When the 24 Hours of LeMons rolls into a racetrack, race organizers tend to pack lightly and so they occasionally politely ask for some accommodations from local racers. At the recent LeMons race at Gingerman Raceway, LeMons Supreme Court Justice Steve McDaniel asked for a loaner vehicle that carried ample judicial gravitas to command respect in the paddock. Michigan team Flying Pigs Racing—who would also win the race with their winged, pink Ford Mustang—heeded the call and brought this immensely badass hot rod to loan the LeMons judges.
It is a utilitarian vehicle, having four wheels and a drivetrain (but not much else). From the second it its towering exhaust stacks hove into view at the far end of the paddock, however, it induced slack jaws throughout the LeMons paddock and if you’ve ever been in a LeMons paddock, you know how difficult that is to do.
Rather than attempt to describe it myself, I’ll let this beast’s builder Jerry Veen sum up the build and then let the pictures do the talking from there.
“I threw that together over the last 3 months. Always wanted to put a crappy rat rod together. I was thinking Lemons Concours and Burnout competitions at local fairs. But since the concours is the same date as the Joliet 24 race I’m not sure it will make it. I should make it to 4 or 5 burnout competitions.”
Veen continues:
“I bought the rotted ’48 Plymouth coupe body off CraigsList. It had a rolling Chevy frame. Then came a motorhome 440 Mopar and trans from a local semi truck parts distributor. A wide ZR2 S10 rear end helped spread the massive used drag slicks I got from an NHRA drag racer. The rear rims are each two wheels welded together to make 12 inch rims. Some guy actually had them on his street camaro. I bet that looked bitchin’. I traded a couple of the drag tires that were the wrong size for the ’80s Harwood scoop. The rest was just typical junk I had laying around. And 9 blue spray bombs from Menards. The traction bars are actually leftover rear torsion bars from the Forsche*. The radiator came out of the Forsche too. Of course that’s in the back so you can see the motor, plumbed using some 1.5 inch conduit. The Zoomies are cut up headers that came with the motor off the motorhome with welded chunks of more conduit. Some furnace ductwork keeps the shirt tails from wrapping up in the drive shaft.”
[* The “Forsche” was the team’s prior LeMons car, a Porsche 924 with a turbocharged Pinto motor that shot footlong flames out of the side-exit exhaust.]
[All photos copyright 2015 Hooniverse/Eric Rood]
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