Story
When a man named Lucas Nilsson in Sweden heard about the 24 hour Clunker challenge, he decided that he wants to join the competition. But the thing is, he’s 16. He just got his driving license and he has no cars. But, he found a perfect car. A used 3rd generation TSR Kansai. It is the most underrated of all Kansai’s. So, he can get it for cheap. He found one online. So, he called the owner and decided to meet up at a parking lot. It was a TSR Kansai G (Base model, FWD, I4 engine, open diff, steel wheels). And luckily, it is in his favorite colour, Iced Stone. When these things are brand new, it was $15762 without mark-up.
Lucas: Hi. Nice to meet you.
Owner: Nice to meet you too.
Lucas: So this is a legit 3rd generation TSR Kansai.
Owner: Yeah. These things are rare because no want buys them.
Lucas: So, just rust on the bumpers and hood.
Owner: Yup. You can have it for $2000.
Lucas: I’ll have it. hands over $2000
Owner: Thank you.
Lucas: You’re welcome.
Then, he starts replacing the bumper and replace them with a rust-free one. Unfortunately, the colour of his bumper and his hood is gloss black. Anyways, he bought some coilovers, new anti-roll bars and wheels from a Kansai RS of the same generation. He also bought a performance intake and removed the 2nd muffler (the Kansai has 2 mufflers) which gained him 10HP and 4 lb-ft of torque. He also painted his brake caliper red to look cool.
Maybe it’s too nice to race here but whatever. He wants to participate in this competition. That Iced Stone will have lots of scratches and hopefully, he will be able to come back home in one piece at least.
Beginning life as a worn out 2005 Caliban Thunder Infinity, the GTurd 2005 was bought by Alejandro for just 400€…disassembled of course. Put together hastily, a few parts had to be replaced as they were not functional at all, like the gearbox (350€ to get a 5 speed from a Merciel) and the panels, which had to be replaced by wood (25€). To top it all off, they spray painted a ‘shit smear’ livery on it to truly make it the GTurd 2005 (10€). Total investment: 785€. A car in the true LeMons spirit.
The Team:
Alejandro Gutierrez, 21: Will do part of the driving as well as the fixing if the car breaks down. Has assisted his twin sister, Ana, during the Go West Deathtrap Tour and One Last Hurrah tour, without too much success.
Ana Gutierrez, 21: The heavy hitter. She will do most of the driving and hopefully take the car to victory. She has raced along her twin brother, Alejandro, during the Go West Deathtrap Tour and One Last Hurrah tour, without too much success.
Team Shitbox Brothers wishes every team good luck and good racing.
(@Knugcab is it okay if my team has only two drivers and Ana does two stints?)
The Team: 2 young schoolkids who just passed their test, Victor Ruggla and Eskil Lukeonen
The car: 1985 Birmingham 8000 “elegance”
a popular car from the USDM came into europe as a changed model, with smaller i4 and v6 engines as compared with the USDM 2.9l V6. It was a decent premium sedan, with a 115BHP Injected 2.4l i4, with the elegance and tourer trims gaining dual sunroofs and alloy wheels. This specific model was owned by Eskil’s grandparents before they decided to give up their licences. It was in a sorry state before it was transformed, with rusty steelies and a missing mirror, as well as clogged mufflers. The rear aftermarket lights didnt help with the car’s appearance.
The new owners set to work modifying the car, starting with wider sports tires and larger alloy wheels. The interior was stripped, leaving only 1 seat and the tacho dangling by a wire from the frame. a new wing and scooped hood from the junkyard were equipped as well. The car was complete, but another driver was still needed. Victor’s brother Timo is an experieced motocross racer and was happy to participate.
2008 is set as the newest model year because this is a competition for used, old, cheap cars. I choose the limit so the cars should be 10 years or older.
The team: A pair of car junkies who wanted something cheap to race.
The car: A Revero IRO-1 (the low point of Revero’s history) that was picked up in acceptable condition with 107k miles for £800 from a secondhand dealer just outside of Leeds by the pair. Why was it so cheap? It’s an undesirable plastic bumper model that had suffered a minor collision, hence the bonnet that isn’t correctly coloured. The car also needed new rubber, so the pair stuck on some Amuna sport design rims from a later Amuna Revero (Amuna bought Revero’s factories when it closed its doors.) These were also shod in Tyrelli Cup Sport tyres of the same diameter as the original car’s. The car was in need of spark plugs and a new muffler. Since not much could be gained from a performance exhaust and spark plugs were only offered in one form (OEM), they decided to keep the car as standard as possible elsewhere, and anyway, the engine was already a 216hp 2.0L V6 that revs to 8500rpm, so do you really need any more power? All in: £1370.
I misunderstood your post at the first look, I thought that you were unsure if you wanted to enter or not? Now I think it’s quite clear that you actually will enter.
However, who will the other drivers be? Sure, Mr.Computah asked if two drivers was OK if one of them would be driving twice and that’s OK I guess, but that one untrained 16 year old alone should cope with 24 hours of racing without illegal pills is doubtful IMO…
Rick: Early 30’s, software designer, already having a midlife crisis of sorts
Jen: Rick’s wife, fitness and yoga instructor, and binge-watcher of Netflix
Fuzz: Jen’s “little” brother, now a patrol officer for the local PD. Loveable, but not very bright.
Driver #1: Luke Light
The ever-present Robotic CEO of Storm Automotive, still suffering some from a blown hydraulic pump during the One Last Hurrah beater race, has signed up with intent to outlast the competition in this Beater Bash.
Driver #2: Amy Storm
Storm Automotive’s Engine Team Lead, and the Crew Chief of the Raceworks Division. She’s here to kick ass and chew bubble gum, of which she’s brought plenty. She really, really hates the car her son brought.
Driver #3: Jake Storm
Amy Storm’s son, and the guy who found the cheap shitbox for them to ‘enjoy’ racing. He’s been through a couple beater races, but felt the bitter sting of defeat during the One Last Hurrah event, when their Ishu Truckling lost the rear main seal less than 250 miles from the finish.
The LC meant Low Cost, and that was definitely the case with this trim level. A 162ci inline 4 with pushrods manages to turn fuel into noise and some small amount of power to turn the front wheels. The suspension is, well, primitive. Solid axle on coil springs up front, solid axle on coil springs out back.
When complaint was raised about how awful this Minerva Bullet was, Jake replied with “It’s better than a Vheego Travette, with a 30 horsepower inline 3 that redlines at 2,000 RPM. We’re not stuck at 65 miles per hour.”
Did a last adjustment to the rules now, I won’t change them anymore now, you’ve all had time to come with your input by now and I feel satisfied with them now.
The turbine-like sound of a tried-but-true IP Hicam straight six all of a sudden went quiet and three people squeezed themselves out of the somewhat cramped bench seat in an even more tried-but-true Brigadeer Uti-Lite, pulling a trailer where a more untried and possible untrue 1978 Pandora still was strapped…
LARRY: I thought this was a race for clunkers? Some of the cars here makes my Flaire look old! JENNY: Of course they are clunkers! Other than our cars I don’t see a single IP, so clunkers it is… LARRY: I’m tired of IP:s now! I’m going to sell the Icarus and buy myself a Saminda or a Maesima as my next daily. JENNY: You WHAT? Larry giggles MATS: Don’t tease Jenny now, we were out of coffee in the morning so (now she is even worse than usual). JENNY: OK, you are sleeping with the dog when we get home from this goddamned race! MATS: You say it like it is a bad thing… Jenny slaps Mats MATS: To be honest, I don’t know what I was thinking, I doubt that we will stand a chance among some of those cars with a worn out 1,3 litre hairdressers coupé from the 70s. I shouldn’t have been so greedy. JENNY: We could always have entered with the Lifestyler, and then you could have bought me a new Lifestyler now when they are putting that model in production again! MATS: Nah, forget about it, I looked at some spy pictures we’re going to publish in the next issue, and the Lifestyler will probably become yet another worthless crossover with FWD, you can’t even trust IP anymore. Jenny puts her fingers down her throat MATS: I think that prices on the first generation Lifestyler are going to rise in the next few years anyway, but that’s a completely different discussion… LARRY: Hehehehe, but you could always buy one of those? (pointing at some ute-like thing further away in the pits) JENNY: And what the f… is that? MATS: WHAT? A Ferrain UtiPick? In Sweden? JENNY: And what’s special about a Ferrain UtiPick then? MATS: Absolutely nothing, I just remember that one of my first jobs at Trafikjournalen was to go to Poland to test drive that one when it came out, there was a company that had some plans to import them to Sweden but I think that they went bankrupt before any cars arrived… JENNY: And that really was the only thing you test drove? MATS: What happens in Warsaw, stays in Warsaw… Jenny slaps Mats once again LARRY: That one has polish license plates anyway, seems like it is Ferrains factory team. Maybe they will prove that it is still as good after ten years. MATS: If only all marriages were that good… Jenny slaps Mats a third time MATS: HEY, IF YOU KILL ME YOU HAVE TO DRIVE THE FIRST ROUND BY YOURSELF! LARRY: So, you had plans to take the first round? MATS: Yes, because as oppossed to you zombies, I am actually awake in the morning. Jenny raises her hand MATS: DON’T YOU DARE!
As the start of the race was coming closer, they decided that it was time to roll the Pandora off the trailer and make it ready for the race. That was when Mats noticed that someone had filled the bed of the Brigadeer with a whole bunch of rolls with duct tape during the night. One part of him wanted to laugh, the second part wanted to kill some of his workmates that probably was guilty this time. The third part of him wanted to save a roll for Jennys mouth whenever it would be necessary…
(so, anything fun happening in other parts of the pits?)
Only rule about tyres are that they should not be semi slicks. I have to be honest that I didn’t think about quality sliders there, but it would be too late to put in regulations there now. But I would recommend you to be sane anyway. 15+ quality tyres on a street car is not sane… but sure if compared to real life you would probably put a good Michelin or Pirelli street tyre some points up and some cheap chinese rubber done from recycled hockey pucks some points down… So I guess I won’t stop anyone from using very high quality sliders on the tyres now, but I would on the other hand not call it good sportmanship…
