By Scott Ith
What’s better than more posts about the 24 Hours of Lemons? More posts featuring me, that’s what. After the break, you’ll find what amounts to a highlight video from my (first-ever) stint in a Lemons car. The car? Why, the 2011 HCOTY, the Killer ZomBee, of course.
Don’t click though if you don’t like self-indulgence.
This is from the Thunderhill 2012 race in September. There were 180 teams and most of those were able to get their crapcans running long enough for the start of the race, which I was on the track for. The track is almost 3 miles long, but there was a ton of traffic. Most of the highlights are the ZomBee passing someone or dealing with traffic. The ZomBee was in class “C”, which is the slowest, so usually other cars are passing you, but a highlight video of being passed in the Bee would take too long.
When I showed up at the track, I knew exactly zero people. Throughout the weekend, I met a bunch of great folks, not the least of which was the all female MyDoll team. Their black BMW trimmed in pink was one of the cars the Bee was able to pass consistently. Their team RV is the nicest ’78 Dodge van-based motorhome left in existence. I wish I had thought to take some photos so I could write it up for the ‘Verse.
Anyway, on to the action!
[youtube width=”720″ height=”405″]http://youtu.be/EbzhPLZdnRI[/youtube]
I am happy to report that I made it through two 90 minute shifts in the car and never went off or rubbed another car. (Rubbin’s racing, Harry!)
Scott Ith is an Associate Editor with Hooniverse.com, but he also contributes to his own site NeedThatCar.com. Head over there for more hoony goodness.
Jeff Glucker
"DON'T DIE!!"
"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!"
Our mantra.
I wish to know more about the punting please. Also Scott, after the first stint, that was funny.
Rules of Lemons:
A) Never make a dumb move in traffic.
B) Always expect the other guy to make that dumb move in traffic.
We both broke both rules. The Bee plowed on and the Del Sol disappeared into the tires. >"POOF!"<
Lesson: Don't @#$% with the ZomBee.
(but seriously, I felt terrible for my part, and it was the first/only black-flag or contact I've ever had. Spent the evening fixing the Bee and trying to help them find parts)
Put plainly, it was a racing accident. The same thing could have happened in many of the passes in my video. I was pretty careful, but also a bit lucky. Pete was unlucky. He did a great job of helping out with the damage to the other car though. And the Bee responded well to its rehab session that night.
See I had thought that Pete had walked over and gave that Del Sol a stiff boot, but that seemed uncharacteristic. Also they say he has the bladder of a squirrel, but we call him NeedThatCarScott.
The P.A. announced like 50 times…"Keep hydrated, it's hot, you'll get dehydrated and pass out and get heat stroke….drink lots of water, etc…"
So I did. Next time, it's heat stroke all the way for me.
"Most of the highlights are the ZomBee passing someone"
Wow, that IS a highlight! Haha, sorry, Pete. Bummed we missed you at Chuckwalla, and I won't be making it to Sonoma.
It seems like a slow but stable car.
The ZomBee is the fastest, best-handling LeMons car I've ever driven.
Believe it or not, I giggled with glee a lot more in yours.
Yeah, I really should fix that exhaust leak.
That pretty much nails it on the head. It handles great, and keeps buzzing along…
A while back I kept blowing up the "race" engine, so I "borrowed" the motor out of my wife's MGB, which I had been using as a commuter for quite a few years. That was several seasons and more than a dozen races ago, yet the damn thing just keeps soldiering on. It starts smoking for a while, then stops. The starts again, then stops. (shrugs)
It's a bit slow, but that's largely because it's tired and completely worn out. When I have the block out of the car with no head, I can spin the crankshaft pulley by hand and it goes "Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga…" before slowly spinning to a stop.
I'm honestly amazed this thing still runs at all. I drive it to the store all the time. Just keeps on ticking.
I like the header-mounted accelerometer.
It pains me to watch that, as the header-rail was a major component in the ZomBee's "Duck-Tape-Roofing-System ™" and came back to us via bicycle after serving as a speed bump on turn 3 for most of Saturday afternoon.
You lost the header rail? The header rail? That can't be easy to do. Now I want to know more about the punting incident, too.
The Killer ZomBee and my Popemobile.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/99Vy9.jpg"/>
My two SAABs were not allowed to encroach so closely upon such greatness.
<img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8502/8321341666_034640ceb5_z.jpg" width="550">
What I did today:
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/x1Q4l.jpg">
SWEET!!!