In Part One of The Great Beater Challenge 2017 I introduced you to my ride. In this installment we will take a look at the other twenty two teams that are also participating. Participation went from eight to twenty three with all eight teams from last year returning. The range of themes and vehicles was amazing.
Team: Rice Pudding – 1984 Toyota Celica Supra. Straight six power with a five speed manual gearbox this had to be one of the most performance oriented choices. The snowboard wing and stickers are a nice touch. The bear on the hood is a trophy from last year (they had the Toyota van).
Team: S.M.R.T. – 1993 Subaru Loyale station wagon. This seems like a perfect choice for the gravel roads this year. This one was in surprisingly good condition.
Team: Grandma’s Locked in the Trunk – 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis. One half of the team with the Top Gear themed Volkswagen from last year came up with a 80s and 90s themed Mercury.
Team: Pro Dart – 1969 GMC 910. This pickup truck looked fantastically original. The Challenge’s Facebook page showed this truck undergoing an engine swap but the team must have got it buttoned up in time.
Team : Tyrannosaurus Wreck – 1992 Ford Explorer. This Explorer went for a full Jurassic Park theme. Fantastic!
Team: Svensky & Hutchensson – 1987 Saab 900. This Saab was pulled from a field a few years ago and now sports a Starsky and Hutch theme.
The Minilite style rims are certainly attractive.
Team: Einfahrt Notfahrt – Ford Mustang. This team was supposed to run a Volkswagen Rabbit diesel with a home brew turbo but transmission concerns lead them to run this Ford Mustang that had been previously pulled from a junkyard.
Team: Pontiwreck – 1963 Pontiac Laurentian. Going by the name Mad Mennos this team finished first last year with a field fresh 1959 Rambler. This year they arrived with a Canadian market Poncho and wearing “Daisy Duke” costumes including short shorts.
Team: Kystal-Beth – 1982 Pontiac Trans Am. A 305cid V8 powered F-body.
Team: Bongoes – 1993 Mazda Bongo. This Japanse market Mazda Bongo is not a Kei class vehicle truck but a bit bigger.
Team: Wild Thing – 1987 Suzota Siderunner – The other half of last year’s Top Gear Volkswagen team brought this Suzuki Sidekick with Toyota 4Runner running gear. Over the allowed budget but along for the fun anyway.
Team: Campbell Racing – Dodge Aries. This one was identified on the list of participant’s sheet as a 1982 but it is clearly a later example crucially with fuel injection. I have owned two K-cars and the fuel injection seems to double the available power as well as give much better drivability.
Team: The Van Lyons Rally Team – 2002 Chevrolet Express. This van was decorated as a homage to the Calgary Flames hockey team. This husband and wife team drove a race car themed Monte Carlo last year.
Team: Banana Boat – 1992 Pontiac LeMans. This was the organizer’s car. They dressed in banana costumes and braved an automatic equipped Daewoo in Pontiac LeMans clothing. Hopefully it proves to be less leaky than the Mazda B2200 he campaigned last year.
Team: Burbzilla – 1989 Chevrolet Suburban. Obviously not looking to minimize fuel costs this Suburban squeaked into the 80s category.
Team C.H.I.C…A. – 1989 Honda Civic Si. They ran a Subaru last year but these returning veterans opted for a high mileage Civic this time around. Lots of thoughtful little custom touches on this one.
This photo just about sums up the beater rally. Two guys in banana suits judging a high mileage Civic with an apt sticker on it.
Team: SS Arthritis – 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis LS. An old person’s dream car.
The walker on the back is a nice touch. They did have free candy inside. Appropriately old person candy.
Team: Not Fast Not Furious – 1995 Honda Civic CX. Peeling clear coat included.
Team: Hot Fuzz – 1994 Honda Civic. My friend Rod’s hatchback makes a return from last year’s challenge. At the front 15″ Volkswagen Golf alloy wheels and 14″ aftermarket mesh wheels on the rear. It was also missing the rear bumper.
Team: Mater – 1956 Mercury 3/4 ton pickup truck. One of three farm fresh elderly pickup trucks. They traveled 700kms all the way from Cold Lake (I believe) before even starting the challenge. This one has to be the best looking vehicle here but not likely to be a comfortable or fast ride.
This Canadian market Fargo pickup was another well traveled farm truck.
The last of the farm trucks was this 60s era Chevrolet loaded with patina.
The budget likely did not allow for tail light lens replacement but this Tuck tape fix was certainly economical as well as functional.
After judging and a quick driver’s meeting lead by the top banana we were off. Tune in next time for an account of day one.
The whole series:
Vehicle Selection and Preparation
Day One Part One: Tarmac, Gravel, Tarmac and more Gravel
Day One Part Two: Out into the Prairie
Day Two Part One: Dinosaur Hunting
Day Two Part Two – Bridges, Pipes and Star Trek
This is absolutely wild! I have one car which, unfortunately, would fit right in here.
Oh man I’m nearly in tears of laughing: those names! I really enjoy the fact that people can have so much fun with these junkyards on wheels. I mean, Concours d’Elegances are fine, but these gatherings are where the real fun happens.
Many of these are in amazing condition for the price! For laughs, the Jurassic Park Explorer is definitely tops on my list. Minor correction (perhaps): the Express/Savana is a 03 or newer, unless they swapped the entire front clip.
I swear, I’m going to do this next year. I just went to Craigslist, I was curious what you can get for under $700. Oh my, lovely stuff! A first gen Ford Probe, Olds Cieras, Chevy Corsicas, Mercury Villagers, hapless Saturns and best of all, a Chevy Citation, oh my!
Of course many need mechanical work (usually brakes), but many are turn-key. Just nobody wants them.
I saw the Citation too. It is tempting.
But this $500 Corolla is already customized.
My favorite is the Jurassic Park explorer!
Never mind the rally.. I’d drive it every day!
I am amazed at the amount of 60s stuff. Boy, those pre-1973 pickups should be good for driver discomfort points – do they award those?
Can’t wait for the next installment!
Of them I would say the ’69 GMC would be the smoothest riding, with the Chevrolet and Fargo would be next and the ’56 Mercury a real kidney buster.
Bring some pillows. You won’t be sorry!
I drove a 64 Dodge D-100 shortbed across the US and back. Perfectly comfortable and easy driving and reliable.
The 3.23 helped with highway speeds.
I’m loving this and envious that you can find such good looking $700 cars ! .
-Nate
Wow, I am loving that 63 Pontiac and the Fargo pickup. Amazing that those are
$700 vehicles…
Just checked Kijiji, in Ontario you can buy exactly nothing for that kind of money that is complete and running.
Ya, you gotta live on the West Coast. Cars have an easier life here.
A couple of these look a little suspicious for 700 bucks, if this was a claim race I’d take the ’69 GMC for 700! A full set of those hubcaps is worth half that.
I’m looking forward to hearing what the route was this year. Lots of challenging terrain near Lethbridge.
I did find quite a few on Kijiji here in Ontario, but they’re all closer to $500-700, and whilst there’s a few that I would hypothetically think of using, none that are very interesting, at least not to the level of the Bongo or the Supra.
Safety items are technically except from the budget. So tires and brakes. So one could buy a car that is otherwise somewhat ok for $700 but needing brakes and tires and still be in on budget. I like to stay well under all in myself.
This is like a super-chill version of the 24 Hours of Lemons.
Those VW wheels on the front of the Civic look like 14″ ones that first appeared here on the 1983 GTI.
Love the cars. Especially the Supra and the Firebird. Those F-bodies were EVERYWHERE 30 years ago, but I can’t recall the last time I saw one.
Team Rice Pudding went from a Toyota Van to a Toyota Supra? They should have gone with an Inspector Gadget theme then. 🙂
The Fargo is…a 65? I spent many years in a 64 Dodge in the same “park ranger green”.
Also does “appropriately old person candy” means a trunk full of ribbon candy and “fruit” slices, stuck together in one mass?
I’m thinking anise candy. Popular with old folks but I remember it being pretty nasty as a kid raiding my Great Grandmother’s candy jar.
My late mother-in-law would always make some anise flavored cookies at Christmas. They smelled disgusting and tasted even worse, at least to me. She claimed that she liked them but I never saw her take more one bite out of one; I’m thinking it was one of those things she associated with her grandmother and made them out of respect for tradition.
As an official old person I have to say that my favorite candy is peanut M&M’s, although anything with chocolate will at least get a look.
A conspiracy of grandmas! And yet I like cooking with fennel or baking with a bit of abuse now.
Cool, a genuine Junior Forest Rangers Truck!
Is this a claiming race? For $700 I love that Supra!
It was up for sale for $600 after the challenge. Heck of a deal for someone.
700 bucks for that 69 GMC???? Yeah, right!!!
I’ll be extremely surprised if the Saab gets past the first day!!
My bet is on the Saab being towed across a finish line by that Mercury truck.
However, Svensky & Hutchensson and the SS Arthritis win my award for best humor!
While we’re making bets on things, how far will Team Wild Thing get before being stopped by the cops and ticketed for all the foilage in front of the windshield, and/or being made to remove it?
He removed the foilage before setting off.
I Love That 1969 GMC PickUp.Simple,Reliable&Honest.Great Vehicles That Can Make Them Last For Ever.Still Plenty Of These 60sChevy Trucks On Road Here.
A very entertaining read, and I’m certain it’d be great fun to participate. Some of them sound like great deals at $700, but who knows?
For the curious, here’s what Craigslist/Edmonton has under $700 (Canadian) at the moment, including a 1999 Honda that—no surprise—needs brake work: https://edmonton.craigslist.ca/search/cto?max_price=700
Do any of you remember the comic Shoe? There was a series where a character lived in an early Corvair in a junkyard with a wood stove in it. I could see running this with an early ‘Vair in great mechanical condition with a lot of patina (and a wood stove) running this! How cool!
Loving the Mercury and Fargo pickups. I’d certainly give more than $700 Canadian for either of those and that Surpra.
That gorgeous ’84 Supra is a highly sought after valuable classic. The ’92 Daewoo Pontiac Lemans is a pretty cool little car. They were the best built and most reliable Pontiac LeMans’ ever made. I love the old ’89 and’95 Civic. Those cars are virtually indestructible and look awesome. And the ’93 Subaru wagon is like a mini armored truck. Those things were built!
“They were the best built and most reliable Pontiac LeMans’ ever made”
Please tell me that you meant to end that sentence with “by Daewoo”
This is depressing. I have examples of two of those cars in my personal fleet, (84 Supra and 93 Mercury) . My standards are pretty low as I consider them to be at least one notch above scrap/beater material.
Cheap cars are obviously better in Alberta.
That ’69 GMC is a beauty. If I could find one like that for under $700 I’d be on it like white on rice.
Dungas are us, quite a variedcollection
I doubt if there’s ever been a better marque for durable trucks than Far-Go.
That is a very nice white Supra. I was at a local car meet last summer that had the usual row after row of old 60s, 70’s muscle cars and corvettes, and on one row there was a bright red 80s Supra in pristine condition that practically everyone at the show was crowding around admiring. i hope the owner of the lovely white 84 Supra knows what a special car he’s driving.
$700 for a 2003 van? I call shenanigans. I could drive that here and triple my money in a day.
$700 Canadian is $575.78 USD – now go to Craigslist and find anything running for that!