Outlaw Racing Book Reviews

2010-11-27T12:00:00+10:00

For this review I have chosen two books on outlaw road races from different eras (okay, one is about a rally not a race).

The first title, Cannonball!: World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race, is about the original Cannonball Run. That's right, there was a race before the famous movie.

The race was run several times in the USA during the 1970s and started as a form of protest against the introduction of the national 55mph speed limit. It was intended to prove that skilled drivers could drive cross-country at high speeds in safety.

The book is written by the organiser of the race, Brock Yates, but also features recounts of the race from the original competitors. This makes it a real interesting read in that you get to learn about the organisation of the event as well as how the race went for the various entrants.

One of the most interesting and surprising facts I discovered when reading this book was that a lot of the things in the movie (which is a favourite of mine) were based on real events. I think if the movie started with "Based on a true story" noone would believe it. But at least a few of the teams in the movie were based on actual entrants, such as the ambulance, priests and the "just married" motorcyclists. There was even an all woman team although they weren't in bright jumpsuits or a Lamborghini.

There are plenty of stories about run-ins with the police, mechanical problems and great stories about what it is like to drive flat out for kilometre after kilometre (well, mile after mile).

The other title in this review covers the 2004 running of the Gumball Rally, which is an annual event in the spirit of the Cannonball Run, but is not actually a race. The Gumball Rally is meant to be a navigation challenge within the road rules with a huge party each night after the days driving. Although the organisers discourage any illegal driving each year many drivers cop fines or jail time for various driving offences.

Our Gumball Rally: 3000 Miles, 3 Countries, 65 Ferraris, Only 1 Volvo is written by journalist Clement Wilson and his driving partner Richard Dunwoody, a retired jockey. It tells the story of how the two got together and came up with the idea of running in the rally, securing a car, and their adventures in the rally.

The car they chose was a Volvo V70R (not that they had much choice), which was an unusual choice given that most of their competitors were in exotic supercars. But if you read the book you will find that the more discreet Volvo did have it's advantages at times.

They drove hard, they partied hard, then they crashed the Volvo. My favourite part (and probably most of the entrant's favourite part) was when they were driving through part of Africa where they were given free reign by the King to drive however they wanted. This of course meant that most drove absolutely flat out and resulted in some major accidents.

I really enjoyed the book and it is a great insight into the event. It's not just about cars and driving but the author frequently sidetracks to other interesting things just about life. And I say author because I suspect that Richard Dunwoody didn't do much writing - the book is exclusively from Clement Wilson's perspective.

Unfortunately both of these titles are presently discontinued by local suppliers but it shouldn't take too much effort to locate a copy of either.

Now I just wish there was a real* Cannonball Run Australia!

Cannonball!: World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race
By Brock Yates
Published by Motorbooks
ISBN: 0760316333
ISBN-13: 9780760316337

Our Gumball Rally: 3000 Miles, 3 Countries, 65 Ferraris, Only 1 Volvo
By Clement Wilson and Richard Dunwoody
Published by Virgin Books
ISBN: 075350992X
ISBN-13: 9780753509920

*There was a Cannonball Run in Australia in 1994 which was organised by Allan Moffat. It certainly wasn't an outlaw race but did have high speed events on closed off roads in the Northern Territory. Unfortunately the event was marred when several people were killed after a Ferrari F40 left the road and hit a group of the event staff. See www.cannonballrun.info.

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Outlaw Racing Book Reviews