Hey guys,

I am looking to join the 24 hours of lemons endurance race in August in Connecticut. One of the first rules are all participants must buy their cars for under $500!

Help me out here guys. If anyone has a friend, neighbor, relative in the NY tri-state area who has a ridicuously banged up car but runs well, who is willing to give it up for under $500 bucks please let me know.

Would prefer a manual, with 4 wheel disc but at this price who can be choosy?

Anyone who is interested themselves check it out here.

www.24hoursoflemons.com

Much appreciated

 

so how they gonna prove that you got your car for 500?

so if i have my car (evo) sold to my sister for 500$ she can run the 24hrs of lemons? lol

after the race i just transfer the car back to me.

 

Check out their complete rules on their site.

4: VEHICLE PRICE

4.1: Total Investment in Vehicle Can Not Exceed $500: Except for items described in Rules 4.2 and 4.3, the total spent to purchase and prepare any car may not exceed $500.
4.1.1: Lame-*** Rationalizations: Cars that "should be" worth $500 don't count; cars that "were worth $500" before you spent another $2000 to fix them don't count; cars you've owned for 20 years and spent more than $500 on during that time don't count; "it would have been worth $500 if it didn't already have a cage" doesn't count. Five hundred dollars means five hundred frickin' dollars.

4.2: Safety Equipment DOES NOT Count Toward $500 Total: Safety equipment described in Section 3 DOES NOT count toward the $500 total. There is NO LIMIT on safety-equipment spending. Tires, wheels, and brake components are also considered safety equipment and DO NOT count toward the $500 total. While not mandatory, additional safety items such as fuel cells and plumbed fire suppression systems are highly recommended and DO NOT count toward the $500 total. Exhaust systems aft of the header DO NOT count toward the $500 total.

4.3: Registration, Insurance, License DO NOT count Toward $500 Total: Registration, insurance, or license charges—assuming for some reason you bothered—DO NOT count toward the $500 total.
4.4: BSF Factor: To prevent cheating, all cars will be inspected by a panel appointed by the organizers. At that time, all teams will be given an opportunity to describe the car's purchase and prep. If the panel believes the limit set out in Rule 4.1 has been exceeded, it will assign a Bull**** Factor (BSF) equal to one BSF per ten dollars above the limit. The entry will be docked one lap for each BSF assigned. (Ten dollars = one BSF = one lap.) Entrants are encouraged to bring all supporting evidence and make up plausible-sounding stories in advance.
4.4.1: Appeal of BSF Panel Decisions: Get real. There's no appealing this decision. You're boned.
4.5: Sponsorships: Conned some hardworking corp into giving you parts or cash? Nice work, but it still counts toward the $500 total. We recommend blowing that sponsorship dough on other stuff instead--hotel rooms, gasoline, entry fees, pedicures, driver suits, personal male enhancement medication, travel expenses, Freudian therapy for the organizers...things like that.
4.6: Labor Costs: If you didn't pay for the labor, it doesn't count toward the $500 total. If you did pay for it, it does count toward the $500 total. This just ain't that complicated, guys.
4.7: Scavenger Sales: If you sell pieces off of your car, the money that comes back in can be used to offset the initial purchase price. Just be prepared to convince some exceedingly skeptical judges of the validity of all those transactions.

Back on track though anyone with knowledge of a lemon please PM. Thanks

 

if the organizers dont believe you paid that much for the car, they reserve the right to crush the car, whenever they want to. As well, halfway through the race, the crowd chooses a car that they want to crush. those are pretty good deterents to overspending.

 

I am doing the one here in South Carolina in July.. found a $100 1989 Civic (no title, needs fuel pump, really crappy body kit on it)

I suggest do what I did.. get on craigslist and search for cars in your range - hint, look for <$300, as you may need to have some $ to get it running or tune it up.

Or you could do what it seems some people do, find one that is crashed hard enough to be "totaled" but will still run and drive. In looking I found a 1990 300ZX for $500, backed into a guard rail, but it's still too nice for me to justify the Lemons race with.

BTW... also don't think that it will be a "$500 race" some breakdowns:

Car: $500
Entry: $500 + $100/driver, minimum 4 drivers - so $900 entry.
Cage: Rules are more extensive now, bet on an $800 autopower, or at least $300 in metal if you can weld..
5-point belts, so $150 or so
Other safety: Brakes, figure on new pads and calipers, depending on where you do it you might need more pads..

Either way, you are looking at $2500 before you put fuel in it or put tires on it.

I am expecting it to cost $3800 to run the event at CMP, though admitedly brakes are going to cost a bit more there..

oh, and then you need drivers suits/helmets etc that meet SCCA rules.. which if you don't have will be another $600+

It adds up quick :-(

 

Also... They won't crush your car for spending more, but what they do is give you a 1 lap per $10 over they *think* you spent. So if they think you spent $600, you are going to start the race 10 laps down.

Also, for non spectator events, the other racers vote on a "Peoples Curse" which get's you a crushed car. At one of the california races last year there was a team doing a lot of rough driving so they voted that car to be crushed...

 

Agree on craigs list. Start there and dig around. Keep your eyes open and good luck.

 

The event organizer can claim your car for $500. That's their ultimate way of keeping you from spending a lot more on it.

Since "safety mods" costs are unlimited, and safety includes cage, brakes, tires etc. etc. you can basically build a Spec E30 if you can find a cheap enough 3-series donor car.

 

From what I understand the prices on the Spec E30 stuff is like $2500 for suspension, so I doubt that will happen. The rest though... yea.

Suspension is the biggest factor, the way I see it, if you can get a running car for $200-$300, then it's eBay time to maybe get some shocks/springs/sway bars. The engine just needs to run.

 

Thanks all for the input. I do understand the cost of participating far exceeds the cost of the car. Definitely scanning craiglist in 5 states with my group.

What I am looking for is a fellow evom member who may has the heart to see another evom member succeed and have the inside scoop on something reliable, reliable, reliable. Neons, civics, pickup trucks, xr4ti's, crown vic's......All the other things I can sort out.

Please help keep this thread strictly on procurement of a car. I can start another thread on strategy and mods.

 

I thought I recall something anti-truck in the rules.

Do keep in mind that the race is pretty much 50% endurance race and 50% demo derby.

Guys from our rally team did well in toledo with a Celica which I'm sure should have been claimed for the $500 from what I know. I know other folks who have done well with old VWs.

A miata would be a nice place to start as of course would be a civic. A big ole BMW would work well as would a Subaru Legacy or Mazda Protage.

The list goes on.

 

I am getting a Fiero in next week for a roll cage for this event.

When they say "$500" they mean it. If anybody calls "BS" on the value of the car, they send out the sledgehammer and make it a $500 car!

Darin

 

This is what happens if you bring a car that obviously costs way too much:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4tuap8DVRQ

The story behind this is that this guy owned a BMW dealership. The car had some minor body damage and was in to be fixed. Long story short, the owner basically abandoned it, he put a lein on the car and ended up owning the thing. He didn't want it so that's where it ended up.

 

Who entered last year was it WORKS I think.... Yes I believe it was. Any ways it was hilarious, looks like well over $500 dollars worth of fun after those videos.

 

Hit up some local junkyards. Lots of ppl find RallyX cars that way.