When 24 Hours of LeMons madman Jeff Bloch—better known as Speedycop to most Hoons—created a twisted mashup from a derelict Cessna 310 and a Toyota R-Series/Ace/Space Cruiser van and took the newly christened Spirit of LeMons racing at Carolina Motorsports Park in March 2013, he won the coveted Index of Effluency trophy and secured the plane a spot as the co-Hooniversal Car of the Year. The amalgamation took hundreds of hours of work from Bloch and his Gang of Outlaws crew and Speedycop now seems intent on getting the most of his crew’s painstaking work. It’s been to the drag strip, it’s been to New York for the Blipshift’s Apex Everything party, and it’s traveled to North Carolina for the Charlotte Auto Fair.
Last weekend—after another successful Index of Effluency campaign with a perfect Family Truckster replica (now up for sale)—Speedycop took the Spirit of LeMons out for a day of cone-dodging with the Capital Driving Club at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Maryland. With a curb weight of 2,600 pounds and about 100 horsepower, it was never going to set any records (aside from almost certainly the first airplane to set an autocross time), but the Cessna also did not finish dead last. Follow the jump for a short video of the Spirit of LeMons in action.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNsiK8pLYHk[/youtube]
What’s next for the plane? I’ll keep my fingers crossed for stage rally.
[Source: Speedycop on YouTube]
The continuing saga of Speedycop: Autocrossing the 'Spirit of LeMons'
By Eric Rood
Oct 1, 2014
Jeff Glucker
The Toyota Van was kind of a weird thing, because it was mid-engined, with a low roll center, yet had a very short wheelbase and a tall body, which seems like it would counteract the low roll center.
Also, what museum will end up with the Spirit of LeMons? It's so crazy, it seems like it should be preserved once its racing days are over.
I'm not sure what Jeff's long-term plans are for the Spirit of LeMons, but he may weigh in here.
He tends to sell his projects to finance his next build(s) and while I figure this thing is probably worth twice anything else he's built, he (and his wife and a lot of the Gang of Outlaws) spent hundreds, possibly thousands, of hours building it and it's something special to all of them. Not sure if he'll ever sell, but if he does, I'd expect someone to buy it and make it a dedicate show or museum piece.
It would take a LOT for me to part with this thing. Like, 6 figures. We have over 1400 hours of build time in it. Also, it's pretty much the most fun thing to cruise around in there is… 🙂
Smithsonian. It can sit on the floor, below its older brother.
What's going on with the twin-engined Continental?
It will return to race again, after having numerous unexpected mechanical difficulties while racing at NJMP. Random trans seal leaks sprang up (front main seal) and previously tight wheel bearings started failing. We'll sort it and bring it back.
I'm bummed I didn't try to drive this when it was in NY
Anytime, Jeff.
Me too!!! I had way too much to drink!
I always knew the chassis was asymmetrical, but I never realized that the front wheels were that far off center. The rears don't seem to be shifted nearly as far to one side. Do the rear wheels still tack directly behind the front wheels as they did in the van, or are the rears shifted closer to the fuselage centerline?
The only way to fit a driver AND a roll cage inside the 54" wide fuselage beside the inline 4cyl. engine was to offset the front of the fuselage by about 10" The rear is not offset at all, hence the way it dog-tracks.
Thanks for the explanation. Not having seen it in person, there's not a lot of the traditional mental and visual reference points when looking at images of it. Does the off-center front track have any noticeable impact on handling?
None at all. It's surprisingly stable at speeds, but you definitely feel it if there's a high crosswind.