Edsel: The Official Pace Car of 2011 Gator-O-Rama 24 Hours of LeMons

by Sajeev Mehta

Published: February 27th, 2011

edsel the official pace car of 2011 gator o rama 24 hours of lemons

This faithful TTAC writer enjoys his break from reality to be a judge at the 24 Hours of LeMons. That said, a perk to having the great Murilee Martin on board is that my LeMons coverage now embellishes his: take a look at the ’58 Edsel Ranger pace car we “procured” from a race team.

One thing about the “rat rod” school of design is how great it makes an otherwise junky heap look in the hearts and minds of most bystanders. An ugly flat black paint job on one of the ugliest cars known to man is a Reeses peanut butter cup of automotive design! That said, the 1970s forged (yes really) Lincoln mag wheels and 390 V8 from a ’67 Ford Galaxie make the theme cooler than cool. And the white shag carpet seemingly taken from Dirk Digler’s rumpus room? Why not, it’s Rat Rod!

Also note the wicked body roll in turn one here at MSR Houston. And yes, that’s during pace car laps! Which begs the question, maybe we need more Rat Rod themed rides in Lemons?

#24HoursOfLeMons #Edsel #SajeevMehta

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4 of 12 comments

Sajeev Mehta on Feb 27, 2011

Its a Ranger, and yes, I asked the owner if it was a Pacer almost immediately after we got it for our Pace Car.

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- Frankdtank00 on Feb 28, 2011
  
  The front clip came off of a Pacer 4 door if that makes you feel better...
  
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William Penney on Feb 28, 2011

I never got how these were ugly, if anything they look better then the new Fiesta, easily better then anything out of Mazda in the last year. The wheels are nice but the flat black looks as bland as ever, though with a few touches you could make this a nice Edsel cop car.

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- Frankdtank00 on Mar 01, 2011
  
  2door cop car?...ill keep my bland old primer till i get a lil more body work done then im going to finish with a satin black body, white top and on the inlay that wraps around the back, Heavy flack white with a pearl coat tinted with a lil blue/green to tie it into the interior colors. slap all the chrome back on and shave the white walls.
  
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