Time and again, people have asked me, “What is the Cannonball Run, is it like Gumball?” To which I normally have to bite my lip and give the discomforting answer of, “Haven’t you seen the movie with Burt Reynolds?”
Okay forget the campy, slapstick movies of the 1970s and 1980s. Burt Reynolds was never much of a box office golden ticket anyway and well Jill and Marcy, the beautiful girls in the Lamborghini Countach, were way too good to be true. The real founder of the Cannonball was 51-year old Erwin ‘Cannonball’ Baker back in 1933. He set an American coast-to-coast solo drive record of 53.5 hours which meant an average speed of 80km/h from New York to Los Angeles.
In 1971 and in honour of this feat Brock Yates, editor of Car and Driver, launched the illegal cross-continent road race known as the Cannonball Run. Now, in 2007, 36 years after Yates’ first legendary run and after a 28-year hiatus, the Cannonball finally returned to its American origins and Bespoke was at the start line with only one aim in mind, victory! The rules were simple: make it from either New York or Miami to Los Angeles in the shortest time possible without landing into too much trouble with the hardy fellows at 911.
Unfortunately victory in today’s litigious and law-enforced United States could not go to whoever was the fastest. This was part and parcel of legalising the rally. You see in order for the organizer, Tim Porter, to persuade local mayors and sheriffs not to arrest every Cannonballer in sight, it was necessary to show that the race was not promoting illegal speeding. Inasmuch the winner would be the team that averaged 61 mph (98km/h) across the entire distance. But in reality, of course, Cannonball without the speeding is like tennis without the balls.
So then what is Cannonball? I’d say that it is a banding together of likeminded petrol-heads who are hell-bent on beating the law and having as much fun as possible doing it. Bikers have the Hells Angels, motorists have Cannonballers. Modern day common Joe Schmoe heroes, free spirited and iconic, resolute in their brotherhood and loyal to the cause. I can tell you that the joy and excitement that surfaces in you when you duel with another Cannonballer on public roads patrolled by obsessive cops is second to none.
And were there any modern day legends? Each Cannonballer was a character in this bizarre mêlée, and the rich diversity only added to the appeal of the run. Most cars had police radars, some had jammers and others were even painted to resemble cop cars with flashing lights, CB radios and all. But the most memorable were the Lamborghini team arrested on the spot by police for going at 290km/h (180mph), which according to Fox News that night was the fastest speeding ticket in US history. Then there were the Texans in the tweaked M5 who managed to outgun the police at 315 km/h (195mph) and make it across State lines before backing off. There were the English rowdies who delimited their rented Mustang convertibles and pretty much drove the wheels off those cars. There were the Belgian gentlemen who unhurriedly trundled along in the comfort of their Range Rover Sport. And, of course, there were the two Bespoke cars, one a works team and the other the independent.
We, the works team, drove a brand new Corvette C6 convertible with the two drivers being myself and Mahmoud Baban, the director of business development. We unfortunately did not end up winning any prizes, except for the most number of speeding fines which to any Cannonballer is like a badge of honour. The second team sponsored by Bespoke was supposed to be the dream team in the new Ferrari 612 Scaglietti but a combination of trepidation and responsibility (due to recent fatherhood) kept the Jarmakani cousins from ever having a hope at the title. They did, however, earn the rather humorous nickname Team Turtle.
Of the others there was a member of the Forbes Top 500 Rich list who brought not only his Bugatti Veyron but a Rolls Royce Phantom to accompany him. There was Steve Saleen’s daughter, Molly Saleen, who drove as well if not better than any man there achieving high speeds without ever being caught in her electric pink modified Saleen Mustang. And there were countless others but in the end, the winner of the prize car, the Saleen 625bhp Bad Boy Mustang was quite fittingly the driver of one of the same cars, Steve Games who owns Prudential California Realty. Not that any of us were in it for the prizes. For once just taking part was all that counted.
Brief Car Review
The Corvette C6 is about to be replaced worldwide, including in the Middle East, with a newer and better model that will have 430bhp instead of 400bhp, a louder exhaust adding another 6bhp, better interior cabin finishing and improved steering feel. Overall the Corvette surprised me immensely. It is a very easy car to live with, it’s comfortable, easy to run, easy to drive and somehow practical too. It gained the respect of everyone faring well in a drag race against the Ferrari Scaglietti but hammering the Ferrari in fuel consumption. If it was manual rather than automatic with improvements to the brakes, it would be a pleasure to own.
Day 1 - Sunday July 29th 2007, Miami, Florida
After much deliberation with GM it turns out the big bosses couldn’t lend us a Corvette Z06 as originally planned and we had to find a quick fix. Thanks to Tony, the resourceful Lebanese concierge at the Setai, Mahmoud and I picked up our brand new Corvette C6 courtesy of Hertz for the cut price of 1,000 USD a week. After a briefing at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Miami, the race started at 6:30pm. We covered 1,470 kilometres (910 miles) and made our way through Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi into Louisiana. We arrived at New Orleans at 6am. We covered the whole of the first day with only three fuel stops and two cans of Red Bull each.
Miami
Eat at - Prime One Twelve (112 Ocean Drive)
Stay at- The Setai (2001 Collins Ave)
Avoid - News Café (800 Ocean Drive), Quattro Gastronomia Italiana (Rony Seikaly’s Restaurant) and Mokai Lounge (235 23rd Street)
Party at - Set Night Club (320 Lincoln Road)
Day 2 – Monday July 30th 2007, New Orleans, Louisiana – NO DRIVING TODAY
Honestly don’t even bother going out. Restaurants are bad, hotels worse, service awful. Avoid the whole place if you can.
Day 3 – Tuesday July 31st 2007, San Antonio, Texas
Set out from New Orleans to San Antonio and immediately started racing the Texan Black M5. Perhaps we should have paced ourselves a little more considering we had 885 kilometres (550 miles) to cover but instead we threw caution to the wind and enjoyed ourselves immensely. I got pulled over for driving at 190km/h (118mph) which is 2mph from arrest and subsequently handed over the reins to Mahmoud who got ticketed as well. We have almost become fed-up with seeing highways and dream of twisty B-roads and more challenging routes.
Day 4 – Wednesday August 1st 2007, Tucson, Arizona
Set out from San Antonio on a 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) journey to Tucson. Our journey takes us right across Texas almost to the border with Mexico and up into New Mexico before entering Arizona. Mahmoud gets another two speeding tickets today to make it a total of four tickets. We are given a round of applause by all that evening for being the out-and-out leaders in fines, or as we have come to look at them, medals of honour.
Day 5 – Thursday August 2nd 2007, Las Vegas, Nevada
We had to leave cactus country and head to Vegas. Unfortunately, with the number of police and level of congestion it seemed as if the day was going to be completely banal. Then we had the idea of veering off-route and enjoying Arizona a little by visiting the Grand Canyon. It was an ambitious detour that took us on the best roads of the entire run. We loved those undulating, sweeping curved roads that contoured through the most sublime countryside. After much time at the Grand Canyon we had to make haste to get to Vegas before the check point closed. Luckily the road had one more surprise in store for us in the shape of the impressive Hoover Dam. Upon arrival in Vegas, the oxygenated rooms at the hotel certainly kept us from being tired.
Stay at - Wynn Hotel (3131 Las Vegas Blvd South)
Eat at - Nobu, Bellagio (3600 Las Vegas Blvd South)
Avoid - the casino at the Stratosphere.
Party at - Tao Night Club (in the Venetian)
Day 6 – Friday August 3rd 2007, Los Angeles, California
I only had an hour of sleep because of Tao Night Club followed by the lure of poker tables on the way to the room. Luckily Mahmoud had two hours of rest so he was doubly ready for the relatively short drive to the Willow Spring Raceway. Unfortunately, this was his most mad day of all as he attempted to keep his speed above 260km/h (160mph) even though the roof was down. We got close to the limiter at 300km/h (186mph) although at those speeds the car shook a little too much for comfort and the brakes did not offer much reassurance. Even though we always knew it was more of a highway car the Corvette showed its ineptitude on this circuit since the gear changes took too long and the brakes gave out very quickly in the 45°C heat. Finally, the run was over and we had one last bash in Los Angeles before parting ways with our co-conspirators.
Stay at - The Beverly Hills Hotel
Eat at - Toast (Breakfast, 8221 W 3rd St), Ago (Lunch, 8478 Melrose Ave), Katana (dinner, 8439 W. Sunset Blvd) or The Little Door (dinner, 8164 W 3rd St)
Party at - Sky Bar, Opera and Les Deux.
Avoid - Mondrian hotel rooms and anywhere that’s not in West Hollywood.
