Coast to Coast in under 29 hours
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Mercedes CL driver sets new record by averaging 98mph in car he spent months fitting with gadgets to keep eye out for police
Atlanta Lamborghini dealer Ed Bolian used a souped up a 2004 Mercedes to speed into the record books October 20
Midtown Manhattan to Redondo Beach: Bolian and two friends took the classic route first taken in the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash of the 1970s
Bolian's time of 28 hours 50 minutes beats the previous record set by Alex Roy in 2006 when he made the trip in 31 hours 4 minutes by over two hours
With a distance of 2,813.7 miles, Bolian and his two-man team did the Cannonball Run at an average of 98 miles per hour
The Lamborghini dealership sales director is hesitant to show off the proof, but according to Jalopnik, the 27-year-old has GPS data tracking every inch of the journey he took with a co-pilot and passenger starting October 19.
‘I've wanted to break the record since I was 18 years old,’ Bolian said, explaining away the trip’s huge costs and many risks.
He began putting all the pieces together years ago, first by buying a used CL-Class blue Mercedes from a man in Palm Beach, Florida.
‘I thought about a Ferrari 612,’ said Ed. ‘But gas mileage would've been bad. A Bentley would've been perfect, but you'd want the V8 for gas mileage, and those are still way too expensive.’
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The origins of the Cannonball Run aren't entirely clear, but the death defying and hugely illegal race from New York City to Los Angeles is named after Edwin 'Cannonball' Baker.
Baker made history in 1933 when, apparently just to say he did it, he raced from coast to coast in 53 hours 30 minutes in a car called the Blue Streak.
Fast forward to the 1970s, when cars could go far faster than Baker's Graham Paige, and Car and Driver editor Brock Yates created the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash.
For years, daring drivers vied for the title of what became known as the Cannonball Run.
A 1981 comedy starring Burt Reynolds and Farrah Fawcett immortalized the name.
The run was last completed by Dave Heinz and Dave Yarborough in 32 hours 51 minutes behind the wheel of a Jaguar.
Their record was next bested in the US Express race, which replaced the illicit Cannonball Run, by Doug Turner and David Diem.
Their time of 32 hours and 7 minutes wasn't beaten until Alex Roy did it in 31 hours 4 minutes in a BMW in 2006.
Now, they're all Cannonball also-rans and Bolian's feat won't be easily topped.
He chose the Mercedes for its fuel economizing V8 engine and active suspension he needed in order to pack in as much fuel as possible.
Bolian’s whip boasts two additional 22-gallon gas tanks, which add hundreds of pounds of fuel but allow the car to travel 800 miles between stops.
But breaking the record was going to take more than just a souped up Mercedes. To ensure a clear run, free from traffic jams and, perhaps more importantly, traffic cops Bolian, also invested in a police scanner, two GPS units that relay traffic information and iPhone apps such as Trapster.
The car was also fitted with two laser jammers and had a truck mounted antenna.
Friends were enlisted to travel along the route, about 150 miles ahead of the Mercedes, and check for any potential obstacles.
Bolian decided to take the classic route pioneered by the illegal street racers of the 1970s’ Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash of the 1970s AKA Cannonball Run: Red Ball Garage in Midtown Manhattan to the Portofino Hotel in Redondo Beach, California.
‘Every year, Alex hears about five to seven attempts to break the record,’ said E. ‘None of the challengers come close.’
But by far the most difficult part of Bolian’s endeavor, he said, was finding people to make the trip with him.
With only two weeks until he was scheduled to go, nobody had agreed to take on the challenge with him.
Then, after trawling deep within his Facebook friends, he found Dan Huang.
‘I got a Facebook message from Ed,’ Huang told Jalopnik, ‘He didn't even have my cell phone number.’
Along with a friend of Bolian’s, David Black, as co-pilot, the three of them piled into the Mercedes on October 19.
Things did not go well initially.
‘It took us 15 minutes to get out of Manhattan,’ Ed said.
But then things quickly picked up. They had friends drive ahead and check for cops and obstacles. New Jersey passed, then Pennsylvania, then Ohio.
They kept a breakneck pace. ‘I don't even remember Indiana,’ Ed said.
By the time they got to Texas, they were making such good time that they could have gone the speed limit the rest of the way and still tied Roy’s time.
Instead, they pushed it. And on October 20, they reached Redondo Beach, California’s Portofino Hotel.
They’d beat the record by an astonishing two hours and gone down in history with the fastest Cannonball run drive in history.