How to screw up a free lunch

[Brian Lohnes]

Long story short:

The background: There's a huge car show in Worcester, Ma every year called the "Worcester Nationals". They have a burnout contest. They have a group of guys who look like they were let out of the local jail run the thing.

The car: You may recognize the red Mustang as the car that was featured in HRM a while back with the stock Mercury Mountaineer motor and twin John Deere turbos. It's ratty as hell, but I've personally seen the thing go 10's. He's a crowd favorite at this deal because he completely abuses that car. You can tell by the way the motor smokes, the rings are shot to hell.

The payoff: He pulls up to do his burnout and one of the lackeys spots something leaking from the car. You can see the guy shoot at it with the hose. They tell the kid it's coolant. He shrugs it off and figures the motor will go out in a blaze of glory (he's got a new bullet for it). It was fuel. The car bursts into flames BIG time. Amazingly, he cobbled this thing back together enough to drive it home the next day!

Here's the video. If you are watching at work be careful as there is audible swearing!

http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m287/phalthrax/?action=view&current=SN003.flv

Brian

[BangShift McT]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

Yikes. NOT GOOD. :o

[ford141]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

ROFL!

That car is absolutely great. It is completely carjunkie approved. It is so dirt-simple but yet so extremely effective. And a blast to watch on top of that! Glad everyone got out OK and hope he gets it back together soon.

[VTJUNK]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

I used to go to that show. The last time was in '05 I think. Friends of mine that go every year said this time attendance was way down. The police are becoming more strict too. Certainly not like it was back in '99 or so. Driving around the city with open headers is cool though.

That car is too cool. Brian, I pulled that issue last week to look at something and I noticed you wrote that article.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

Yeah, that was one of mine.

The car is still awesome, but with a "real" motor going into in, it's going to lose some of the ratty (and ingenius) charm. The other scary thing about fire is that the car was huffing nitrous at the time....seriously.

HRM profiled the worcester show in the late 1980's or early 1990's and you're right Andy, in the late 1990's it was crazy. People doing burnouts right in the road (not in the sanctioned burnout area), cruising with open headers.

Then again, both of those things seem to happen in Michigan daily, so us New England boys are behind the times.

Oh yeah....got heat from a former editor of HRM (not Dave obviously) for writing the story "glorifying" that "piece of shit".

Brian

[JeffMcKC]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

You just like the tractor pipes. Anyone have a marsh mellow or hot dog.

[FORDGUY]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

a guy says "its leaking gas" (1:20) while the guy is still spraying the water. :

[morley]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

Wow some swift guys running that operation. lol At least everyone was ok. I love the exhaust.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

It had normal pipes on it when I wrote the feature, but the pipes are pretty sweet aren't they?

Brian

[fahrenschnell]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

Those pipes are so wrong that they are right.... ;D

Yet another reason to get out and check "what" is leaking... ;)

Seth

[1970camaroRS]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

Shesh...when are people going to learn that cars don't explode like they do in the movies when they're on fire? All the running away, yelling babe, it's gonna blow, etc...too much man.

[Monster]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

LMAO !!!

;D

[VTJUNK]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

Worcester used to be awesome. We used to stay at a hotel downtown that was near a warehouse district and had a dead end road out back. That street would be repaved with rubber by weeks end. The cops would roll through once in a while, even handing out plastic cups to people drinking out of bottles. That show is the reason I have exhaust cutouts on my Falcon and C-10.

The Adirondack Nationals in Lake George NY is exactly the opposite. Turn a tire and you'll get pulled over and the book thrown at you. They hand out tickets for "non-stock, or altered exhaust" there. I argued with an officer there once, come on it's a hotrod show for God's sake. I said you better give everyone a ticket then, because there isn't a stock system on the street. He said they'll do their best to get to everyone. What a dick.

[Gary 351C]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

I'm imagining the conversation the "Jail Guys" had while setting up. "Think we shoulda' brought a couple of large fire extinguishers? Nah!... garden hose is fine! :D

[msc66]

Re: How to screw up a free lunch

Turn a tire and you'll get pulled over and the book thrown at you. They hand out tickets for "non-stock, or altered exhaust" there. I argued with an officer there once, come on it's a hotrod show for God's sake. I said you better give everyone a ticket then, because there isn't a stock system on the street. He said they'll do their best to get to everyone. What a dick.

I have a great deal of respect for the police here in the big city but when I lived out in the sticks in PA it was a lot like that. The small town cops used to come by and drop a coin from the fender lip. If it hit the tire you got a ticket. Of coarse the street sloped off to the side and they dropped it from the high side so it would hit the L-60's every time. :