RIP, Farrah. Forget Charlie’s Angels.
It was Cannonball Run that made me fall in love with you as a kid.
I’ll never forget you.
Archive for the 'Cannonball Run' Category
Why does Rendezvous continue to inspire generations of new drivers? Would the white wash trick in Cannonball Run II really fool police? What lessons can be learned from watching LeMans? Come find out the answers to these questions and other mysteries of the universe as Alex Roy hosts Mystery Polizei Theater 3000 on Friday night at Watkins Glen. Stop by our Mobile Polizei HQ booth at the race for viewing times and how to get your preferred seating tickets. There may even be some sneak peak…er…never before seen footage of a certain film about driving cross-country…really quickly. So come join us in the peanut gallery at one of the most anticipated non-race events of the year.
Le Mans. Dakar. The Tour De France. The Cannonball Run?
According to Time, yes, and they ranked it among the top ten endurance competitions, and in a flattering and surreal move, they used my picture instead of one of the man who really deserves it: Brock Yates.
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Thanks, Mr. G.
Some things are above politics, so there’s no point asking how this interview came to pass. The G. Gordon Liddy is a car and a bike guy, as in Lingenfelter-modified Corvette and Harley-Davidson. Full on. And he loves cross-country racing. The bad kind. And he loved “The Driver“. FYI, I’m shocked at how few of my friends under 30 know of G. Gordon Liddy’s historic significance. If you’re too lazy to read the aforelinked, buy some old issues of Soldier of Fortune and you might see some of his older work. If that whets your appetite, there was this little historical event.
Most importantly, he had a cameo appearance on Airwolf.
Enough background…my host – a man with great taste in haircuts – was kind enough to have me on his Radio America show. The topic? Let’s just say it involved driving. Here’s the audio clip. My interview starts around 28:00 and change…
Around 10pm tonight, in a stunt to promote BioWillie diesel, two ad copywriters from Atlanta will attempt to drive a Jetta TDI from NY to LA, without fuel stops, in less than 36 hours, or 40 hours, depending on which website you go to. You have to admire the cause but one can’t help but point out their lack of research. They claim the record is 35:54, which was set by Brock Yates and Dan Gurney in 1971. I think we’re all aware that the record is 32:07.
Continue reading ‘NY-LA In 36 Hours, Wait, 40 Hours, Using BioWillie Diesel’
Jack May and Rick Cline won the 1975 Cannonball Run, beating the Brock Yates/Dan Gurney record in a Ferrari Dino. In this article he wrote for Car Collector, he waxed philosophically about his reasons and motives for making the run. A particularly funny part of the write up involves getting nabbed in Ohio by a cop…who seems more interested in the Ferrari than anything else.
From storm chasers, to "shambulances" and contaminated NASA engineers, the list of ploys to escape conviction never ceases to amaze, not just for their comedic benefits but also for their ability to work. Read about US Express winner David Morse’s tactics in the comments section beneath the story.
“This is designed to be the best software to defeat that 32:07 record that now stands.” Isn’t the record 31:04? In this video Mark Nicholson of EyePatch Films, introduces a software package that integrates essentially all the systems that were used in 144A, with some new additions, in an attempt to break the Roy/Maher NY-LA record by using a ’07 BMW Z4 M Coupe. We’re not sure it’s particularly wise to announce that you’re going to break the record lest you want to invite surveillance by numerous law enforcement agencies. We’re waiting for the record-breaking announcement and the data and the toll receipts and the witnesses, etc.. BTW, Alex doesn’t believe any of this is real.
Source: Thanks to Troy K. for the tip!
Want to break the 31:04 cross country record? You’ll need an hour to watch this – my recent talk @ Google’s New York HQ, where for the first time in public I discuss and display Team Polizei’s heretofore totally secret 2-year plan for assaulting the 1983 32 hour 7 minute record. If you’ve been waiting to see our Herculean Google Earth map analysis of speed traps and the electronic countermeasure suite described in "The Driver", you might even love this as much as my new friends at the Food & Beverage Institute down in Quantico, Virginia…where I gave a private talk about details that still haven’t seen the light of day. (Never heard of the Institute? HINT: They love cars. And tech.)
Watch my FULL ONE HOUR Google talk AND check out the most shocking Polizei M5 sighting of all time…after the jump:
Balls. "Cannon Ball" Baker had them for the simple reason that he set so many of his early records on a motorcycle. The man pictured here, George Egloff, had them, too. He did one Cannonball and four U.S. Express runs on a motorcycle, four of those five races he did solo. And for him, they were mere warm-ups compared to his other feats of endurance. Click here for the full story and video clips.
