The Hooniverse Car of the Decade is… an airplane on a van chassis

The votes are in, and there’s a winner. In our first-ever Hooniverse Car of the Decade vote, the winning margin lands with one truly wild machine. What started as a random idea in the head of one Jeff SpeedyCop Bloch turned into a street-legal “car’ comprised of a Cessna fuselage set atop the chassis of an old Toyota van. This is the Spirit of LeMons Cessna-car and it’s the Hooniverse Car of the Decade.

Our old friend Murilee Martin wrote about the Speedycop creation back in 2013. That’s when a 1956 Cessna 310 was chopped up alongside a Toyota MasterAce van. Head over to Car and Driver to learn about how this thing came to be.

Bloch has built many insane machines in the name of LeMons glory. Sideways-seeming buses, upside-down cars, and one amphibious road helicopter that wound up returning back to the universe by way of an unintentional Viking funeral. But it’s the Spirit of LeMons that should be considered Speedycop’s greatest creation. He’s raced it, and also driven it thousands of miles on public roads.

And now he can call it the Hooniverse Car of the Decade. Per our voting poll, the plane car garnered 37% of the vote. The next closest entries were the Zombee with 25% and Bowman’s RV at 12%. Yes, the Spirit of LeMons got some Internet help towards the end of the voting period, but that can and often happens in our -Of the Year-style posts.

We’re considering a special award for Pete’s amazing Zombee as well as Bowman’s RV. Those two vehicles have clearly captured the hearts and minds of many a Hooniverse visitor. As well as those of our editorial team. But our champion to close out this decade is, without a doubt, the Spirit of LeMons Cessna van/plane/car thing. It’s a brilliant mess, much like Hooniverse itself really.

Congratulations SpeedyCop (and all those who’ve raced or help build the Spirit of LeMons), your Spirit of LeMons is the Hooniverse Car of the Decade!

[Images stolen from Car and Driver, please go read the article I linked to above]

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8 responses to “The Hooniverse Car of the Decade is… an airplane on a van chassis”

    1. mdharrell Avatar

      Among the HCOTD candidates that I’ve driven, it’s the only HCOTD candidate that I’ve driven.

      https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2b0e2ccb953f84e2678394f4de434444fca9a34e2c03e369b2ab3bac8d2bcd33.jpg

  1. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    The airplane that became a racecar that became a drift truck.

  2. crank_case Avatar
    crank_case

    It wasn’t my favorite, but in fairness, probably fulfilled the criteria better than anything, so I’m not debating it.

  3. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    It’s agreat winner, but how exactly did this voting round get pushed off track? Can’t seem to find any specific clues in the original thread either.

    1. Jeff Glucker Avatar
      Jeff Glucker

      I believe it was posted to Facebook (like other candidates) and it was enough to alter the race to the finish line.

      I would’ve loved to see the Zombee win, but I don’t feel bad that the Spirit of LeMons won either. It’s such an insane thing to build, done by a guy who really gets the “Spirit of LeMons”, so it’s a fitting vehicle for Hooniverse. No doubt about it.

      Still, I think we should get Mitch to write up an article extolling the awesome that is Pete and the Zombee

  4. Jeff Bloch Avatar
    Jeff Bloch

    The Spirit of Lemons has had an interesting life, to be sure. Two crash landings led to the engines, fuel tanks, and tail being pulled prior to the 40 year abandonment. It was to be sold as scrap when I bought it from the airfield owner, who was highly dubious of my stated plans. After a 1500 hour outdoor build over a brutal Maryland winter, it debuted at Carolina Motorsports Park in 2013, running all weekend, and winning the IOE. Since then, it has autocrossed, drag raced, taken to car shows, and been driven around Times Square in Manhattan. We took it to Comic-con in San Diego this past July and made it from there to Nebraska on a “solo” cross-country flight, before the tail shaft bushing let go at over 180k miles. It has been featured in Good Morning America, in Car And Driver, and In Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine, amongst countless others. Next up is a 2JZ swap from a 2001 Lexus IS300…

    1. mdharrell Avatar

      Congratulations on HCOTD! Perhaps a Lemons Rally is in its future?