On TV last night.

Bill Douglas · 07-08-2002, 03:04 PM

Here in Kiwi land we had an episode of Ruby Wax (no, I don't usually watch that crap) which was a BBC production. It was about the European cannonball run.

The race started in London and Ruby was with Daemon Hill in a Ferrari. The cops pulled up daemon after only about 500 yards for talking on his mobile while driving, mind you, the worst fine on the trip was 4,000 British pounds. That's about USD$6,000. The race went over to France then up through Poland into Russia and up to St. Petersburg and back via Finland, Denmark and Sweden.

What a beautiful sight; a bunch of Porches (996s, 993s and an old 928) a swag of Ferraris a Lambo or two, Jags, Merc's a Limo' driven by some very eccentric personalities. One of the guys was Europe’s richest man and a number of the British aristocracy and various European counts. All very hard out sorta dudes. One guy wore his dressing gown the whole trip, another bloke in a silly wig and a guy wearing a T-shirt that said "I said no to Drugs, but they didn't listen".

A Ferrari went of the road in Russia at 150mph, jumped a ditch, mowed down a hedge and rolled for about 100 yards. The car was totaled but the two guys were fine.

For extra security they had the boss of Sandline (as one of the competitors), which is a London based Mercenary company as they were spending a bit of time in Russia. While in Russia (if they got there in time) was a black tie dinner party.

There was some really wild driving going on with lots of dangerous passing maneuvers happening. But especially in Europe, they do tend to drive a bit more wildly than in the US, Britain, NZ and Australia.

The car that won it was a Ferrari. It was also a race of strategy as they needed to get on certain Ferrys in time and dealing with local police and bribes along the way, so it was a really funny actual race to watch.

Doug E · 07-08-2002, 05:44 PM

We don't have any programs like that over here in the States!

Neilk · 07-08-2002, 06:02 PM

Doug,

I guess you missed the Gumball rally. It passed through Dallas. It was supercar heaven with mega egos to boot.

Try URL below to read more about it as well as download some amazing (and stupid) videos

http://www.bmwm5.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?forumid=28

Don Plumley · Don Plumley's Garage

In the UK edition of Esquire Magazine, there is a great story about two brits that came over to run in the US Cannonball. They drove a new Aston Martin - got thrown in Jail in New Mexico!

boxstr · 07-08-2002, 09:30 PM

Believe it or not I saw a version of this Euro rally, It may have been the same one, on MTV. Very rowdy group,they didn't seem to care to much if the cars were damaged or not.
Craig C. Laughlin CAMP 914-6

Glasgow 911SC · Glasgow 911SC's Garage

If you guys in the U.S want to see the rally Bill was talking about, watch repeats of Jackass. They did the same rally in an old Jag XJ6!

Bill Douglas · 07-09-2002, 05:25 PM

Yup, it was kind of a "rich boys on tour", I don't think they cared too much about the cars. I was a bit suprised to see them doing donuts in the courtyards of historic castles in Ferraris though. I really enjoyed it though to see about 300 cars with the drivers having no regard for local laws or speed limits. The Polish police were funny. They just stopped them all and made them pay a cash fine on the spot as to whether they were speeding or not.