Peter Behrens's Blog, page 195

24 Hours of Lemons

"Start with a $500 car. Cheaper is fine, but no higher. Then decorate it outrageously. Maybe with a giant rubber ducky, or a flying pig. Now put it on a racetrack with scores of other half-broken art-cars — and drive it fast as hell for 14 and a half hours.

"That’s the formula for 24 Hours of Lemons, a grass-roots race-carnival held since 2006. What’s the grand prize for completing the most laps? A rusted trophy. Sometimes, you get a big bag of nickels.

"Jay Lamm, the ringleader of this circus, hatched the idea during a weekly lunch with car buddies at a Chinese restaurant in Berkeley, Calif. Nearly 15 years later, Lemons is a multimillion-dollar franchise held in dozens of cities across the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

"It’s a real race, but winning is mostly irrelevant. What is actually tested (and celebrated) is the ability of resourceful hobbyists — armed with only basic tools and their wits — to revive a worn-out vehicle for a weekend of low-rent, high-speed high jinks.




"In arguably his most masterful act of provocation so far, a year ago Mr. Lamm changed the sacrosanct laws of Lemons. He put up $50,000 to create a prize for the first pure electric car to win any 24 Hours of Lemons race. To up the ante, electric cars are exempt from the $500 limit. (For all cars, that $500 mark does not include safety gear.)

"Mr. Lamm said the electric vehicle prize would be paid exclusively in nickels, delivered to the winner’s driveway by a dump trunk..."                                                             ----from Bradley Berman's piece in NYT Sept 6 2020

1953 Chevrolet 3100 pickup. Trailer Queen--not

On the block this week at BaT. Not sure about '53, wasn't the split windshield gone that year? AL has posted a bunch of this era Chevy trucks, like last week's 3800's.


 

Jack Delano: Chicago railyard photos

 2 Jack Delano photographs. The freight depot of the U.S. Army consolidating station in Chicago. April 1943 The yardmaster's office at the receiving yard in North Proviso (Chicago), December 1942

Put-Together Toyota

 Michael Moore saw the truck at Pueblo Toyota employees' parking lot. 113F in Publo that day. Truck so cool, though.  1981?

Ford F250. Deer Isle, Maine.

 from Jonathan Welsh: 
"We spotted this nicely worn F250 in front of the Old Parish House. Perhaps the pastor drives it. This one has the Camper Special option that included extended rearview mirrors, a heavy duty alternator and cooling system, and a wiring harness for campers that fit into a pickup truck's bed.
"This body style debuted for the 1967 model year and helped set the tone for clean, angular, slab-sided trucks that defined the segment for 30 years."
AL: We've found a lot of automotive riches just across the Reach on Deer Isle, including this line-up of Citroëns.And Jarrod McCable sent us these notes on a F250 of this era, a while back.

1952 Chevrolet 3800

It's on the block at BaT. Camoer built by Northern Sheet Metal, Yreka, Calif. Used to belong to Steve McQueen, they say. Bike's a modified 1972 Husqvarna CR 250.
PHB, Deer Lodge Montana. Toby Clark's 1952 3800. En route home to Banff in April from a winter in West Texas on the Lower Canyons of the Rio Grande

I-H Scout

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from the Mexican designer Abimelec Arellano

1982-84? AMC Eagle

From Reid Cunningham: "A little rough but I can't remember the last time I saw an Eagle that wasn't a wagon. Guessing 82-84 based on the Wikipedia description, the chrome hood strip and ornament went away in 85. The padded roof and two tone scream what passed for luxury in the early 80's. The last registration sticker was 2014 but it looks in good enough condition to save and it was on a body repair shop lot in Manchester NH, so I am keeping my fingers crossed."

Madrigal under the moon (& Chevy to the levee)

Madrigal's on her mooring in Center Harbor; the truck's on the hard down the road at Naskeag harbor. Sailed through Naskeag a couple weeks ago, nearly grounding on the sandbar. That truck spent the first 35 years of it's life in West Texas, hence the rustless demeanor.

Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal/ Ford Custom/ Renault 10

Says something  that most of the police organizations in Canada are "service" not "department". Of course, service doesn't alway happen, but...
Aidan O'Neill found these photos. The Renault 10 was the police car used for youth outreach. Friendlier than a Ford, maybe.  These Renault--the 8 and the 10-- were prolific in Montreal in the Sixties though they all fell apart before long and you don't see many around.We posted one for sale at Motorland a while back.
For similar, sometimes quasi-nationaliste solidarity reasons the Renault Cinq was big in Montreal in the late Seventies.
The Custom was big Ford's base model, Interesting that it's a 2-door. Where do you stash the perps, in the trunk? A watch commander's car, peut-etre.

I remember the big switch (1963?) when Mo ray al cop cars went from all-black with a tiny city crest on the door and tiny white lettering "police"--to the same bright blue and white that's on Quebec's flag.
      Below? That's rue de la Montage in the Sixties, which used to be Mountain Street, and was actually named after Bishop Mountain, so the name change really made little sense, except in political terms. Cafe Martin was maybe the best restaurant of the era--from the 1930s through the 1970s. The critic Edmund "Bunny" Wilson loved it, one of the few things Bunny enjoyed about Montreal. Just around the corner from the Ritz-Carlton. A favorite hangout of mes parents.