308 GTSi 1980 Rare World Record Holder Car

Was that the Car in Cannon Ball Run? with Dean Martin & Sammy Davis JR? May be someone who wants to pumpup a Sale.(LOL)

 

No, I have the 308 used in the Cannon Ball Run movie. At least that's what the guy who sold me the car told me...

 

No idea if it is really the same car, but here is a newspaper article from October 18, 1983 that's on point. "Coast-to-coast time: 32 hours, 7 minutes."

"It was very fast and very illegal: 32 hours and 7 minutes to cross the nation in a speeding red Ferrari in the U.S. Express race." The article notes that it was a "$60,000 Ferrari," so that fits with a 308.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19831018&id=2lciAAAAIBAJ&sjid=i6cFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6012,5719825

A little googling suggests that the race existed through the 1970s and ended in 1983 (until it was picked up again briefly in the mid-2000s), and it was the inspiration for the Cannonball run movie. If that really is the car, I think that does give it some pretty cool history that might make it worth more.

 

No, no, I do, the guy who sold it to me told ME that. Wait a second! Who knows if this car went coast to coast really fast. Can't see it adding value to the car. It's a cool story but that's it. $60K for a car with 60,xxx miles... ummmm... not sure what they are thinking on this one. It's pretty though!

 

At least they used the cash for charity. The story does fit the sale description. Who knows.

 

Anyone ever see the movie Gumball Rally? Its based on the original Cannon Ball Run. I think a Car and Driver writer was one of the original drivers.

 

Yes, and my car still has Christie Brinkley's butt outline in the car seat!

 

I like the "Daytona pistons" part...(they share the same part number)..

Those Boyd billet wheels are incredibly rare actually, and there won;t be any more of them (RIP Boyd) ...

It's not a "World" record it's a "crossing America" record......get a print copy of Cannonball Run, (Brock Yates) a great read.

 

You've got it backwards son, Gumball was much earlier than Cannon Ball.

 

No. The film "The Gumball Rally" was based on the Cannonball Run, as in the actual Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash.

Look it up.

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjGXn249Fc0[/ame]

 

I think its extraordinarily cool!! Also very cool that the money be given to fighting cancer. What can I say about my car? It was owned by a doctor in Arizona -
I think the coast-to-coast race does more Also, 59k doesn't sound too bad since the car looks to be very well sorted.

 

That 83 run - if it happened was not one of Brock Yates' Cannonballs. He stopped that in, I think, 79 after hearing that the black Lambo (that was actually used in the movie) was going out in the next one. Yates decided then and there it was over.

There were several 308's used in the real races. Go read Yates' book on it. Good info on the cars and their times on each race.

 

Wow, this topic is a Blast From The Past.

Back in 2005 I answered a web posting from a young film producer in So. California who was looking to film a 1980 Ferrari 308, red with a black interior, in Ohio for her upcoming movie, "32 Hours 7 Minutes".

And, yes, I own a 1980 red with black 308 in Ohio. So I replied.

Seems that back in the day, the 308 which did the original cross country run got pulled over for speeding on I-70 near Zanesville, so we recreated and filmed that episode.

The director and her camera guy flew out to Ohio, and we spent a day filming my car doing various things - driving by Ohio highway signs and the like. Pics below from the filming day - the white Buick 4 door was her rental "chase car".

I was promised at the time that the movie would be coming out "soon", but here it is now, 7 years later, and no release is in sight to my knowledge. I fear that the movie has been abandoned.

Is the car on Craigslist referenced above "THE" original red / black 1980?

I tend to think so, as this car and event are both obscure enough that the odds seem long that the seller made it up.


My 15 minutes of Ferrari fame!

Cheers - DM
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Mmmmm.........butt outline.













Sorry about that. It was the kid in me.

 

Referencing the old news article at the web link posted by uberlink, two things immediately jump out at me:

a) the bit about the speeding ticket in Zanesville jives with the story told to me by the film producer.

b) the article names "David Diem" as the driver of the cross-country 308. Now, compare this name to the e-mail address in the Craigslist ad!

 

Very cool story. How tall is that guy with the camera in the first pic? Iirc my 328 is 3.5 ft high so he must be 7 ft plus. Or maybe my perspective is off...

 

I suppose you all want pictures right?

 

He was a tall dude, maybe 6 foot something. He was all wadded up in the passenger seat as we drove over to Zanesville, filming signs and background roadside stuff out the window.

He got into the car with me in Columbus, and had his camera ready as we pulled onto the I-70 on-ramp. As I started onto the ramp, he turned on his camera and said "Now, go real fast!"

So, I did!

Cheers - DM

 

A documentary exists but isn't yet available about the run.
Here's the website http://www.32hours7minutes.com/

 

"Cannonball" was made in 1976 with David Caradine in 2 1970 Trans Ams.

"Gumball rally" was made in 1976 .

"Cannon Ball Run" was made in 1981 and was in fact based on the original race concept that "Gumball" started.

"Cannon Ball Run II" shows 1983/84 copyrights.

I have all the DVD's and the Copyright dates for the original release and the re-release are on the back.

Wiki also shows "Gumball" was first.

Just sayin.