The $500 Craigslist Rally Car Contest: Want To Win An XBox?

The story of Bill Caswell's Craigslist-powered WRC adventure struck a chord with a lot of people, and many of you asked how you could help. Here's your chance: Want to win an XBox and a ride in a rally car?

A recap, in case you missed it: Three weeks ago, an unemployed Chicagoan took a $500 Craigslist BMW to a World Rally Championship event in Mexico. He went with no crew, no real tools, a rented cargo van, a co-driver he barely knew, and little more than a dream. After being mobbed by crowds, having his car fall apart, and nearly dying behind the wheel, he finished third in his class, ahead of drivers with six-figure budgets and years of experience.

In the week since we published our story, Caswell's life has exploded. Over 500,000 people have read his tale — it was the most-viewed post in the 25-million-viewer Gawker site network for days — and the media world has beat a path to his door. Offers to Paypal donations — above all, everyone wants Caswell back behind the wheel — have come in from around the globe. Hundreds of you have emailed us asking how to get ahold of Bill and, more important, how to show support.

Here's your chance to help. In the interest of getting Caswell back into a rally car, Jalopnik is partnering with motorsport DVD company Live Sockets Entertainment for a special contest. We want to help Bill. We want to get the underdog back on the world stage. We want you to design him a T-shirt.

Because Caswell doesn't want to take money without offering something in return, he's decided to give away T-shirts in exchange for donations. First, however, he needs something to put on the shirts. Because he isn't an artist, he's asking for your help. The contest is simple: Submit a shirt design. If Bill likes it, you win.

In order to be eligible, your design must include both the Jalopnik logo and the Live Sockets logo, along with a graphic element — a picture, a stylized drawing, a sketch, anything — that represents the BMW E30 3-series. Once you meet those criteria, you're free to make the shirt look however you want. (Hint: Check the galleries in the original story for inspiration. Also, including the phrase "It's going to be awesome" might score you brownie points with Bill.)

Our standard contest rules apply. All designs must be received before 5:00 PM EST on April 14, 2010.

The contest winner will receive a new Microsoft Xbox 360 and a copy of Forza Motorsport 3, both generously donated by the crew at Live Sockets. The XBox will be wrapped in the winning T-shirt design using a special adhesive vinyl. On top of that, if the winner can get themselves to one of a handful of Rally America events in the next twelve months, they'll get to ride in Caswell's rally car, at speed, on an official pre-event shakedown stage. Think about it: A snarling, 200-hp twin-cam four; rear-wheel-drive chaos; helmets and communicator boxes; and all the flying dirt you can stand. To commemorate the experience, you'll be provided with photo documentation and in-car video of your ride.

To enter the contest, email a jpeg of no larger than 1600x1600/1.0 MB to chaosmotorsport at gmail dot com along with your name and contact information. If you want to follow Bill's weirdness on the Internet, check out his YouTube channel. If you want to see him get a factory ride or end up at the X Games or anything else crazy, hit the comments and go nuts.

Good luck!

Photo Credits: Bill Caswell