Picture this: It’s 1971, and for the first time in the short history of America’s interstate highway system, strict traffic laws are about to take effect. Searching for a way to protest what they view as excessive restrictions, a handful of automobile enthusiasts— Car & Driver magazine editor Brock Yates, his son Brock Yates Jr., Steve Smith and Jim Williams, set out on a single-car, cross-country road trip in a Dodge Custom Sportsman Van. By switching drivers regularly and stopping only long enough to refuel, the small group made the trip from New York City to Redondo Beach, California… in 40 hours and 51 minutes!
The inaugural “Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash” proved so much fun that the team repeated the event later that same year, although they opened up the race to a few other competitors within their circle. And that next year, the winner of the 1972 Cannonball Run was racing legend Dan Gurney, with Brock Yates along as his co-driver. The pair made the trip in a new record of 35 hours and 54 minutes, with an average speed right around 80 mph, although apparently an unexpected early snowfall slowed them down when crossing the Rocky Mountains. Of course, safety was a primary concern during the race— as Gurney famously said, “At no point did we exceed 175 miles per hour.”
The Cannonball Run was only repeated twice more during that decade, in 1975 and again in 1979, as the group’s notoriety began to earn them close attention from the fine men and women of the law enforcement community. Even worse, the release of spin-off movies like “Gumball Rally” and “Cannonball” made it impossible to maintain secrecy. Finally, after realizing that his creation had simply become too popular to continue, Brock Yates gave in and licensed the official movie rights to the race, resulting in the 1981 comic film “The Cannonball Run.” If you haven’t seen this film already, it’s worth a watch just for the all-star cast. Honestly, I just never realized how long I’d been waiting for Burt Reynolds, Jackie Chan and Roger Moore to collaborate on a project.
It’s hard to argue the influence of the Cannonball Run— modern “outlaw” attempts at recreating this still take place today, both in the US and many foreign countries. And when I was passing through New Zealand a while back, I caught a screening of one of that country’s most iconic films, “Goodbye Pork Pie” (LINK). I swear, I could almost spot Brock Yates’ fingerprints all over that one, too.
And even though Brock Yates passed away in 2016, I’m sure he’d be happy to know that a new generation of readers and drivers alike are still enjoying his antics… all while keeping their cars safely under the speed limit, of course!