It all started in 1981 when a group of guys from the Sarasota area painted up an old, nearly trashed AMC Gremlin to cruise the grounds during the 12 Hours. Later they upgraded to a Pontiac stretch limo, a Cadillac and then got serious, taking a parade float and turning it into what Labomba Racing crew member Matthew Greenwood calls the ultimate art car.

It was in 1981 they found the Pontiac stretch limousine in a publication called Keels and Wheels -- a shopper magazine for those in the market for used vehicles.

"That was great, it was already painted yellow and had the Bimini top on it and it was just about ready to go. Of course we had to customize it a bit ourselves," he said.

It was in those days of the late 1970s and early 1980s that many of the other wildly painted paddock cars began to appear.

Later the group acquired a Cadillac Seville. Being from the southeast coast it only seemed natural they customize with a nautical flair. So the car was adorned with a bowsprit-- the pole that extends forward from the front of a vessel, an elevated "Tuna Tower" for better viewing of the action and a rumble seat to allow for as many passengers as possible.

Then in 1997 they got hold of an old parade float from the Sarasota Shriners.

"They'd used it for a lot of years but then they just let it sit out in a field for a long time and that's where we came across it," he said

The group purchased the deteriorating vehicle then began to refurbish it. Greenwood said the frame and the floorboards still were solid as were the upright stanchions and roof assembly and the running gear

They did replace the drive train of the float including the engine and the transmission and reworked the front end of the vehicle.

"Originally they had a box on the front where the clowns jumped out an we reworked that," he said.

After one of the group became the auto body repair instructor at the Sarasota Vocational Technical School (Ralph Dody), the rest of the crew actually enrolled in the course to learn the skills to fix it. In fact, the parade float actually became the class project.

It was not an easy task, and Greenwood said it became a process of discovery.

"We're not sure but we think it's built on the frame of a bus," he said.

It now has a 253 cubic inch engine and the group drives it to Sebring from Sarasota.

"It actually is licensed, registered and titled in the state of Florida as a 1996 built-from-parts station wagon," he said.

The registration itself is several yards long, encompassing not only the official documentation but also the group’s correspondence with the state, receipts for materials used in building the vehicle and litany other information.

"You might as well have some fun with it," he said

The group actually drives the car from Sarasota to Sebring. It makes surprisingly good time, able to make the journey in less than three hours. They do take the back roads and don’t break any speed records. Greenwood said one of the most rewarding parts of the journey is the comments they get from other motorists.

"They’re always honking their horns and giving us the thumbs up. It’s a real hoot," he said.

The group is fairly particular as to who is permitted to ride in the vehicle, requiring they be on their best behavior while they’re out cruising. This has become more important in recent years as the track cracks down on the idea of driving about aimlessly during the race.

Over the course of the years there have been lots of art cars. There have been converted luxury sedans like those of the Zoo Crew and Mr. Badwrench. Others have converted golf carts, step vans and other vehicles as their chosen mode of transportation.

Possibly one of the best remembered vehicles was the boat-car called Runaground. Built by F-Troop founder Bobby Armor, it was built on a Jeep chassis with a pleasure boat body.

Over the years, those cars have come and gone, but Labomba racing continues.

More photos at this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/labombaracing/LaBombaRacing12HoursOfSebring2007