One of the greatest things about the 24 Hours of LeMons is seeing all of the crazy home-built contraptions that show up at each event to do battle on the track.
And at Sonoma Raceway this month, I spotted what must be one of the most radical Honda N600s on the planet.
This 1971 N600 was entered by a group out of Palmdale, California, known as Team Baka. ‘Baka’ if you didn’t know, translates to ‘idiot’ in Japanese; because this is LeMons after all.
Now it needs to be said that there isn’t a whole lot that this thing shares with a stock N600. It’s really just an N600 body dropped over a custom chassis with custom-fabricated suspension and a rear-drive layout.
Power comes not from a Honda engine but from a Suzuki GSX1300R (aka Hayabusa) motorcycle motor that’s pushed well back into the chassis. In fact, it’s almost halfway into the cabin.
And speaking of the cockpit, it’s about as ‘race car’ as it gets, with a single seat wedged into the what was once the N600’s original passenger compartment.
Team Baka also used a Japanese warplane theme over the car’s custom wide-body setup, even going so far as to mount imitation machine guns on the roof and the fenders.
Needless to say, a lot of fabrication and engineering has gone into this build, along with some rather exotic parts. That led many to question the N600’s validity as $500 LeMons racer, and in agreeing with that, the event organizers penalized the team while still allowing them to run laps with the rest of the group.
While it might be over-engineered for a LeMons entry, or a ‘cheater’ as some might call it, I still really enjoyed seeing the car. True LeMon or not, I hope to see Team Baka bring the Honda out to other track days here on the West Coast.
Mike Garrett
Instagram: japanifornia_media
mike@speedhunters.com[
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tried to find a video of this in action but i only found this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzrgEwDXty8
im assuming this is the same car is previous guise?
still a very cool build
Plot twist, those MG's weren't imitations. That car will transform into a Mitsubishi A6M5 fighter... I'll guarantee it.
I'm guessing the team was working on a car and used the spares and leftovers from that build onto this baka honda. But for the $600 budget and that custom fab tells otherwise haha
That's not a Hayabusa motor, sorry Mike, looks more like a GSXR1100, or Bandit 1200 motor, it's the old air/oil cooled lump, not the water cooled type found in the 'Busa.
Cool car but definitely not a $500 build, not fooling anybody by putting a crappy looking body over the top of that chassis!
It's actually a Legends Car powertrain and chassis! The mechanical department at the university I was at had two of them, they're fun little monsters when you can keep they working reliably!
Legends in the UK tend to run the old FJ1200/XJR1200 Yamaha lumps, but the Suzuki makes sense, definitely more go-faster parts available
So are there any actual details about the engine that aren't completely wrong?
Well the one in he car above is definitely a Suzuki air/oil cooled motor, most likely GSXR or Bandit 1200, the shiny aluminium bar by the head is effectively another oil way, it bridges the gap between two oil ways slightly similar to a full flow set-up on an air cooled VW motor, I know these motors very well, have owned many GSXR's and currently have 2 watercooled ones.
pilsbury69 Haha yeah I knew what it was after just seeing the top of the valve cover, I have an old slabby myself, the carbs on this car are easily worth over $500 on their own, so I was curious about any other trick bits that might be hidden, or otherwise not mentioned.
When I asked them about the motor I could have sworn they told me 1300. Must have heard wrong though, and admitiedly I'm no motorcycle expert.
For some reason I never even thought about that, but it makes a lot of sense. And likely would keep costs down as well.
Yeah I must have heard wrong when he was explaining it.
Certainly no reason it wasn't big bored, those motors can run 1500cc with bigger barrels (orient express used to do some tidy kits)
I'll pay $500 for that lol
Baka means stupid in Japanese.
That has to be the ugliest car i've ever seen. Total track toy, no doubt supremely functional, but FUGLY.
Any more of LeMons 24 Hour spotlights coming up? I have to say, this is quite interesting, and inspiring as well
super jesus For a second i thought and hoped it was a SAAB two stroke.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXVRdSbKDT8
atflorio A group of people I work with entered an '85 Chevette with a 2.0 Subaru in the BACK. Some really wild stuff at LeMons.
atflorio Sorry, '79 Chevette with a 2.2 Subie: http://www.roadkill.com/lemons-new-hampshire-citation-wins-twice-240sx-isnt-terrible/ about half way down, Silver #21
Myself and a group of my friends are building a 73 cornet for lemons
Yeah that's definitely an INEX Legends car chassis and engine. Yamaha 1200 or 1250.
Rü$╫ interchangable. doesnt really matter.
Similar idea to Hightower's Civic
(That's a Police Academy reference, deal with it.)
the car was very good
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