Road Race Pits Fast and Flirty

wired news ^ | 4.16.03 | wired news

[freepatriot32]

From the outside, it looks like another '70s muscle car. On the inside, it's a gearhead fantasy come true.

Every chunk of this 1972 Ford Torino's innards has been swapped for fresh parts. An extra gas tank has been fused onto its body. Controllers for laser jammers, radar detectors, GPS sensors and video cameras now occupy areas once reserved for 8-track players and beige-tinted shades.

The vehicle has been hauled 2,700 miles on a tractor-trailer, from Gibsonville, North Carolina, to San Francisco. And on Wednesday, it'll begin a five-day, helter-skelter dash to reach Miami before hundreds of other cars cross a transcontinental finish line.

[Billthedrill]

Well, I certainly hope none of these young men and women are contemplating exceeding the speed limit.

[Benrand]

Gumball

[Sender]

Highway Zero.

[Constitution Day]

A front view of the 1972 Ford Torino that is taking part in the Gumball 3000 rally.
Photo: Kevin Mikelonis

A side view of the 1972 Ford Torino that is taking part in the Gumball 3000 rally.
Photo: Kevin Mikelonis

Hi-tech gadgets on the driver's armrest include a flat-panel LCD screen that is connected to the camera mounted on the rear bumper and a laptop running a GPS-based navigation program.
Photo: Kevin Mikelonis

[Orangedog]

I wonder if the laser and radar jammers really work. Anyone here have any exprience with them?

[IYAS9YAS]

and radar and laser jammers to block the police's primary means of gauging his speed.

Nothing like letting the fuzz know where to look once they catch this maroon.

Warrant based on the article to search car for illegal jamming devices...smart.

[IYAS9YAS]

Even if they do, they can't jam stopwatches and timing marks or unmarked vehicles pacing them.

[laotzu]

Will the driver be dressing as a priest, or a doctor?

[Orangedog]

Yeah, but the insurance industry is buying them the stopwatches or airplanes to clock people from the air. Unmarked pacing vehicles are easy to spot. Anything that cuts into the money-motivated "partnership" between police and the insurance companies, I'm for it!

[spodefly]

Is this the one where they have to help the elephant give birth? And whatever happened to that crazy dude on the motorcycle?

[billbears]

From the article:According to Scotland's Sunday Herald, "Two cars were written off and six engines blew up. Two city traders were arrested and fined a record $20,000 for doing 200 mph in heavy traffic in a 50-mph zone."

Okay except for being caught this sounds fun!! Thanks CD, now you've set my next goal in life

[Constitution Day]

Bill,

I *knew* you'd like this article.
It's a welcome break from the normal FR dogfights.

Have a blessed Easter.

[billbears]

You do the same sir. BTW, just got a Hemi truck. Wonder if they allow trucks in this here race?

[Constitution Day]

Thanks.

A Hemi truck? Wow!
I bet they could make an exception on that.

BTW - I love that commercial where the 2 losers try to race the guy and he says "Oh, you mean the Charger!"

[HELLRAISER II]

I've got the Cannonball run 1 & 2 on DVD and i've seen the movie about the Gumball rally as well as read about them. I agree that it would be one hell of good time, until I got caught. I don't think i'm rich enough to participate yet if the fines start at $20K.

[billbears]

LOL!! After further reading the entry fee alone is $12K. BTW, I've got Smokey and the Bandit I on DVD. Grew up watching that movie, and yes that is where I learned to drive

[Constitution Day]

Re: Cannonball Run 1, 2:

Did you see Brock Yates' comments on it (in the Wired article)?

'"It's a sleazy knockoff by a bunch of wannabes," said Brock Yates, the Car and Driver editor who led all five of the original Cannonball Runs, from 1971 to 1979 (best time: 32 hours, 51 minutes, coast-to-coast). Yates also wrote the Reynolds-and-DeLuise screenplay. "It's kind of a glitterati, third-rate celebrity deal -- the gold chain crowd in their Ferraris."

Alex Roy, who's watched Yates' movie over and over, laughed when he heard the rebuke from the Gumball godfather.

"If there were still a real Cannonball Run, I'd do that instead," he replied. "Now I've only got two choices: drive around a track, or do this."

Not that he'll mind rubbing elbows with the celebrities and the swells. Or object if a few of the rally's Playboy bunnies want to ride in his car.'

[HELLRAISER II]

Was that a Camaro or a Firebird he drove in that?

[billbears]

Pontiac Firebird. Trans Am. 6.6 Liter. If I'm not mistaken that's around a 429? Can't do those numbers in my head anymore. Didn't that year also have the Interceptor transmission?