Cannonball Run Countach Documentary

[masraum]

Originally Posted by javadog

I’ve driven from the middle of the country to the north east corner of the US and from the middle of the country to LA. Both trips absolutely sucked.

I've made the drive between Houston and the panhandle of FL a bunch of times which is 570 miles. I made it twice by myself in my old 911, that was a 6.5-7hr trip, and not horrible. Most of the time that I made it was in some sort of larger vehicle, whether an SUV or rented vehicle with the family and the dog, and that was 8-9 hours and quite a bit worse.

I've made the trip from Tampa to Houston once which is 1000 miles. I was able to stop at my parents' place which is ~ half way. I slept for 3-4 hours and finished the trip. That was horrible. I was in a boring little car packed full of my crap as I was moving.

[javadog]

When I drove to LA, I was hauling an engine in the back of a three-quarter ton super duty Ford. Fought a 50 mile an hour headwind, for the entire first day. I’ve never driven in wind like that, before or since. My usual 9 miles per gallon went to **** in a hurry. I did 1000 miles on the first day and thought I was going to die. Never again…

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by javadog

When I drove to LA, I was hauling an engine in the back of a three-quarter ton super duty Ford. Fought a 50 mile an hour headwind, for the entire first day. I’ve never driven in wind like that, before or since. My usual 9 miles per gallon went to **** in a hurry. I did 1000 miles on the first day and thought I was going to die. Never again…

I did 900 once and was hallucinating somewhere in TX after 18 hours. it was pretty late after a 5 am start. I made it into a motel and left at 6 am. The second leg to AL was easier, an unnecessary roust by the state popo in LA due to my CA plates, notwithstanding.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by porsche tech

Very cool video…and very well done. Thanks for posting. Back in the day when they actually ran the race, 2 of the salesmen at the dealership at which I worked, ran the race in 911’s a few times. They are pictured on Car and Driver’s cover next to the red 911 on the roof of the Red Ball Garage in NYC where the race began. They had a plethora of stories. Brock Yates sent one of the guys a really neat framed poster that was a picture of the USA with their route mapped out and the cover of that magazine inset. It hung behind his desk in the show room.

Pwd72s: which “Porsche guy” were you referring to in the video as Dan Rowzie? I missed that. Dan was a local guy and a customer of ours…worked on his cars many times. I’m going to have to review the video and look for him.

Way in the back of this cover shot..see the guy in the leather jacket & T shirt? That's Dan. May or may not be Dan in the video...when we get old, we all begin to look alike.

[unclebilly]

At 10 years old, my son has lived a pretty good life. He’s driven my 930s, has his own 944, been around a couple race tracks (even in anger in my 911), been in the pits for me at Laguna Seca and Daytona and has been racing karts since he was 5… and the little bugger has sat in a Countach. I have his picture somewhere looking out of the countach. And it’s a real one.

This is a true blue car guy. When he isn’t helping my out, ski racing, karting, or riding his dirt bikes, he’s playing Forza Motorsports or Forza Horizon 5 (which he pre bought with his own money). He’s a huge top gear / grand tour fan.

We will watch this video together.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

At 10 years old, my son has lived a pretty good life. He’s driven my 930s, has his own 944, been around a couple race tracks (even in anger in my 911), been in the pits for me at Laguna Seca and Daytona and has been racing karts since he was 5… and the little bugger has sat in a Countach. I have his picture somewhere looking out of the countach. And it’s a real one.

This is a true blue car guy. When he isn’t helping my out, ski racing, karting, or riding his dirt bikes, he’s playing Forza Motorsports or Forza Horizon 5 (which he pre bought with his own money). He’s a huge top gear / grand tour fan.

We will watch this video together.

How's he drive the 911 at 10? Can he reach everything (pedals, shifter, etc...)?

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by masraum

How's he drive the 911 at 10? Can he reach everything (pedals, shifter, etc...)?

I’m gonna guess he was sitting in the other seat.
Anyways, I’ve had so many cool cars, lots of 911s, a couple of Ferraris, my dream BMWs, etc.
There’s nothing else I’d even really want the hassle of owning anymore.
Except a Countach.
I know, they drive like a truck, assembled like a kit car, etc etc.
I don’t care about any of that.
To me, there’s the Countach, and there’s everything else.

[HardDrive]

I drove from Seattle to Columbus, OH in 40 hours in an 2005 Carrera S, and I was beat. To be sure, I was not driving with the motivation these folks had, but I was going pretty fast. Can't imagine the sustained sustained speed to get from NYC to LA that fast.

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by masraum

How's he drive the 911 at 10? Can he reach everything (pedals, shifter, etc...)?

He’s never driven the 911 but he has driven the 930s. Yes, he can reach the pedals. He taught himself how to drive a stick on my Baja Bug when he was 9. I’ve posted the video on here before.

[drcoastline]

Great documentary, I enjoyed.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by javadog

I submitted an entry to run in one of the races that came after Brock’s involvement. 1982 or 1983, I can’t remember which now. I was going to run it in a Porsche 911, fortunately I decided not to make the trip.

I’ve listen to a lot of Ed Bolian’s stories on the record runs, he has a bunch of them on his YouTube channel. I don’t think there’s anybody that knows more about that subject than he does. As nuts as the runs were in the early days, what these latest records have done is insane. I have maintained a fairly high average speed for an hour or two, a couple times. I cannot imagine doing it for 25 or 30 hours.

I would also suggest that you check out his personal website, edbolian.com.

Yep, Ed has a channel called "VinWiki" on YouTube. I've been subscribed to that channel for many years now. Lots of great stories on there.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[tdw28210]

Cool video, but I found myself speeding through bits of it. I rolled my eyes for all the praise for the Countach as some great automotive achievement. I've putted around in one and as somebody who is 6'1" with size 12 shoes it is borderline undriveable. Backing it up is a nightmare and the pedalbox is askew. It was designed by Mario Ghandini who is about 5'6" and 150 lbs.

[drcoastline]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Cool video... And while I'm at it, I don't hate the front spoiler on that Countach.

A lot worse has been done to them over the years.

https://www.lamborghini.com/en-en/news/cannonball-runs-lamborghini-countach-at-the-library-of-congress

I actually like the front spoiler. This car is where the evolution ended for me, after this they became caricature-ish.

My favorite iteration of the Countach is the LP400 it was a pure design no wings, no flares. The car evolved nicely for a while with the addition of the flares and rear wing, then the front wing.

After this it was like the designers sat at their desks and said what else can we stick on the car that looks ostentatious? Big US bumpers, Tetsarosa-esque side strake rockers, strakes covering the rear fender vents. Strakes and ribs everywhere.

[GH85Carrera]

If I head from home and drive west on I-40 to Flagstaff, AZ and stay at the same hotel as before it is 911 miles from home.
If I leave from home and drive east on I-40 to Maryville, TN to the favorite hotel it is 917 miles. I have done both of those trip multiple times in one day. Both in the 911.

The year I drove to Flagstaff and the area was having an international mountain bike competition, all the hotel rooms were full. I had to keep driving another 50 miles south towards Phoenix before I found a place with a room. I always new I could go further, but I wanted to get a room before they were all sold out, and get up early in the morning and continue the trip.

Jay Leno of course owns a Countach, and a Miura. His comment is if you are out trying to attract 12 year old boys, drive the Countach, if you want to attract young women, drive the Muria.

[David]

My one other Countach story: one of my college roommates dated a super cool, smart, beautiful girl with incredibly rich parents. This is around 1990. One day the Countach came up in conversation and the girl said, oh, I drove one when I was 16. My father's friend handed me the keys and let me drive it around Dallas. She said it drove like a truck: hard to shift, heavy clutch and steering. That roommate only dated her for about a year but my other roommate has been with her for almost 30 years. What's the old saying? "You can marry more money in 5 minutes than you can make in a lifetime."

[sc_rufctr]

"hard to shift, heavy clutch and steering"... And the problem is?

[javadog]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

"hard to shift, heavy clutch and steering"... And the problem is?

She’s a girl.

And she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

[Dantilla]

I bumped into a friend's daughter when driving a Gallardo, and she gave the best description of a Lamborghini:

"It's a rolling exclamation point!"

[speeder]

I haven't seen a Countach on the street since 3 days ago. Granted, they are not a common site anymore but there are a couple of people in town who drive them regularly. Back in the '80s, they were practically common here. I knew a guy with a white one, he was a complete tosser and the car fit him, IMO at the time.