26

Re: When $500 isn't $500

RobL wrote:

A consideration might be to not allow people to sell things off thier car to reclaim $$$.

Ding.  That would take a lot of Miatas out of play, like mine.  It also would remove a lot of the questionableness of whether the parts were really sold, or was it just phony documentation...

Jer / Schumacher Taxi Service
2010 Spring CMP I.O.E. winner
2010 Sebring overall winner
1996 Miata, 1991 BMW E30, 1987 coROLLa (retired), 1984 Citation (retired), 1993 Miata (retired)

Re: When $500 isn't $500

It would also take out the '94 Mustang V8 that was bought for $1500 and sold $3000 in parts.

--Rob Leone Schumacher Taxi Service
We won the IOE at Southern Discomfort.
We got screwed at The Real Hoopties of New Jersey  and we took cars down with us.
We got the curse at Capitol Offense but they wouldn't let us destroy the car.

28

Re: When $500 isn't $500

I like it, Rob.  It would become a race of true hoonage again.  Even the winning Miatillac would fail the test.  Heck, all Miatas would probably fail the test, along with Vettes, Mustangs, and other non-hoonage.  I'm all for it, despite my plans on campaigning a Miata in the Fall.  I'd just bring the rolled CoROLLa instead.  smile

Jer / Schumacher Taxi Service
2010 Spring CMP I.O.E. winner
2010 Sebring overall winner
1996 Miata, 1991 BMW E30, 1987 coROLLa (retired), 1984 Citation (retired), 1993 Miata (retired)

Re: When $500 isn't $500

cpmskinny wrote:

........  By the way, a Corvette would be a do-able project, reliability...no, but handling the track until said failure would be priceless.

Thats the thing right there... a running or almost running $500 car will almost ALWAYS be more reliable than a far nicer car that is sold cheap enough that you can recoup your costs in part sales.  Excluding that random rare case, a car thats super cheap because its undesireable but runs will be infinitely better for this race (in my opinion) than a better car that is cheap because its a basket case or a wreck.  And based on past results reliability and consistency is INFINITELY more desireable in this race than fast lap times, because anything that fast for that cheap inevitably blows up.  Its the same as in a pro endurance race, if a multi-million dollar Peugeot doesnt survive 24 hours, your "$500" car after sales  probably wont either.

Plus the BS inspection can weed out those with creative accounting an so forth....

Tom Lomino - Proud to be a 23x Lemons Loser, 3x Class B, and 1x IOE Winner!
Craptain, Team Farfrumwinnin - 1995 Volkswagen Golf #14
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Re: When $500 isn't $500

I'm racing a car purchased for $325 (WITH CAGE!) and haven't looked at cars over $500.  But I just don't see the problem with cars that cost over $500 and had parts sold off.  Why bother changing the rules to get rid of them?  Is it really harming the series?  It's fun.  And provides people's curse fodder.  (Who's going to vote for the kind of annoying CoROLLa when there's a ringer pissing people off?)

I think the distinction between "fun" and "serious" is a false dichotomy.  A lot of people have fun while taking things seriously.  What's wrong with that?  Let them have their fun, and then have your fun when a true $500 car takes the podium.

I guess what I'm saying is, I don't think the series is broken, and if it isn't broken, don't fix it.  (Err, if it ain't broke? dang, did I just fix .. never mind.)

Quad4 CRX - Wartburg 311 - Civic Wagovan - Parnelli Jones Galaxie - LS400 - Lancia MR2 - Boat - Sentra - 56 Ford Victoria
Known Associate of 3pedal Mafia, Speedycop, and the Russians.  Maybe even NSF.

Re: When $500 isn't $500

dculberson wrote:

I guess what I'm saying is, I don't think the series is broken, and if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

Lemons is not broke, it's just fine.  But one cannot deny history, and history has shown us that man will exploit any and all loopholes in his qwest for victory.  What this is about is forsight. 

Yeah we're fine now because when the one or two "spec cheater" teams show up, they get a ton of BS laps or people's curse.  But what about when half the applicants have figured out how the loophole works?  You then potentially have another racing series where money improves your chance of winning, thus dividing the race into the Pros and the Joes. 

Now one might say why should we care if we're all really just there to have a good time?  Because delusions of Lemons glory are a lot more realistic when your crap car is racing against 94 other crap cars.  The crazy belief that you could actually win "if we just do this, or make sure of that" is part of the fun!

We don't have to change any rules now, but keep an eye out.  Someday $500 might have to mean the max initial purchase price.  That wouldn't bother me a bit.

Mike
Lab Rats Motorsports
1988 Mitsubishi/Dodge/Fiat Colt Carpocalypse Edition

Re: When $500 isn't $500

CaptainRat wrote:
dculberson wrote:

I guess what I'm saying is, I don't think the series is broken, and if it isn't broken, don't fix it.

Lemons is not broke, it's just fine.  But one cannot deny history, and history has shown us that man will exploit any and all loopholes in his qwest for victory.  What this is about is forsight.

History ALSO shows that those people who exploit any and all loopholes will end up driving insufferable douche nozzles and will be fetching water, chocolate, sandwiches, and whatever the hell else is needed by the Judges.  In fact, I seem to remember some of the "pros" having to make a couple laps around the pits behind the Orange Lemon Bus (RIP).

The Black Flag system in this race is VERY effective!

Re: When $500 isn't $500

I bought a $400 civic and sold $300 of it and its finished 6th one race and was in 5th for a while at Reno finished 14th overall. Been to 6 races and she is a little weathered.
So  buy something for a lot of money and worry about the judges

I don't have to worry about the judges but I think they wish my car  would die !

Pit Crew Revenge Racing   Rolling chicanelimo,95Lamdspeeder,Gimp Pimp Cadi,300zx Car show kaboom!! 90 Wagovan, mazda v8 Lemons LOGO TATTOO!  Aces 84 Cadi Eldo Briattz I O E WINNER
Class C win with LemonOdy Cannonball Run Whambulance !EX K Captain
Lemons Trophy Truck ShaGuar Baby!

Re: When $500 isn't $500

CaptainRat wrote:

....
We don't have to change any rules now, but keep an eye out.  Someday $500 might have to mean the max initial purchase price.  That wouldn't bother me a bit.

Id be fine with that as well, and I took the "$500 car" rule to mean this anyway.  I never even originally thought well what if I buy a better car and sell its parts off.

Tom Lomino - Proud to be a 23x Lemons Loser, 3x Class B, and 1x IOE Winner!
Craptain, Team Farfrumwinnin - 1995 Volkswagen Golf #14
Click here to "Like" us on Facebook   Click here for our Youtube Videos
Lifetime Achievement (of hopelessness) Award Winners

Re: When $500 isn't $500

cpmskinny wrote:

By the way, a Corvette would be a do-able project, reliability...no, but handling the track until said failure would be priceless.

Enter the viable example:

1975 Corvette for parts - $1200 (Hammond)
http://neworleans.craigslist.org/cto/1214454633.html

Flooded, but it doesn't say during which storm (Hammond is on the North Shore, so probably Katrina) No motor, but if you can't score a limping chevy v8 from an old Caprice you aren't really trying. Even if you can't get a "deal" there's probably a good thousand worth of junk you can pry off it & hock on Ebay to "vette" guys and still have enough left over to race.

Would I want to do it? Hells no.

As an audience member watching from the sidelines I can tell you first hand we were all pulling for the underdogs. The Rx7 running on half a rotor. The Mercedes 300D that the guys ran out & bought a water pump for, only to bomb out in a handful of laps.

No offense to the guys racing the Toyota Supra (that car is badass, but it's pretty much *factory* badass), but it's far more fun to watch a WagoVan dressed up with Flamingos run around the track than a racecar.

As a "hopeful future participant" (I'm still short a few guys and a ton of ready cash) my interest lay with finding the most unusual yet driveable car I can lay my hands on rather than something I know will handle like a skateboard and only needs a new clutch. 

Mazda Miata? Yawn. Next time, bring a 323...
Toyota? Where's that bashed up Echo when you want one?

So bring me your Renaults, your Peugeots, your tired old Mercedes. Your Geo Metros & Fiats and clapped out Cavalier wagons. Be they ever so humble, there's nothing like them on the track.

-=Tom

-=HFC Tom

Re: When $500 isn't $500

pennintj wrote:
cpmskinny wrote:

By the way, a Corvette would be a do-able project, reliability...no, but handling the track until said failure would be priceless.

Enter the viable example:

1975 Corvette for parts - $1200 (Hammond)
http://neworleans.craigslist.org/cto/1214454633.html

Flooded, but it doesn't say during which storm (Hammond is on the North Shore, so probably Katrina) No motor, but if you can't score a limping chevy v8 from an old Caprice you aren't really trying. Even if you can't get a "deal" there's probably a good thousand worth of junk you can pry off it & hock on Ebay to "vette" guys and still have enough left over to race.

Would I want to do it? Hells no.

As an audience member watching from the sidelines I can tell you first hand we were all pulling for the underdogs. The Rx7 running on half a rotor. The Mercedes 300D that the guys ran out & bought a water pump for, only to bomb out in a handful of laps.

No offense to the guys racing the Toyota Supra (that car is badass, but it's pretty much *factory* badass), but it's far more fun to watch a WagoVan dressed up with Flamingos run around the track than a racecar.

As a "hopeful future participant" (I'm still short a few guys and a ton of ready cash) my interest lay with finding the most unusual yet driveable car I can lay my hands on rather than something I know will handle like a skateboard and only needs a new clutch. 

Mazda Miata? Yawn. Next time, bring a 323...
Toyota? Where's that bashed up Echo when you want one?

So bring me your Renaults, your Peugeots, your tired old Mercedes. Your Geo Metros & Fiats and clapped out Cavalier wagons. Be they ever so humble, there's nothing like them on the track.

-=Tom

And there you have it.....The true concept behind Lemons racing with a good plan.  I think we are close running a 1988 Dodge Colt.  Maybe we will goa bit more exotic once that one bites the dust.

"Sharp as Bear Claws and Slicker Than Goose Shit"
Lab Rats Motorsports
1990 VW Jetta
Charlotte, NC

Re: When $500 isn't $500

If you get peoples curse three times you are obviously a complete douche, the crushing will keep people honest, that or a push bar on the front of our beloved Infinity Q45 to give the proper love tap to some spec racers.

Formerly an asshole driving an Infinity
Now just another cock with a Porsche
Chief bad decision maker of Team Lowbrau

Re: When $500 isn't $500

dculberson wrote:

You then potentially have another racing series where money improves your chance of winning, thus dividing the race into the Pros and the Joes.

That's the trick though, I'm sure I'm not going to win (although we'll try, of course).

1. I've never been racing before, I want to go, and this is something I can afford, sort of.
2. My Brava probably would never have seen the light of day again if it wasn't for this, and I'm excited about reviving Fiat's racing reputation amongst the crowd.
3. I like driving without worrying about cops!
4. The spectacle that is Lemons is worth watching anyway.

So personally I don't care if spec teams start showing up, maybe I'll learn something from them.   In the meantime I get to drive a fun car on a track in a real race.

Josh Poage
Poage Ma Thoin Racing - 1981 Fiat Brava #09 - 2009 Yee-haw It's Texas
Prison Break Racing - 1986 325e #27 - 2010 Gator-o-Rama
Poage Ma Thoin Racing - 1981 Fiat Brava #09 - 2011 Heaps in the Heart of Texas

39 (edited by Pujo! 2009-06-10 11:08 AM)

Re: When $500 isn't $500

A few points:

1) There are sub-$15k Ferraris out there, someone had a 365GT4 on Craigslist in Seattle for $14k a while back and it even had a rebuilt engine.

2) Why bring a real Ferrari to Lemons and risk getting it crushed when you can take a CRX, glue styrofoam and silk-screened strakes on it and call it a Ferrari?

3) Strange odd cars are always more fun, why bring a Ferrari or Vette when you can buy a Renault, Peugeot, Lada, Corvair or something even more bizarre like the $400 Skoda I saw recently and not only have more fun but gain the respect of the organizers and the other teams just for daring to show up?

4) Winning isn't the point of Lemons, having fun is!

Re: When $500 isn't $500

RogueLeader wrote:

Its the same as in a pro endurance race, if a multi-million dollar Peugeot doesnt survive 24 hours, your "$500" car after sales  probably wont either.

Hey so we're one up on the factory teams! Our $500 Peugeot did survive 24 hours even if it did require running the last 4+ hours with just third gear :-). Bet the factory team wouldn't be willing to do that!

Re: When $500 isn't $500

RobL wrote:

A consideration might be to not allow people to sell things off thier car to reclaim $$$.

Our BMW is running in the San Diego Grand Challenge ($1000 version of Grassroots Motorsports $2009 Challenge) and they allow only $500 worth of parts to be sold off the car and deducted off the value of the car.

I don't have any complaints with the current Lemons rules regarding selling parts (we sold $320 worth of parts from our $400 car), but if Jay and Co. really wanted to limit the race to the crappiest of the crap cans, they would have instituted a limit or ban on selling off parts. Apparently they don't, and that's fine with me.

The Homer: Powerful like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerf ball.

Re: When $500 isn't $500

Wait.... You mean that WASNT a white Testarossa at Fernley???









big_smile

The UNDERGROUND

Re: When $500 isn't $500

Loomis wrote:

Wait.... You mean that WASNT a white Testarossa at Fernley???

big_smile

Apparently you partook in some of the contents of their bribe briefcase!

The Homer: Powerful like a gorilla, yet soft and yielding like a Nerf ball.

Re: When $500 isn't $500

Nah, that briefcase was ours.

Pure, uncut, unadulterated......flour

Huey Newis and the Lose
Don't Start Believin'

45 (edited by 357 2009-06-10 06:16 PM)

Re: When $500 isn't $500

Judge Jonny wrote:

Let me say this, the team that brings a Ferrari 308 chassis with a Fiero body gets ZERO laps, as they will be my heroes forever and ever.

And I'll give 500 laps to the team that brings a Lamborghini chassis with an Integra body on top.

That means you win just for showing up.

If we're thinking along these lines, clearly Lemons Vice needs to bring the doppelganger of their Reno car: a Testarossa wearing a CRX body...

I can definitely see the argument for imposing a cap on the value of the parts you sell off, but frankly, I don't really think we're in much need of one.  I think for the kind of cars you can sell a large quantity/value of parts off of, they're either going to get tagged as complete cheaters, get the curse, or be so abysmally uncompetitive that they're more of a humor item anyway.

-Fred
Team captain, der Wienerschmoker

I've got eight slugs in me. One's lead, and the rest are bourbon. The drink packs a wallop and I pack a revolver.

Re: When $500 isn't $500

I'm thinking about building a 1/2 miata 1/2 E30 !

Pit Crew Revenge Racing   Rolling chicanelimo,95Lamdspeeder,Gimp Pimp Cadi,300zx Car show kaboom!! 90 Wagovan, mazda v8 Lemons LOGO TATTOO!  Aces 84 Cadi Eldo Briattz I O E WINNER
Class C win with LemonOdy Cannonball Run Whambulance !EX K Captain
Lemons Trophy Truck ShaGuar Baby!

Re: When $500 isn't $500

fabtoys wrote:

I'm thinking about building a 1/2 miata 1/2 E30 !

Oh, hell yes! Which half is the front? Or do you mean left and right halves?

Re: When $500 isn't $500

fabtoys wrote:

I'm thinking about building a 1/2 miata 1/2 E30 !

Even more fun would be  1/2 crx, 1/2 mr2 and leave both engines.  If you found automatics for the donor cars, it might even be drivable.

Team Formula BMW
#23 Pink Pig

Re: When $500 isn't $500

gmatus wrote:
fabtoys wrote:

I'm thinking about building a 1/2 miata 1/2 E30 !

Even more fun would be  1/2 crx, 1/2 mr2 and leave both engines.  If you found automatics for the donor cars, it might even be drivable.

Talk about a car that will get you greased out on the track.  Ding Ding Ding we have a winner...

"Sharp as Bear Claws and Slicker Than Goose Shit"
Lab Rats Motorsports
1990 VW Jetta
Charlotte, NC

Re: When $500 isn't $500

Again, I'm not (yet?) participating. I've only watched one race and a tooooooooon of video online since finding Lemons.

My interpretation? Leave the "price cap" alone.

Technically, the $500 "buyout" covers the problem of "cheater" cars.

It should be enough of a threat that if you show up with an old Celica GT-S All-Trac that you'd plopped a nice low-miler JDM engine out of you can rest assured not only would it win the curse, but *someone* in the Judges stands should hand your team $500 faster than you can say "Where's the ATM!"

Frankly, the "Thrill of Winning" for Lemons is far, far less important it seems than the "Agony of Defeat!" at least as far as the audience is concerned.

If a team is afraid of winning the People's Curse, then they should probably think about *why* they showed up in the first place. Worried about that Spec Miata you snuck through tech? Why didn't you show up with an Airies K or an Escort GT instead? Hell, show up in a Chrysler TC by Maserati or a Cadillac Cimarron if you want to impress wink

Take that Miata out to an SCCA event where nobody will crush it and you can race against *other* Spec Miatas. That's what it's for anyway.

As far as the Teams are concerned, "Winning" should be determined by actually getting to the checkered flag. The team that actually "Wins" the race pretty much ought to be the "First Winner" while the half-dozen or so wrecks that crawl across the finish line STILL WIN. It's like the Special Olympics, only for cars.

Granted, their winning doesn't include a shit-ton of nickels that they now have to figure out what to do with..At least with quarters you can have drinking games.... smile

Watching teams bash away at back-row-beauties trying to get just one more lap out of them was awesome. The guys that showed up with half-a car on the trailer, just so they could pull parts they might need at the track.  The whole time I was walking around the pits I wanted to jump right in & help....I'm a sympathetic mechanic is my problem though.



-=Tom

-=HFC Tom