Cars That Are Too Pretty for LeMons Round #2

"Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow" (chriskf) 04/06/2016 at 22:54 • Filed to: None

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Breathing new life into a driven hard and put away busted LeMons car.

Some of you may remember the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! project I helped work on last year. You know, the guys who took this rust-bucket Alfa Spider:

And turned it into this glorious homage to the legendary LeMans winning !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! :

Well, the mad scientist body magician, Darren Besic, behind that gorgeous piece of machinery you see above, as well as the also semi-famous !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , has been hard at work on a new project. He and his brother Mike, a renowned Alfa mechanic and specialist, have gotten the opportunity to restore one of their old cars to new glory.

This GTV6 was built by Darren and Mike years ago for budget racing shenanigans. It ended up being sold to other teams, and continued to see plenty of action over the years.

Just look at the state this thing was in.

As a friend of Darren’s put it, “It’s the fucking ugliest car I’ve ever seen.”

They reacquired the car from it’s most recent team, and decided to make it their new project. It pained Darren to see one of his cars looking like that, which meant it was time to plan another ridiculously ambitious LeMons build. Continuing on with the theme of drawing inspiration from iconic motorsports legends, he chose a new muse.

The Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI DTM car.

Now you might be asking yourself, “How the hell is that clapped-out GTV6 gonna look as awesome as that apex blasting track monster, leading the pack, above?”

Well, first that $5 WalMart flannel inspired livery needed to be gotten rid of.

So it was stripped away and some normal body repair work was done to straighten out all the rubbin’ is racing patina.

Next, like any good DTM car, the GTV 155 (as I’ve taken to calling it) needed some ample flaring of the fenders.

These were made using conduit and scrap sheet metal, with the assistance of my friend Erik and myself.

And what good is a DTM car without a giant wing? None.

This AutoZone special came courtesy of some rice rocket up in Milwaukee. #madtyteDTMyo

In order to get the properly aggressive front end style right, a ‘90s Mustang Cobra R front bumper was donated to be hacked up and made to fit.

This is the other part of the project that Erik and I helped with. It was very fun, albeit quite messy, learning to lay fiberglass to reshape the bumper so it would fit.

Keeping with the strategy of borrowing parts from America vehicles, the lights you see above are from a ‘90s Chevy Tahoe and a Dodge Ram 1500 hood was sliced up to create the raised hood scoop.

As if there weren’t enough parts from various cars on this thing already, the wheels were sourced from a BMW 7-series.

Once the bodywork and overall design were finished, it was time to make sure the car truly looked the part.

After a healthy coat a shiny new red paint, some “period correct” vinyl was added.

The results, as you’ll see below, speak volumes to Darren’s mad fabrication and body work skillz, not to mention the utmost pride he takes in his work.

The car, which features NASCAR-grade brakes and is powered by a 3.0L V6 from a Milano Verde, is now in Mike’s hands to undergo final tuning and preparation to make it race ready.

I, for one, can’t wait to see people’s reactions to this car in person at its “re-premiere.”

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 04/06/2016 at 23:04

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That is some serious talent right there.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/06/2016 at 23:07

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Right?!

It’s be a really cool experience getting to work with Darren. I’ve learned a ton, and gotten to use some really cool tools, like an English wheel. I wish I’d been able to put more time in on this project, but it was done mostly over winter and I was spending many of the build weekends doing ice rallyx in Wisconsin.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 04/06/2016 at 23:09

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I wish I knew cool people.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/06/2016 at 23:11

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It’s actually pretty easy to meet cool people.

All I did was post on the LeMons forums, about 2 years ago, that I was looking to get involved with a team. Several folks from teams responded saying they’d love some help. Darren was one of them, and I started driving about an hour every other weekend or so to help work on the Alfine.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 04/06/2016 at 23:14

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Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 04/07/2016 at 00:09

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Isn't there a limit as to what you can spend preparing for LeMons?

RacinBob > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 04/07/2016 at 00:09

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As the current co-owner of the BV, I gotta say welcome back to the club. Here is the original Darren’s masterpiece both in the original livery

and as the improved levery . Darren builds beautiful cars.

All behold a Ranger motor! PS Get well Tony!

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > RacinBob 04/07/2016 at 00:14

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I remember meeting you at the Joliet race. :)

Yeah, Darren’s work is ridiculous!

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/07/2016 at 00:17

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Yes, and no.

The cars are supposed to be worth $500. You can buy them for more and sell off enough parts to make them worth $500. Anything difference left between $500 and the determined value of the car can be spent on improving the car. Then they add penalty laps based on how far over budget you went. Safety improvements (roll cage, brakes, tires, etc) are not factored into that budget.

RacinBob > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/07/2016 at 08:05

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I can vouch for what chris says. When you look at the opel or the 155 or the alfina, all of those cars were basically junk at the start. Our opel had sat in the elements for years and they sold the entire drivetrain. It has a ford ranger 2.3, alfa rear axle a chopped mustang hood and a kamm back made from conduit and siding sheet aluminum. Everything was stuff destined for the crusher.

When you look closely underneath its a old, but very cleaned up car that is built with pick and pull parts and a ton of sweat equity.

RacinBob > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 04/07/2016 at 08:09

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Ah, Joliet. Where we learned that ranger heads crack if you race them long enough......

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > RacinBob 04/07/2016 at 08:22

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Yeah, I remember that. :(

We dropped not too long after you guys.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RacinBob 04/07/2016 at 11:02

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And very tidy. I wasn’t casting an aspersion. I’ve heard of guys keeping meticulous spreadsheets to track moneys in for parts sold, moneys out, et cetera. I just made a new friend on Oppo who knows a guy who runs a car at LeMons and I am hoping to join the crew at some point.

RallyBabyRacing > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 04/07/2016 at 14:03

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That Alfa is awesome. We made the 722 car in this article, and I think it came out pretty nice. http://blog.caranddriver.com/lemons-goodbad…

RacinBob > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow 04/07/2016 at 22:03

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What’s a DIKFOR?

RacinBob > RacinBob 04/07/2016 at 22:07

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PS - Credit for this clip goes to my bro who remembers everything including that clip!