"Thanks to the extensive safety gear NASA requires, Ron walked away from the crash."

Ditto to why LeMons, ChumpCar, and other low-budget racing series require all the safety equipment too. Whether one is racing a $250,000 car, a $25,000 car, or a $250 car, it's still racing, with all its inherent dangers thereof.
"Many of which would probably buy anything that comes off the assembly line as long as the name Chevrolet is stamped on it."

Amazing what the malaise era plus decades of complacency would do to your customer base ...

As for the road test ... I amazed the front tires didn't pop a bead when cornering!
Two is always better than one, right?
@tiddo: They're out there. Different parts of the country has different aspects to what a vehicle is worth. For example ...

- A convertible is worth more money in SoCal than it is in Seattle.
- A big pickup truck is worth more in Texas than it is in New York City.
- An electric car is worthless if the nearest town is 100 miles away.

Nevermind that parts sold off the said car is deducted off the sales price. Also, if the car was wrecked or airbags are missing, the cost goes way down too.
@CJinSD: Part of the deal for the winner of the Wartburg is that they get free rein at LeMons if they race it.

[jalopnik.com]

The buildup:
[wartburg.misfittoysracing.com]
@K5ING: Bashing? It's Lemons, not a demo derby or banger racing. Yes, the very early races had their share of bumps and bruises, but the rules have gotten stricter since. Body contact is an offense now that can toss a team out of the race.
@Demon-Xanth: If LeMons was dictated by Jalopnik, then perhaps.

But it's not.

Of course, the organizers could always make it a spectacle of a $35k NPOCP Ferrari ... by claiming it for $500.
I take it the Fiat is the #1 IOE contender?

I don't see anything else that's against all odds. I mean, if the Wartburg was still rocking the 2-stroke, then yeah. But instead, it's rocking a powertrain from Japan and West Germany ... and that makes it more Frankenstein (in a positive way) material, not IOE material.
@gman1023: I would've figured that in such a case, the grill would've been sold off too.

That said, if it had as messy of a title as the Paraguayan S600, that could be the reason for the bargain basement price too.
@Jim Hubert: I've seen quite a few BMW V12 at the wrecking yards, so to say that it's more than a grand isn't true. Around here, they can be had for $200; less on 1/2 price days, engine sale days, etc.

Also keep in mind that in LeMons, you can sell parts off the said car for more spending money. So $1000 car - $950 in sold parts = $50 car.
So Honda - please tell me again why one should choose a CRZ instead of an equally economical and nimble Fit that manages to be a lot more practical and cheaper?

Yeah, it's nice that Honda is offering something different ... but then, the bucktooth grill on an Acura, the big ass on the Crosstour, and the disjointed C-pillar on the Odyssey are all different too. In a bad way.
@joeisuzu: Meh. Despite the look or the name, Daewoos are just appliance cars.

FWIW, going back several years, Ecology (a regional self-serve junkyard chain) in Fontucky had a fleet of brand new Daewoos, still under plastic wrap. Keep in mind that $150 is about all that they pay for any vehicle. That's how worthless they are.
Surely there had to have been some electrical issues ... If not, then something is really wrong with that VW.
@ChiefPontiaxe is now also Chief VolvoWagonAxe: Around here in SoCal, some In-N-Outs have the windows on the right hand side.
@BullittFan_Førds4Life: Reløaded: 'Amigo', my friend. That was the word you were looking for.
It's a Buick ... where's the standard fake woodgrain?! Or to make it more modern, fake carbon fiber? That's appealing to the sub-30 crowd, right? (FWIW, I would've loved if my current Buick whale wagon came with the WB4 delete option, but at the time, $8-10k was out of the question.)
@pj134: With the Dollar/Euro exchange rate being what it was, GM didn't want to advertise it. Essentially, the more they sold, the more money they'd lose.
Ironic? Of course, and the fact is that if you can't align a sign, then why should one trust you to align a car? It's akin to advertising that you do mobile car detailing ... and your vehicle is a faded and scratched up minivan. Or advertising paintless dent repair ... on a dented up pickup.