The beginning of "Cannonball Run"

[Alfadog]

The beginning of the movie "Cannonball Run" has a Countach being chased by a Trans Am patrol car, and it's awesome! I've uploaded it to my space but it won't be up forever so get it while you can! I just love it. I've never seen the movie though...

http://storm.elxx.net/alfadog/Cannonball run Intro.avi

[speedyblue]

Go rent it. It'll cost you $2 for a week. Basically one big car chase, with a plot draped around it in order to flog it off as a movie. Works for me!!

[26th-Z]

That Countach belonged to a freind of mine at the time. He actually finished a real Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash the year that Rick Cline and Jack May set the record at 35 hours 53 minutes. He drove a Lotus Esprit which suffered an engine fire in Arizona. Terry met a guy in LA named Detlof Claudius who was putting Buick small block aluminum V8s in the Esprit. He left the car out there and I flew out several months later to drive the car home. True story. I remember picking up a newspaper in Texas to see that the Skyway Bridge had collapsed. Terry is in the movie standing around at the pre-race driver's meeting.

The Cannonball Run movie is somewhat documentary. With liberal Hollywood interpretation, many of the events in the movie actually occured. Actors were substituted to protect the guilty! Brock Yates wrote a book about the Cannonball. It was quite the event and full of controversy at the time. The first "Cannonball" was Yates and Dan Gurney in a Kirk White Ferrari 365GTB. As I recall, there was a Camero with gas tanks filling the back seat with the strategy of driving straight through on one tank of gas. The ambulance actually happened. The car in the swimming pool actually happened. In the opening scenes, Burt Reynolds drives up to John Paul's shop in Georgia. I contend "Cannonball Run" is part of motor racing history. If you like the movie, get Yate's book.

[Alfadog]

Wow Chris! That's awesome... I think I'll have to try to find it then. The Countach is gorgeous...

[TomoHawk]

The beginning of the movie "Cannonball Run" has a Countach being chased by a Trans Am patrol car, and it's awesome!

Is it supposed to be video, or just some sound? I've tried to view it as video on different computers, and nothing will show on the screen, but the sound was good.

thx

[zguitar71]

The movie came out in the earlier 80's, I was 12,13,14 or so. To this day it is one of the most memorable movies of my life. It is not one of the best but that does not matter because it was one exotic car after another. The sound the cars made was one of my favorite features of the movie, I can still hear the Lambo in the begginning of the movie in my head.

[ChrisA]

Is it supposed to be video, or just some sound? I've tried to view it as video on different computers, and nothing will show on the screen, but the sound was good.

thx

You need to download a codec to support .avi video files. Google it.

Chris

[speedyblue]

Or ditch media player for something better. I use VLC and it plays everything I've thrown at it so far.

[Grim]

There is another movie called the gumball rally. About the same as cannon ball run. I love the end when the ferrari and cobra(?) are going at it.

[speedyblue]

The gumball rally is a classic to watch. So many people loose their licenses though. They do some prety stupid stuff at high speeds, and there is usually a few crashes in very expensive cars.

[TomoHawk]

I l;ike the part where the guy pulls off the rear-view mirror and throws it away, "What is behind me is of no concern."

[seerex]

Chris was the Countach later sold by your friend? I was under the impression that Ron Rice still owned that car , he had it setup with the 12 exhaust tips in the back. And it is very much a part of history , I love the movie<s> , they just ran a gumball rally recently I think it it was may or june of last year to miami. Too much info was out and I heard alot of it was shut down and they moved it to europe.

kewl link

http://www.gumball3000.com/content/html/launch.htm?#