TTAC Does the 24 Hours of LeMons. And Dies. Again.
The weekend of October 24-25 was the third running of the 24 Hours of LeMons at Motorsport Ranch in Houston, TX. TTAC was there for the insanity. And it was the fourth time our LeMons race car, a 1972 Datsun 240Z hit the track. I was an honorary “penalty” judge this time ’round (props to Autoblog’s Jonny Lieberman and LeMon’s Founder Jay Lamm for that), so I did the best I could for my teammates when they got black flagged. But I’m no crooked judge, Jonny said I was too nice to other teams, too. No matter, it wasn’t enough for us to come close to victory. Then again, the Datsun Z is the butt of many a LeMon’s joke. What’s up with that?
While I know that Z-cars are doomed to mediocrity because E30 BMW’s, Toyota Corolla FX hatchbacks (yes, really) and Foxbody Mustangs have taken the checkered flag, Jay Lamm’s own words about the Z-car tells the sad truth: Datsuns are out of date and hopelessly uncompetitive against modern vehicles. That’s sounds like a challenge to me, and TTAC’s crew chief Troy Hogan knows it. Rest assured, his (insane?) dedication to the Datsun brand means that one day a Z-car will come up a winner.
Eventually. But these events are fun for racers, brand loyal fanatics, and anyone who loved these cars (mostly 1980s and 1990s iron) when they were new. And enjoy seeing them get a new lease on life, or a stay of execution. And much like TTAC, the 24 Hours of LeMons is all about the product, stupid. Much like C/D, the BMW 3-series comes up a winner far too often. But that’s not the point.
If you haven’t seen a 24 Hours of LeMons race, go to one of next year’s events. The series is growing every year, mostly because of word of mouth and an unbelievably low cost of entry, relative to SCCA and NASA sanctioned motor sport events. Even if you don’t race, you’ll be hooked after one lap of $500 heaps making an absolute mess (mockery?) of your local road course.
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Why not go with a '85-86 300ZX with the 3.0L six? For that matter, and if you simply have to have a Datsun/Nissan for this, why not utilize a '89-90 Maxima, the original 4doorsportscar? Or the 200SX of the same era? Seems to me you are determined to sew a silk purse from a pig's ear with the 240Z.
Because LeMon's 300Zx's do no better than the 240, and we have a lot of 240 knowledge in our group. Call it stubbornness, but we're gonna make it work. And it's not all the car's fault, the teams that win are the ones that drive somewhat conservatively and don't get black flagged by the track staff. People make the difference more than the car...sometimes.
4DSC's are too big, though they'd probably do just as well as the Taurus SHOs. That's not a compliment.