Putting Together a 24 Hours of LeMons team...

It's not what WE think the cars are worth, it's what the judges believe the car is worth. It's all in the documentation. $500 NET COST. You document what you bought the car for, and how much $$ you got for selling off the extra parts. In my situation I have a '67 Barracuda shell that I got for free. I need an engine and maybe a better rear axle, so I go out and buy a 318-equipped parts car for $500, strip the engine, sell the interior plastics and other unneeded parts for $300, then scrap the shell for $200 and I have a FREE engine to go into my free shell.

There are, however, some limitations. A tow truck guy brought a lightly-rolled 2005 BMW Mini Cooper S to the race with documentation that his net cost was below $500. He received over 1000 penalty laps for cheating because he was not "in the spirit" of the race program.

So yeah, we can create a $500 Mopar A Body race car. Put a reliable engine and transmission inside a malaise-era Mopar and you are good to go. Put a reliable engine in a rusted out shell of an early A-body and you are good to go. It's all in the documentation and appearance!