Jalopnik: Honda CRX

The Grille Of Damocles Awaits LeMons Tailgaters

Murilee Martin — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:15:00 EDT

If you're one of those drivers who likes to bump other cars at the 24 Hours of LeMons- hey, those slow bastids are in your way, right?- you might well find the Grille Of Damocles menacing your radiator. The much-feared Grille is a Volvo unit fitted with long rods, attached to your front bumper in such a way as to guarantee a ventilated radiator in the event of even minor contact with the bumper of the car in front of you. While the Honda CRX is generally considered too fragile to throw its weight around a LeMons track (and also small and nimble enough to squeeze past the sluggards), Team Go Green managed to "win" this special award today. Jump away to see more of UDMan's photos.

Proof That No Car Is Immortal, The Eyesore Pimpin CRX Heads To The Crusher

Murilee Martin — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Just finishing a single 24 Hours of LeMons race can mean a one-way trip to The Crusher after the race is over, as was the case with the Team Come From Behind Probe. After all, a couple days of metal-crunching, rod-throwin' action tend to be rough on a sub-$500 car. That's what makes the glorious career of the Eyesore Racing CRX so great; Soichiro's little 2-seater not only finished three races, it placed 7th at the October '07 Altamont race, 7th again at the December '07 Thunderhill event, and took the coveted People's Choice award (along with a respectable 18th-place ranking) at the May '08 Altamont race. However, even a Honda can't live forever, and team member Wrappedinbacon sends us this photo of Eyesore Pimpin's dearly departed race car. Jump to read his description and see the entire Eyesore CRX Greatest Hits gallery.

I saw the post about the rotting Come From Behind Racing Probe and wanted to share the sole picture I have of our team's car awaiting the crusher.

Though I'm pretty sure that the yard didn't know what to do with a 1972 Lincoln MKCRXXX, they did take the liberty of destroying the only decent part of the car that we left on it; the windshield. Altamont 2008 was the Eyesore Racing CRX's 4th and final race. Too many nasty collisions left the frame rails too bent to repair, though a blown carburetor gasket that spewed engine coolant into every part of the engine (resulting in lots of steam from the air cleaners and crank case vent) is what ultimately led to the overheated death of our proud team mate.
The head gasket was fine... until we ripped it out for replacement in the last hour because we thought that it might be the problem. There is a coolant line that runs into the carb on those EW1 Honda engines (none of us know anything about carburetors, so this was all voodoo to us) and some gasket or line inside the carb body sprung a leak and followed the air into the engine.

Could we have fixed it? Maybe. But that would have taken a lot of work that should be put into our new car. A single tear falls from my eye... the memories! (fist shaking in the air)

Covered Wagon CRX, The Solution To San Francisco Housing Costs

Murilee Martin — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Some folks are satisfied with making a Honda Civicamino to haul motorcycles and leaving it at that, but others look at a fuel-sipping Honda and see a house! Here's a CRX with a nice hardwood camper shell (complete with with porthole-style windows) built in, which San Francisco-based reader Rob photographed for us. We're guessing the fuel economy took a hit, but it probably still manages to get 30+ MPG. Make the jump to see another photo and read Rob's description.

This was found in the Western Addtion, on Lyon I think it was. Looked like they used old bowling lane or basketball court wood flooring for the majority of the constuction. It was covered in a layer of thin fiberglass in an effort to water proof it....??? I took 2 fotos at different times of day. I particularly liked the little wagon doors in the rear with small round windows!

Hybrid Honda CR-Z Gets Green Light

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 22 May 2008 10:20:00 EDT

After yesterday's announcement of the Hybrid Honda Fit and continuation of the Civic Hybrid, Honda has announced it will be building a hybrid version of the radical CRX inspired Honda CR-Z Concept. The hybrid will be slotted under the FCX-inspired five door and deliver sports car fun with a hybrid badge. We don't really care about the marketing, but we're just excited by the idea of compact, tossable high fuel mileage hot hatch. [Carscoop]

Here's Why Yesterday's Fatal LeMons Crash Is So Hard To Believe

Murilee Martin — Sun, 11 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT

Something that really jumped out at everyone upon arrival in the Altamont pits yesterday morning was the incredible themes some- in fact, most- teams applied to their cars and costumes. Your typical art-car gathering -with its plastic army men glued to 80s GM G-bodies- would be put to shame by the decor on the race cars and drivers that we saw assembled at this race. Even previous LeMons events couldn't compare. How could anything bad happen at such a gathering? Sure, such a sentiment doesn't have very solid logic behind it- yes, racing can be dangerous- but when you see teams with themes as elaborate as the Eyesore Pimps (formerly known as Eyesore Racing), the tendency is to feel that the risk doesn't apply. All of us are going to show up at the track today and try to regain some of the sense of absurdity that we know and love about this event; will keep you posted.