Slant Six BMW E30, Mercedes 6.9, and a Parade: BS Inspections of the 24 Hours of LeMons South Spring

by Murilee Martin

Published: May 21st, 2011

slant six bmw e30 mercedes 6 9 and a parade bs inspections of the 24 hours of

Once again, the 24 Hours of LeMons has taken over downtown Camden, South Carolina, with a parade down the main drag to baffle the locals and a BS inspection scene complete with live band and draft beer. Why don’t we do this for every race?

The members of Stupid But Tough Racing (a Malibu-driving team whose members all work with uranium at Oak Ridge National Laboratory) decided to take my “Tennessee Homer Simpsons” appellation and run with it. This car should look great on the race track Saturday.

One way to make us love the BMW E30 is by replacing the sophisticated, powerful BMW M20 inline-six engine with a crude, heavy Chrysler Slant Six. Since this is LeMons racing, the normally reliable Slant Six has already bit this team, with a spun rod bearing this morning and a panic-stricken hunt for a donor Dart. Look, the car appears nearly ready… and is that the dreaded Carter BBD carburetor?

Here’s a car we’ve been waiting to see in LeMons for years now: a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9. NSF Racing won the Index of Effluency with their 1963 Plymouth Fury last time, but they decided that an old Chrysler is just too easy. Now they’ve showed up with possibly the most complicated motor vehicle this side of a Citröen SM. It’s not quite running yet, but they’ve got at least nine hours before the green flag!

This being a Southern race, the LeMons Supreme Court received numerous bribes in the form of unlabeled mason jars full of vitamin-Pb-enhanced, radiator-distilled moonshine. Hope we don’t get the jake leg!

Here’s the traditional timelapse video of today’s inspections.

Music: Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton, “Carolina Stomp”

#24HoursOfLeMons #24HoursOfLeMonsSouth #24HoursOfLeMonsSouthSpring #BSInspection #Racing

Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

More by Murilee Martin

Comments

Join the conversation

3 of 15 comments

FuzzyPlushroom on May 21, 2011

That 244 is meant to be a boat? Sure, it'll rock like one if the suspension is stock, but it's just not a very big car. They must have gotten one hell of a deal if they didn't have to sell off the trim bits, though (grille, hockey-stick trim). Same with the 142, although it looks like a proper vintage racer! And taping off a Volvo's composite lenses is pointless unless it's to hold 'em in over bumps - I've personally run over my 244's former right headlight lens after it fell out, and it bent. My 745's, of the same fade-prone-but-indestructible material, has survived a ~10 MPH hit to a Silverado's bumper while the hood, grille, and signal lens bit it. As for that S-10, that's my kind of theme. Probably levels out the weight distribution nicely as well.

Like Reply
WRohrl on May 21, 2011

Doesn't the 450SEL 6.9 violate rule 2.1 in regard to the maximum manufacturer curb weight not exceeding 4200 pounds? I've seen both 4270 and 4390 published but not under 4200...

Like Reply
- NSF Racing on May 23, 2011
  
  Running that Mercedes, on a small curvy track, violates several rules. Mostly rules of common sense. We had to apply for a waiver for the 80 lbs overweight.
  
  Like

Recent Comments

SCE to AUX All that lift makes for an easy rollover of your $70k truck.
SCE to AUX My son cross-shopped the RAV4 and Model Y, then bought the Y. To their surprise, they hated the RAV4.
SCE to AUX I'm already driving the cheap EV (19 Ioniq EV).$30k MSRP in late 2018, $23k after subsidy at lease (no tax hassle)$549/year insurance$40 in electricity to drive 1000 miles/month66k miles, no range lossAffordable 16" tiresVirtually no maintenance expensesHyundai (for example) has dramatically cut prices on their EVs, so you can get a 361-mile Ioniq 6 in the high 30s right now.But ask me if I'd go to the Subaru brand if one was affordable, and the answer is no.
David Murilee Martin, These Toyota Vans were absolute garbage. As the labor even basic service cost 400% as much as servicing a VW Vanagon or American minivan. A skilled Toyota tech would take about 2.5 hours just to change the air cleaner. Also they also broke often, as they overheated and warped the engine and boiled the automatic transmission...
Marcr My wife and I mostly work from home (or use public transit), the kid is grown, and we no longer do road trips of more than 150 miles or so. Our one car mostly gets used for local errands and the occasional airport pickup. The first non-Tesla, non-Mini, non-Fiat, non-Kia/Hyundai, non-GM (I do have my biases) small fun-to-drive hatchback EV with 200+ mile range, instrument display behind the wheel where it belongs and actual knobs for oft-used functions for under $35K will get our money. What we really want is a proper 21st century equivalent of the original Honda Civic. The Volvo EX30 is close and may end up being the compromise choice.