By Jeff Glucker
Racing, at all levels, delivers supreme highs and tremendous lows. This remains true even when talking about the 24 Hours of Lemons series. Thankfully for my team, I helped get the lows out of the way on my way to the track. My Montero decided that Gorman, California, would be the perfect place to give up the front main seal. For those unaware, that would be towards the latter portion of an annoying stretch of road known as The Grapevine. All sorts of vehicles get eaten up here, and my Montero is now no exception. Regardless, I called my team, told them to pretty please come rescue me with the trailer, and bring myself and my Montero to the track so we could go racing.
They did, and we did.
We are now a two-car team. In fact, we have been for some time. Our 1962 Ford Ranchero shares garage space with a 1966 MGB GT. Both are V8-powered, and both deliver that power in rather different manners. The Ranchero exists as a missing link between vintage NASCAR and the modern Craftsman Truck series. A brute force blunt instrument. Our car truck rewards those who drive it like they hate it… even if the truth is that we love it.
Jump into the more cramped MGB, however, and you have a momentum machine. At least, it will be once we fix the underpowered master cylinder and the lack of a proper rear diff. There’s an open diff out back and the brakes require two business days notice to start working. Even then, it’s a riot and it sounds awesome.
For the most part, the Ranchero is finally fully sorted. Gone are the fueling issues we’ve had in our last few outings. We ditched the Holly Sniper and its required return line to go with a straightforward, old-school carb setup. It works, and both air and fuel get to where we need them to be. Couple a healthy engine with an excellent four-speed toploader and confidence-inspiring brakes, and you have a recipe for success.
In fact, we had our best finish yet in the Ranchero. We found ourselves battling between the 2 and 3 spot in Class C, ultimately winding up just shy of 2nd with a 3rd place finish. This was also good for 20th or 21st overall. Over the course of the weekend, we only had three issues pop up. Early on Day 1, the ignition box went on us. It was diagnosed and replaced rather quickly. Then we flat-spotted and lost a tire. We’ve got spares, so the car got back out there. Finally, one driver ran the car to empty and needed a tow in.
All three issues were rectified and we kept the car in the fight. But when you add up the laps lost to those issues, it’s what kept us from fighting for the lead. In fact, if we could’ve avoided those issues, there’s a chance we may have started to walk away with a Class C win. That’s because the car that did win, a Toyota Paseo, ran a flawless race. No issues, just laps and fuel stops. However, our lap times were on average 10 seconds, or more, quicker per lap.
The Ranchero is ready to win Class C, and I can’t wait to give it another shot sometime in 2026.
As for the MGB, we initially thought we were dealing with a cooling issue, only to discover it was actually a head gasket issue. That was fixed on Saturday night, and the car ran for most of the day on Sunday. Eventually, we did lose an entire rear shock, but we decided to run the car on three, and it finished under the checkered flag. Still fun, but still in need of tweaking.
As for my Montero? You get one 200-mile tow per year with the top level of AAA membership. I used that to get my Montero home and hopped in a teammate’s car for a ride back down to Orange County. The Montero is already fixed and sitting in my driveway, while I vacillate between wanting to sell it and wanting to keep it forever.
As Donut Media says, Cars Are Pain… but it’s a pain love inflicting upon ourselves.