What you are looking at (above) is a genuine, race-winning car. No, seriously. The LeMons racer MX-5 is, in fact, one of the most successful cars in the LeMons endurance series, as hard as that may be to believe. As fellow MX-5 racers, we have covered the little Japanese roadster extensively on our site and you access those stories at this link.

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LeMons

If you are wondering, the 24 Hours of LeMons is an extremely cheap and competitive form of racing that has been taking place for 14 years. The series tag line is: “Racing shouldn’t just be for rich idiots. Racing should be for all idiots.” Teams are required to compete in a car acquired and prepared for no more than U$500. If the organisers deem your car to be more expensive than the price cap you start the race with a negative lap count so pitching up with a pukka race-bred machine is not ideal.

Teams don’t take themselves too seriously and some extremely interesting and humourous machines have been created for the series. Since its inception, the organisers have hosted over 220 races. In 2020 they will host 24 races including one each in Australia and New Zealand.

Making it up

This LeMons racer MX-5 (Miata to our US readers) might not be much to look at but it is one the fastest cars in 24 Hours of LeMons history. The car belongs to Eyesore Racing that has spent years building, breaking, and rebuilding this first generation (NA) Miata. Many of the mods may seem outrageous but the team has perfected the recipe over many races.

Team Eyesore has a great deal of expertise to call on, including several engineers, one of whom works for Mazda. The car has a very cheap turbo that is mounted outside the engine bay. The little blower has more than doubled the power of the original motor to 138 kW. A special cooling system has placed the radiator in the passenger side of the cabin and that massive wing really works.

Learn more about the LeMons racer MX-5 from one of its creators in the video below.