explodes and cars continue through the flames.

From our earlier report:

The accident occured around 8:15 PM when the tanker reportedly got tangled up with a car and another semi truck. The tanker ended up across the freeway underneath the 9 Mile road over pass where it exploded, sending a massive column of black smoke skyward. The fire went on for hours and, eventually, the newly finished bridge overhead collapsed. Amazingly, nobody was seriously injured in the incident.

[WXYZ]

This premium sports coupe concept designed by Scuola Politecnica di Design graduate Iulian Bumbo, dubbed BMW S.X, shows a lot of promise in its taut, almost DB9-esque proportions. Seems like the perfect 6-Series replacement to us.

The S.X Concept features lower, wider svelte bodywork flowing over a wheelbase that is shorter than the current BMW 6-Series. With short over hangs, large wheels and dramatic styling, we’ve got to say that Mr. Bumbo has outdone himself and possibly even BMW as well. [via Diseno-Art]

Image © Iulian Bumbu
Image © Iulian Bumbu
Image © Iulian Bumbu
Image © Iulian Bumbu
Image © Iulian Bumbu
Image © Iulian Bumbu