Alitalia on BAT - auction is complete

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I would love a K-something (Hoover's squeezed K24 is AMAZEBALLS!). Just not in a car that looks like the Italian flag. A hot-rod is a hot-rod, modded with a foreign engine or not. Any way to get more power is great, but learning to drive well is the key to actually being faster. I was at an autocross at the old Candlestick 20 years ago, when I heard a national champion comment on a driver who really looked like he was tearing it up. He said to his driving buddy, "He'd be so much faster if he just slowed down and drove the car." Confirmed all the training and wisdom that had been thrown at me over the years. That being said, our cars driven well are a very simple, inexpensive joy. More power is nice, we'd all like a bit more, but I still grin like a mad man behind the wheel of a '74 stocker. An extra 150hp would not change that feeling. I would just make it a different experience in a wholly different platform.
 
There are few if any "dangerously built cars" at LeMons in regards to safety. The safety requirements are no negotiable and absolute. This includes driver's suite, helmet, Hans Device, Belts, Fire system (all LeMons car must have on-board fire system now), Proper cage and more. What could be a dangerously built car, engine swapped specials with the race group "hot rodding" their ride in their fantasy way only to have it grenade in short time. This is why nearly every engine swapped LeMons racer ends up in class C, as the LeMons folks know the vast majority of "hot rodded" cars become too hot to handle.

The real question is, driver. There are always several drivers for a given LeMons car. That driver could be a weekender with little to no on track racing experience to a pro driver that drives race cars at the highest levels (There have been more than one NASCAR team drivers and all show up at LeMons under cover to run for fun). There are some exceptions like the EyeSore racing Miata, all their drives are good to excellent

The rotary exxe has raced wheel to wheel with this Miata. This turbo miata does well as its fuel consumption is FAR better than the PP rotary giving a no-contest advantage with being able to stay on track between stops far longer than the rotary exxe. Speed-Performance wise the rotary exxe is much the same as their modified Miata.. Both LeMons car are easily capable of producing lap times (given a GOOD driver) that would make the owner of a high-buck exotic wonder why and how.


:)
Bernice

So Bernice, how many cars on the LeMons grid would normally be avoided at all costs due to terrible pilots or dangerously built cars?
 
It's kind of fascinating how so much of our car culture in the U.S. centers around engine capacity and redline horsepower - "no replacement for displacement" we've been told since we were old enough to throw a wrench at a wall. Maybe it's because American teens street raced at red lights in flathead T-buckets when Europe had 1000 mile sanctioned road races. In an excellent interview with Carol Shelby he explains why the 289 Cobra was a superior car to the 427 starting at 42:00.
Shelby Interview
 
I had to throw in a token bid. Was up on the Yuba River for a month, couldn’t help dreaming that I was driving your car on those great twisty roads. Good luck with the auction.
 
I was reading the posts and almost all of them were totally useless and self serving about other folks experiences with Xs. Actually most comments were how wonderful your video was, that was neat.
 
Thanks. Turns out folks appreciate just being spoken to. Have gotten some nice comments, very pleased. Now I just need a couple of wealthy buyers to lose their minds during the final bid hour.
 
Friday 00:30 - is a great hour to end a biding I think 😅🍹
or is like that on all auctions?
Ends at 1430hrs on Thursday. Gets extended 2 min with every last minute bid. keeps folks from "sniping" at the last second.
 
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at 11k as of 9am 7/29 - very cheap for a Dallara bod, nevermind all the other goodies. Hopefully it will at least double before it ends :)

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When I vintage raced my 128 sedan, I got tons of comments from fellow racers who loved the sound of a SOHC at 9000 rpm. I felt it was second only to my late father’s Ferrari Daytona at full tilt. Wouldn’t even dream of swapping the SOHC out of an X. GLWS!!!
 
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