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LMR 100Lumello Margay Racing |
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Dan Lumello
The modern kart reed valve engine (basically anything post McCulloch & West Bend) began with the prototype BM reed valve engine in 1975 that was developed in part by Dan Lumello and George Pollock of APPCO (American Performance Products Company). This new BM reed valve engine, the BM-FCL carried Lake Speed to a second place finish at the Quincy Pro race that year. The performance of that engine caught the attention of IAME and DAP and soon all the major manufacturers were producing reed engines.
Soon after McCulloch announced their withdrawal from karting the need for a new reed valve engine caused a scramble. Initially, the Italians jumped to offer their engines until the sanctioning bodies of IKF and WKA ruled that the new reed engine must be American made. Enter the American made LMR, designed and produced by Dan Lumello and Don Freber of Margay to fill the void left by McCulloch. Unfortunately for the LMR, it was not destined to be the one to fill the void left as another engine had inadvertently slipped in to that spot, the Yamaha KT100S.
The LMR did hang on for a while and scored a number of impressive wins, most notably, a couple Long Beach Grand Prix wins driven by Scott Pruett. Ultimately the engine began to fade away. Compared to the Italian engine manufacturers that had decades of engine building experience, the LMR did not measure up to the quality that racers had come to expect. In some area's the engine was excellent while in others it was poor. Sadly, the manufacturing issues persisted, sales slowed and production was halted.
Soon after McCulloch announced their withdrawal from karting the need for a new reed valve engine caused a scramble. Initially, the Italians jumped to offer their engines until the sanctioning bodies of IKF and WKA ruled that the new reed engine must be American made. Enter the American made LMR, designed and produced by Dan Lumello and Don Freber of Margay to fill the void left by McCulloch. Unfortunately for the LMR, it was not destined to be the one to fill the void left as another engine had inadvertently slipped in to that spot, the Yamaha KT100S.
The LMR did hang on for a while and scored a number of impressive wins, most notably, a couple Long Beach Grand Prix wins driven by Scott Pruett. Ultimately the engine began to fade away. Compared to the Italian engine manufacturers that had decades of engine building experience, the LMR did not measure up to the quality that racers had come to expect. In some area's the engine was excellent while in others it was poor. Sadly, the manufacturing issues persisted, sales slowed and production was halted.
Interesting comments by Dan Lumello
1977 LMR 100 Advertisement
Misc articles on the LMR
