A recent addition to the Toolbox-O-Cruelty™ used by the LeMons Supreme Court is the Trivia Test. We've got a half-dozen tests, written by members of the Court, and miscreants generally get the choice between LeMons trivia and general car trivia.
The rules of the Trivia Test Penalty are simple: answer five questions correctly and you're free to go. Each quiz has 15 questions, and most teams have to slog through all of them before they can get back on the track. The LeMons-specific tests include such questions as "Which of the following vehicles has never flipped over at a LeMons race?" and "How much does $1,500 worth of nickels weigh?" The general trivia tests include some softballs (to provide false hope to the miscreants) and some total ball-busters. Here's one of the easier General Automotive Trivia Penalty Tests for you to try out:
1. The technology inside Toyota's first automatic transmission was licensed from another manufacturer. What was it called?
A. Toyo-Matic (based on Ford Ford-O-Matic)
B. Toyoglide (based on GM Powerglide)
C. Toyo-Rush (based on Simca Rush-Matic)
D. Toyoflow (based on Buick Dynaflow)
E. UltraToyo (based on Packard Ultramatic)
2. Which of the following European cars was the Premier Padmini (built in India from 1969 through 2000) based upon?
A. Fiat 1100
B. Renault 8
C. Morris 1800
D. Skoda 110
E. None of the above
3. The license-built Soviet version of the Ford Model A was called:
A. UAZ-110
B. GAZ-44-19
C. ZIS B1
D. KIM 10-50
E. None of the above
4. In which of the following countries was the Fiat 128 never built?
A. Mexico
B. Egypt
C. Yugoslavia
D. Argentina
E. Spain
5. In what model year was the ill-fated Cadillac V8-6-4 engine introduced?
A. 1979
B. 1980
C. 1981
D. 1982
E. None of the above
6. How many ducks were in the old Cadillac emblem?
A. 2
B. 4
C. 6
D. 8
7. Which of the following 1974 cars had the lowest list price for the United States market?
A. Iso Lele
B. De Tomaso Pantera
C. Jaguar XJ12
D. Maserati Ghibli
8. Which of the following American cars was built in Brazil until 1972?
A. Rambler Rogue
B. Kaiser Henry J
C. Packard Caribbean
D. Willys Aero
E. None of the above
9. Which of the following German cars was built in Mexico until 1970?
A. Borgward Isabella
B. Opel Kadett
C. Lloyd Arabella De Luxe
D. Glas 1304 sedan
E. None of the above
10. Which of the following French cars was built in Argentina until 1990?
A. Renault 5
B. Citroën CX
C. Peugeot 403
D. Simca Chambord
E. None of the above
11. What kind of car did North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh drive around Hanoi during the 1960s?
A. Peugeot 404
B. Citroën Traction-Avant
C. GAZ-21 Volga
D. Hongqi CA770
E. None of the above
12. How many horsepower did the 1958 Studebaker Hawk's supercharged V8 engine put out?
A. 250 horsepower
B. 275 horsepower
C. 289 horsepower
D. 315 horsepower
E. None of the above
13. What French car provided the ancestry for the suspension design of the 2004 Chrysler 300M?
A. Renault 30
B. Renault 25
C. Citroën XM
D. Matra Bagheera
E. You crazy? None of the above! USA! USA! USA!
14. Which of the following cars did mass murderer Timothy McVeigh use as his getaway vehicle from the 1995 Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing?
A. 1991 Geo Storm
B. 1975 Buick Electra
C. 1981 Toyota Tercel
D. 1977 Mercury Marquis
E. None of the above
15. The Chevrolet Corvair was made for the 1960 through 1969 model years. In what year was Ralph Nader's Unsafe At Any Speed, generally blamed for the demise of the Corvair, published?
A. 1960
B. 1962
C. 1964
D. 1965
E. None of the above
Answers below the photograph of one of the unfortunate teams that received the Cultural Revolution Penalty at Thunderhill.
1. B
2. A
3. E (it was designated the GAZ M1)
4. A
5. C
6. C
7. B ($10,295 versus $24,500 for the Iso, $13,000 for the Jaguar, and $19,275 for the Maserati)
8. D
9. A
10. E
11. A
12. B
13. B, via the Eagle Premier and Chrysler's purchase of AMC
14. D
15. D
Speaking of LeMons miscreants, here are some examples of what the justices of the LeMons Supreme Court see over and over, all weekend long. Actually, these dudes are more coherent than most, but you get the idea: