Updated 9/30/2025.
We made it. We did hit one car (Sorry Ken). And we broke our front suspension, but found new rear struts. But we managed first versus all the rookie teams and 8th in our class (C).
o o o
Race in 24 Hours of Lemons. Yes there will be expected BS Factor about how much was spent on the car. However the goal is zero BS approach to removing the carbon from the race and beyond and also to promote some of the excellent work being done to help us move beyond carbon.
We should be able to make even the silliest activities compatible with planetary well being. Eventually we’ll run a full EV to have a shot at the coveted 1 million nickels for the first 24 Hours of Lemons EV winner!
The team so far.
First up, our recently retired rally car. This 1987 924s has had at least nine ten owners per Carfax, so not really a collectable, but a fine example of recycling. Lots of questionable bits that required carrying around emergency coolant and oil for a while, but more importantly the engine and transmission seem happy enough.
(fake badge, but yeah we’re really the 10th owners)
Second, the people. This started off as a family project, but is quickly expanding to include more people. Shaun & Andrea work on climate-related themes. Andrea works on themes related to climate and contamination like microplastics. Shaun works on climate-themed investing in early stage startups at Third Sphere.
Max & Oli learned to drive stick on their PCs and have worked on various older cars including a 1969 VW Bug, 1975 Porsche 914, 2010 Mini JCW and 2009 BMW 135i.From a few initial conversations, there are a lot of people who want to drive.
And we’re excited to share that we have one real race driver and founder of Thalo, who are helping with emissions measurement too. Brendan Hermalyn has raced and even competed in 24 Hours of Lemons!
Here’s the rough todo list
- Carbon Measurement – thanks to Thalo Labs
- Carbon Removal – thanks to Applied Carbon
- Drivetrain – seems to mostly be holding together.
- Safety – 90% done
- Artwork – 40% done
- Pit Crew – don’t time us
- Food – yes
- Communications – now mostly reminders to Max and Oli over Whatsapp and now with poster boards left in the kitchen
- Food – yes
- Cooling – still add plan C, D and E
- Driving – already overwhelmed so trying to combined with items 1 through 8.
Why are we doing this?
Doing things that are good for the planet, shouldn’t feel like a chore. In fact, they should be a lot more fun. We’ve been told these 2 things are fundamentally at odds. So we’re planning to have a lot of fun prepping and entering Lemons AND we’re planning to remove carbon as we go and promote other folks who are showing how carbon can be outrun. Because we can.
Also 80s cars and video games are awesome and Outrun captures a whole visual and audio style. And so is carbon removal. And so are fully electric trucks and Onewheels. And automated cheap, clean electrons. And And so is learning new stuff. And so are the folks who organize and participate in Lemons. Just telling people about this generates smiles. What’s not to like.
Oh yes. We have great sponsors. Motorsports have been a fantastic platform for merchants of doubt – the most love liveries are usually for oil and tobacco thrown (Golf, Rothmans, John Player Special, Marlboro, Castrol). But there have also been some fantastic work from brands like Apple!
All of our sponsors make the planet better. 2 might help make us faster, one day. Learn more about our sponsors.
Outrun Carbon 