The LeMons Supreme Court has had the use of some great Judgemobiles, including such standouts as the Short Bus, the ’47 Ford rat rod, and the Doomed Tempo. At the LeMons South Fall ’10 race, however, we had two incredible Judgemobiles!
The Tunachuckers Volvo Amazon team brought along this ’67 Amazon wagon sedan for use as a parts car, and they very kindly offered to let the LeMons Supreme Court use it as the Judgemobile. Team Captain Mike used it as a driver until bashing into several trees while avoiding a deer (and was unhurt, which is a pretty impressive testimonial to Volvo safety). The brakes didn’t work so well, the shifter selected gears at random, and the wheels rubbed on the body when turning or under load, but it captured the spirit of the LSC perfectly.
It captured the LeMons Supreme Court spirit even better when the left front wheel fell off during a parade lap around the paddock with a half-dozen LeMons HQ staffers along for the ride. I believe “Funkytown” was playing on the Ghost Ride The Whip Boombox when the very entertaining incident happened. Good thing I was only driving at a slow walking pace!
But the Amazon wasn’t the only Judgemobile! The members of the USS Enterprise LS5-powered ’72 Ford LTD team picked up this Caprice wagon with the World’s Most Redneck Backyard-Built Lift Kit for a couple hundred bucks and let us use it for the weekend. Chief Perp Jay took it out on the track as the pace car, but described its porpoisy handling as “hella fuckin’ scary” and exited after just a couple of laps.
The Monster Capriceness of it all was great all by itself, but this Judgemobile came with a smokescreen generator! Just hit the horn button, and a pump sprayed brake fluid (we think) all over the exhaust system, creating clouds of white smoke that lasted for a long time. One tap of the button made for about 10 minutes of smoke clouds. The first time we tried this feature, the fire truck came roaring over to deal with the “emergency.”
Could any Judgemobile be better than these two? Maybe, but it’s hard to imagine! Bring us a ZIL and we’ll talk…
Quite Possibly the Greatest Judgemobiles of All Time!
September 29th, 2010
September 29th, 2010 - 11:33 am
No no no, you’ve got it all wrong! The wagon was our support vehicle, that my girlfriend drove down (and which had a dual circuit brake system!). The parts car/Judgemobile was a 4 door.
Sorry it lost a wheel on you guys, though it does look entertaining. Huh, and I would have thought 3 lug nuts would have been enough to hold that wheel on…
September 29th, 2010 - 4:42 pm
The sight of that thing puking all that smoke, set against a glorious Carolina sunset over a less-than-glorious Carolina raceway was a sight to behold.
September 30th, 2010 - 7:14 pm
Wait, what’s with the AK-47?!
September 30th, 2010 - 11:18 pm
That better be Duff beer they’re drinking!
September 30th, 2010 - 11:28 pm
The AK (I think there was an M4, too) were for shooting drivers inflicted with the red mist right in the middle of the face.