On a recent episode of The Chrysler Files, customers who purchased Chrysler vehicles that were later officially certified as lemons were being reimbursed by the company with checks... that bounced. The snafu stemmed from the fact that while said claims were made before Chrysler's bankruptcy, after the automaker's Chapter 11 filing, the judge had to clear the funds to be paid from Chrysler's account. Since the judge hadn't cleared the funds, the checks were worth precisely zero dollars.

Those owners will be happy to know that the judge has finally approved Fiat and Chyrsler honoring "all warranty and lemon law obligations" for cars purchased up to five years before April 30. With the ruling, those affected will also be eligible for additional costs and attorney's fees. Of course, that news still doesn't detail when you stranded motorists can expect a check to arrive -- or when they can cash the ones they already have -- but help is on the way.

[Source: Automotive News, sub req'd]

The drive from Autoblog's South Bay outpost to Reno-Fernley raceway gave Justice Lieberman and I some time to wax poetic on the 24 Hours of LeMons. Peppered between discussions about the race, the field of competitors and the finer points of officiating the world's fastest growing motorsport (we're pretty sure), I asked the question: what cars are going to dominate LeMons 20 years from now? Some were obvious, so were absurd and others were dismissed out of hand.

So when we got back, I listed off the most credible contenders that came up during our discussion. In order to be qualified for the list, the vehicle had to meet certain criteria. First, it has to be on sale today and available in sufficient numbers. That means niche vehicles are generally out. Secondly, it can't be one of the front-runners currently dominating LeMons, so the BMW 3 Series, Mazda MX-5 and Civic aren't included on the list, although they'll undoubtedly have a presence during the 2029 LeMons season. Third, they had to have some amount of aftermarket support, so replacements and performance parts could be had in the junkyards of tomorrow. What'd we come up with? Click below to start the list.

Monaco. Indy. Reno. Sure, the first two have fancy TV coverage and all kinds of history working in their favor this weekend, but Reno has LeMons, hilarious cars, and Damon on the ground covering the events as they happen via Twitter. He's posting photos and video with his updates, which you can (and should) follow at http://www.twitter.com/autobloglemons.

Special thanks go out to Autoblog reader Dat Nguyen, who headed to Reno specifically because we saw that we were there. Dat caught up with Damon and then cemented his status in the Autoblog Reader Hall of Fame by taking some great photos for us, a sampling of which you can look at in the gallery below. He's got even more posted up at his Flickr account, which you should absolutely check out as well. So, big ups to Dat, and to Damon for tweeting away feverishly to keep us appraised of the ongoing wheeled mayhem. Watch for more updates from Damon today after he gets up and addresses some issues we're sure he'll be dealing with before the festivities in Reno get back underway.

If you missed Damon's Day 1 summary, check it out here.




Photos copyright ©2009 Dat Nguyen, used with permission.

We've finally wrapped up our "inspection" and "judging" of the LeMons Reno "racers," and as suspected, there's a motley assortment of cars, contenders and bribes. The adjudication duties have been two parts entertaining and one part grueling, covered with a nice helping of faux outrage, bad attitudes and judicial entitlement.

We can see a thunderstorm brewing a few miles away and we've taken shelter (and alcohol) in one of the team's RVs before heading back to the hotel for a desperately needed shower and a full night's rest. But before we enjoy some barbeque and promptly pass out, we ran through the pits to snap some shots of the assorted vehicles that make up this year's race at Reno-Fernley. Check 'em out in the gallery below and if you haven't done so yet, subscribe (or just read) our Twitter feed live from the paddock. Look for more LeMons madness tomorrow.

Couldn't make it to LeMons at Reno this weekend? No worries. Damon's there, posting updates and photos on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/autobloglemons. He's there with the dynamic duo of Jonny Lieberman and Murilee Martin. So far, Damon tells us that Jonny's managed not to do anything that would get himself arrested, but he reportedly did insult an interview crew from Good Morning America. The teams are working hard to bribe the judges, and we must admit that we're fond of the CRXterossa. The fun's just beginning, so follow autobloglemons on Twitter to get Damon's take on the debauchery that's certain to ensue.

And while you're at it, dont forget to follow Autoblog on Twitter, too: http://www.twitter.com/therealautoblog.

The "24 Hours of LeMons" is an event comprised of low-budget $500 race cars, i.e. lemons. The so-called "crap-car enduro" has enticed various members of the Autoblog team over the years into covering, and more recently participating, in the event. When asked to join Team Tinkerbell Rosso for an upcoming race, we knew it was time to take up the cause again and now find ourselves booked for the "Thunderhill Arse-Freeze-Apalooza." The event, scheduled during the last few days of December, promises dreadfully cold weather but plenty of offbeat racing fun. Our six-part weekly series takes you behind the scenes with our new race partners, the Tinkerbell Rosso racing team and their 1996 Crown Victoria "Police Interceptor."

Our earlier posts (Part I - The donor vehicle, Part II - The teardown, Part III - The build and Part IV - Panic in the final stretch) introduced you to our car and tracked the build progress as we readied for the race. Last weekend, we raced our beloved Crown Victoria to a top-10 finish! Read all of the madness after the jump.

Photos Copyright ©2008 Michael Harley / Weblogs, Inc.

Imagine this: text-message updates on your favorite LeMons teams that includes their last lap time and overall position. Or real-time telemetry data streaming online. How about pictures and analysis, straight from the track and beamed down through the tubes right into your home? Fantasy? Hardly. When you get hundreds of die-hard DIY types together for a weekend of wheel-to-wheel racing, anything's possible. Unless, of course, the one necessary component – a stable internet connection – is missing from the equation. And so concludes our overall coverage of the 2008 24 Hours of LeMons at Thunderhill. After battling wonky wifi and sketchy EVDO connections, we bailed on the race late last night so we could give you a brief snippet of the action outside of Willows.

The LeMon's season-ender has all the ingredients for another epic crap-can battle royale, including the utterly fantastic ghetto-charged Miata, a Griswold-inspired Pinto, a fiberglass-bodied 240, a flipped Yugo, a superbike-powered Metro, a rod-knocking Escort (that puked all of its oil onto a half-mile stretch of the track) and our Altamont-running RX-7 that returned from the dead. Everything you'd want in a LeMons race was present and accounted for, and in these tumultuous times, it was a breath of fresh (well, diff-oil scented) air to see true gearheads doing what they love in an environment that's part LeMans and part Burning Man. If you ever need a brief respite to reinvigorate your faith in the bond between man and machine, LeMons is where it's at. And the 2009 season is already scheduled. If you can't compete, at least attend. You won't be disappointed, even if "the tubes" could use a thorough snaking.

Check back tonight for a list of the top-ten finishers and keep an eye out later this week for a first-hand account of the Tinkerbell Rosso team's campaign. In the meantime, enjoy our gallery of Saturday coverage below.

UPDATE: And the winner is... the Metro Gnome CBR900RR-powered Metro!

Our official coverage of the 24 Hours of LeMons Arse-Freeze-Apalooza at Thunderhill has started, but we couldn't wait to show you what could be the absolute coolest bit of low-cost technology that will be showcased at the event: the hillbilly wing. This stunning bit of kit will be vying for the coveted "Most Dangerous Banned F1 Technology" trophy, and we think they're a shoe-in. Actuated by a bowling ball, the hillbilly wing is made from an abandoned ironing board, some electrical conduit and a bit of rope. Genius. Now, how long will it last?

The Faster Farms Chickens' 1966-7 Plymouth Belvedere was made to resemble the car used in the Foster Imposters skits, and they have done a pretty good job emulating their target. When Foster Farms found out about the car, they issued a press release detailing the effort -- something that warms our cockles in our ridiculously litigious society. See the PR and the video after the break.

[Source: Jalopnik]

With less than 30 minutes of racing complete, the first penalty was dolled out to the #43 BMW 325i after a bit of off-track farming. A spin of the Wheel of Misfortune delivered the Auld Lang Syne penalty, which involves a pair of adult diapers, a sash and commitment to be a better competitor in the New Year. Black flags are flying all around, so expect more tails from the pits to follow throughout the day.

Over 100 racers have taken to the track for the 2008 24 Hours of LeMons at Thunderhill, and the field of competitors is as disturbing as it is vast, with every marque, drivetrain and criminally indecent act of automobiledom represented in spades.

The green flag dropped about two minutes ago and we're already at a loss to describe the vast expanse of potential carnage ahead. We're in the process of picking out our favorites, and after meeting up with the esteemed Mr. Lieberman, we learned that a new cheater class (four cars that amassed between 700 and 2,100 penalty laps each) has been established to separate the lightly-veiled racers from the usual assortment of crap can conveyances.

Naturally, as we're typing the green flag has gone back to yellow after an off-track excursion at turn five. Let the attrition begin...