Latest Harebrained LeMons Scheme: It's A K Car, Pass It On

W Christian Mental Ward
by W Christian Mental Ward
As with most harebrained schemes, this one started on innocently enough. But like a Sorority President’s profanity laced email, the greatest K Car ever raced is making its way across America. Like the video reading by Michael Shannon, it is bringing all who experience it the same joy and probably more profanity.
But unlike those “awkward and boring” folks at the U of Maryland, it’s a known fact LeMons racers hold their liquor better than any college Greek could aspire to, but that ability spawns troubling ideas.It all started here when 24 Hours of LeMons veteran Bob Mitchell had an idea:“We have this silly K car. Ron is rebuilding the engine. We are racing it at CMP for the season opener -an all girl team. I have a vision of the K car getting passed around for the season. It’s free. Come get it. Race it and give it to someone for the next race. It must be passed on to another team after you race it. It has a title if you’re into that sort of thing.. First come, first screwed.”That brainstorm produced a worse more awesome follow on from Neal, a left coaster:“How cool would it be if the K Car showed up at every race or nearly every race across the country. Passed from one team to the next, one race to the next…” It turns out, it is very cool indeed.After competing in three of the 24 Hours of LeMons races this season, the K is still running strong.Well, it’s running; very rich apparently. This past weekend Justin “psychoboy” Howe and his inexplicably patient fiancé loaded his Dodge Sprinter and drove from OKC to Rolla, Missouri, for the next leg in the wagon’s journey.“I only get one day a week off work, and I spent it picking up a free race car…”
“…I’ve signed titles, I’ve handwritten bills of sale on a receipt in the rain, but I’ve never bought a car merely by accepting a single key living on a black zip tie…”Read that story here.This weekend, my good friend Justin and Team OK-Speed will deliver the K to Eagle’s Canyon Raceway. At the wheel will be team pit-mates; the bacon-loving, snake-oil-brewing Team Tetanus. If you have an iPhone or Droid you can follow the action live with this app.
There is still a chance to get in on this rolling piece of Crapcan history. Pay for a seat, or better yet, grab some friends, a trailer, and get some race gear. Or simply follow the saga here.Again, Neal from the original bad idea thread:“…I would say it seems impossible but, c’mon, this is Lemons. When it comes to bad ideas…NEVER GIVE UP!”And they haven’t. Additions include signatures from all the teams on the hood and a piggy bank for donations. After the season, the K will be sold, donated or scrapped and all the proceeds from the whole endeavor will go to Alex’s Lemonade Stand.Rock on K wagon.
W Christian Mental Ward
W Christian Mental Ward

School teacher, amateur racer, occasional story teller.

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  • NSF Racing NSF Racing on Apr 30, 2013

    Nice. This is such a bad idea. Only three events remain unclaimed. V~room!

  • Ryoku75 Ryoku75 on Apr 30, 2013

    If this thing manages to survive its beating I wouldn't mind buying it up, if only to preserve it for the LeMons racers that had their chance behind the wheel and the fact that its had more experience under it than most other K-Cars. Perhaps when I get the money I'll mimic this with a cheap Volvo. This is also the only K-Car I'd consider buying for anything outside of hooning.

    • See 2 previous
    • Ryoku75 Ryoku75 on May 01, 2013

      @tetanusRacing Depends on the scrap prices around where the finishers at, but if I can get around $500 I may head out there and tow it back, that is if no one else claims it and if no one in the family shoots me over dragging an old K-Car out to the house.

  • ToolGuy First picture: I realize that opinions vary on the height of modern trucks, but that entry door on the building is 80 inches tall and hits just below the headlights. Does anyone really believe this is reasonable?Second picture: I do not believe that is a good parking spot to be able to access the bed storage. More specifically, how do you plan to unload topsoil with the truck parked like that? Maybe you kids are taller than me.
  • ToolGuy The other day I attempted to check the engine oil in one of my old embarrassing vehicles and I guess the red shop towel I used wasn't genuine Snap-on (lots of counterfeits floating around) plus my driveway isn't completely level and long story short, the engine seized 3 minutes later.No more used cars for me, and nothing but dealer service from here on in (the journalists were right).
  • Doughboy Wow, Merc knocks it out of the park with their naming convention… again. /s
  • Doughboy I’ve seen car bras before, but never car beards. ZZ Top would be proud.
  • Bkojote Allright, actual person who knows trucks here, the article gets it a bit wrong.First off, the Maverick is not at all comparable to a Tacoma just because they're both Hybrids. Or lemme be blunt, the butch-est non-hybrid Maverick Tremor is suitable for 2/10 difficulty trails, a Trailhunter is for about 5/10 or maybe 6/10, just about the upper end of any stock vehicle you're buying from the factory. Aside from a Sasquatch Bronco or Rubicon Jeep Wrangler you're looking at something you're towing back if you want more capability (or perhaps something you /wish/ you were towing back.)Now, where the real world difference should play out is on the trail, where a lot of low speed crawling usually saps efficiency, especially when loaded to the gills. Real world MPG from a 4Runner is about 12-13mpg, So if this loaded-with-overlander-catalog Trailhunter is still pulling in the 20's - or even 18-19, that's a massive improvement.
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