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The 20 gallon stock tank was removed to install a watts link (still in design stages) a trunk mounted 22 gallon fuel cell installed. Guessing the stock tank could be reinstalled and combined with the fuel cell.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobcat
for a total of 42 gallons
Fuel economy @ 70 MPh 18 to 24 MPG depending on conditions with a 3.27 rear gear. Also have 3.90, 3.08 and 2.73 gears avalable.
Once upon a time.........The offshore racers had a much closer relationship with auto racers because a lot of mainstream magazines like Sport's Illustrated covered our sport as well as the Indy 500 and Formula 1 etc.
I was asked to go to Europe as the guest of Phillip Morris. This was at the time when the US government had just handed down a ruling that cigarette companies could no longer advertise on television. All the cigarette companies needed new ideas to promote their products without using television as they had millions of dollars to spend and no ideas how to spend it.
I went to see what they had going on at that time and was taken to Wimbledon to see how Virginia Slims had started supporting women's tennis. Then on to Dijon, France for tHe French Grand Prix where Marlboro was sponsoring the McLaren team at the time.
After the Dijon race it was off to Lausanne, Switzerland for a meeting at the European headquarters of Philip Morris. Since some of the earlier offshore races were held on some Swiss lakes, they were aware of the crowd appeal and wanted my ideas about them sponsoring offshore racing.....good story for another time.....
BUT it was at Dijon that I met and spent time with Brock Yates, the father of the Cannonball Race. The track leading,out of the track was a simple two lane country road, I took advantage of the hospitality trailer that Marlboro had. I got a couple of bottles of wine and asked Brock if he wanted to kill some time while we waited for the traffic to clear. He agreed and before I would allow him to leave,,I,had a promise from him that I would get an invitation if he ever held another Cannonball race.
Two years later I get a call from him asking if I could be ready for a long fast trip in 6 weeks? Sure, I said! Ok you are in, I will call with more details later. Sandy Satullo and Doc Magoon and Aronow also got the call. I had become good friends with Jochen Mass during the same trip. He was the number 2 driver on the McLaren team behind James Hunt. He was also a factory driver for Porsche in endurance races like Le Mans. Jochen and I hit it off when he told me he loved boats. We stayed close with visits to each other over those years and I invited him to be a co driver for the Cannonball.
Long story, but the new Porsche 928 I ordered through Jochen did not arrive on time....so much for factory connections. Jochen was rehabbing from a Formula 1 flip at an English track and could not co drive. So....a good friend of mine offered up his new Mercedes 300SD. That means it was a diesel. He offered his car as long as I allowed him to come along. The car was shipped to Bill Mitchell's shop in Connecticut for upgrades for the trip. A new ATL fuel cell filled the trunk, driving lights, twin radar detectors, front and rear facing, CB radio and....drum roll please.....we had a car telephone!!
Between the stock tank and the fuel cell,we had more than 600 mile range. This proved quite interesting during the race. Gilles Villenue's brother who was an indy driver named Jacque was,driving a Porsche 928...he must have had better factory connections than me.
Any way....we were friends and kidded each other as to the rabbit and the turtle fable with our two cars. During the race we ran close to each other a lot and not because of the superior speed of the diesel. He had no idea that I had the fuel cell in the trunk, but I knew he had just a stock tank in his car so a lot of our race conversations on our CB's went like this.....
Jacque........Coming from behind me, lights blazing and some serious overtaking speed. Charlie, how did you get ahead of me?
Charlie......Moping along with the little engine that had no spark plugs.......Jacque, we took the shortcut on Route 32 back there, it cut almost 50 miles off the total trip.
Jacque.....WHAT SHORTCUT????? No one told me about a shortcut, how did you get this information?
Charlie.......Oh sorry Jacque, Brock told all the American drivers. I forgot that you are Canadian. Don't let Brock know I told you.
Jacque....Sacre Bleu! I cannot believe this, how many other cars know about this shortcut?
Charlie.....What shortcut? Don't know what you are talking about...can't hear you clearly now, the CB is giving off static.
This repeated over and over again each time he had to stop for fuel and we didn't.
Here is a short blurb from the book Brock wrote about the race.........P 189
Brock and Hal Needham were racing in a van made up to look like an ambulance called the Trans Con Medivac. This was the same ambulance used in the movie with Burt Reynolds, Cannonball Run.
"The Trans Con Medivac seemed to be losing speed. A subtle slipping in the transmission seemed to limit us to 90 miles per hour. Bright lights flared in our mirrors. A turbo diesel Mercedes-Benz flew past. Offshore powerboat racer Charlie McCarthy. Then came a Porsche 928, running perhaps 140 miles per hour. It's driver was Jacque Villeneuve, brother of Grand Prix driving superstar Gilles Villeneuve. This pair sailed into the distance, leaving nothing but winking taillights in their rooster tails."
Oh yes, that just reminded me that we raced in heavy rain for about 5 hours of,the race.
In the end my little oil burner finished in 36 hours 19 minutes and Jacque took 37 hours 36 minutes Satullo finished 36 hours 49 minutes. Remember the whole country was under a 55 MPH speed limit....we averaged 80. Magoon and Aronow chose not to run.
The first car, a Jaguar XJS finished in 32 hours 51 minutes.
My time includes one hour spent in a nice friendly night court in Ohio. I still hold the record for a speeding fine there.....$900.00. Some records are more noteworthy than others. My wife wonders how I will explain that one to my grandsons when they get a little older!
Sad note.....Brock Yates is in a senior nursing home with Alzheimers. If you put in his name on Facebook, his family has started a fund that accepts donations to combat this horrible disease. Keep him in your prayers.
It remains one of the greatest memories of my racing career, I am so grateful I was invited to compete.
Another cool story!!! A show called Fast N Loud tracked down the winning Jaguar XJS and bought it to restore.
In addition to an opportunity to support the cause, there is other interesting stuff here:
https://www.facebook.com/brockyatestributefund
Attachment 77622
Here is Brock's book.
I'm trying to find that, but so far have only found where it may have been the car and they were trying to decide to buy it or not?Quote:
Originally Posted by poncho
32H:51M Record Holder: Cannonball Run Winning(?) 1978 Jaguar XJS
This 1978 Jaguar XJS basketcase is claimed to be the 1979 Cannonball Run winner driven by Dave Heinz and Dave Yarborough. That car set a transcontinental record that stood until 1983, and this car has brass plaques inside that the seller claims make it the actual winner. We’ve been able to find references to the result as linked below, but never a photo. Can any BaT reader find a photo that proves or disproves this seller’s claim? Find the car here on Craigslist in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania with no asking price. Special thanks to BaT reader Matt T. for this submission!
Attachment 77627 Attachment 77628
The seller claims that this is a V-12 car and the interior shot shows an automatic transmission and a Nardi wood wheel. The two plaques above are shown affixed to the glove box door. The car looks as if it has been left outside for years, and the headlights have been scavenged.
http://bringatrailer.com/2013/06/20/...ll-run-winner/
Not in a race but a trip from Indy to fla one time was driving a Pinto with a 2300 I juced up a bit at 85 MPH it would get 32 33 MPG. Think near the Tenn border met up with a Grand Am that passed me remember the plate was from Texas said Guns 256.
I was perty much crusing at 80 85. After travling so many hours stopped for fuel ad a snack. Back on the road and sometime later he would pass me again this must have happend about 6 times or so. Second time each time he passed me he started slowing down and staring at me then take off. Finialy pulled in a plaza just before my exit from the Fla turnpike had dinner fooled around for about 45 min as exiting the turnpike could be a ticket if time stamp showed you were going to fast. Un locking my car door guns 256 parked right next to me as I drove off. That was back in 87 or so. Guessing he burned a lot more gas than me.
Did you get your own chapter?????Quote:
Originally Posted by Top Banana
And does Brock still get royalties for all books sold?
Sorry Paul, I didn't follow up on this thread. No we didn't get our own chapter, we were just one team from 46 that ran that year. Brock did include the offshore boys in some nice articles when he wrote in some other magazines like Sports Illustrated and Esquire.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratickle
Yes, I do believe that he continues to get royalties from the sale of his books. They are such easy and fun reading and would make a nice addition to anyone's library....especially the people who like the offshore world of fast boats like we do.
Brock had an original Donzi 16, that he was always trying to enter into a vintage boat show in upstate Vermont or NY. Every year they would deny him entry because the boat, was not made from wood. He just loved applying every year anyway.
So which guys are based on you and your friend?????
http://youtu.be/Avis_OWEZlI
Quote:
Originally Posted by poncho
I believe the bafoon, from fast and loud richard rawlings did the cannonball runand at one time held the record
Yep, they did. They also purchased the car above which was the car that held the record when they beat it.
I think Rawlings and his friend that owns the Jeep store, drove a Ferrari that set the record a few years ago. There was actually a 6.9 Mercedes that could have beaten the Jaguar in the year I raced, but they thought you had to produce gas slips for every stop made. They wasted so much time waiting around for the slips, they lost over 30 minutes and still came in a very close second.
We had the regular fuel tank and the fuel cell in the truck, so we always filled both at the same time and estimated the final $$ so we could toss the attendant the cash and we were off. Plus we shaved some time off in Arizona when we came up on a traffic jam.....well, it looks like the middle island between the lanes is pretty open.......so we did a little grass cutting and hedge clipping and got right to the front of the line. Yes, it was good to be young and foolish and know it is all behind you!
You still didn't answer the question Charlie......:toetap05: --- :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratickle