[Shotimes] Cannonball!

[BJamesjr@aol.com]

I just finished reading Yates book about the Cannonball (Cannonball Baker Memorial Sea to See Trophy Dash).  (I hope I got that long name right, don't have the book right in front of me.)

It struck me that the SHO would make an excellent vehicle for this type of thing.  The earlier races were won with fairly ordinary vehicles, hindered by insufficient range between fuel stops.  They also seemed to have a lot of rain and some snow and ice involved.  Also, it was important to maintain a low profile to not attract attention from the Highway Patrol.  Some of these competitors' vehicles didn't have extraordinary top speed.  It seems that the SHO could provide good speed potential, good fuel economy, plenty of room for driver, co-drivers, and supplies, and would handle well in adverse conditions while not attracting a lot of attention.  Unfortunately it was just made 10 years too late.  Of course nowadays you could make a pretty long list of cars that could work for this type of race but I was impressed by its qualifications in comparison to what was actually used.

The book is interesting and I recommend it to anybody who has an interest in this event.  Now I'll have to try to rent to movies that the event inspired so I can watch them again.  Unfortunately things have changed now and our highway system is much more crowded than it was back then.  Too bad we can't go back to that.