About The Cannonball Run Europe
The Cannonball name originates from the die-hard adventurer Erwin G. “Cannonball” Baker, the greatest cross-country record breaker of them all. Baker set 143 American distance records, including a 53½ hour coast to coast solo drive averaging over 50 mph in 1933! He died a hero in 1960.
Inspired by the great man and in defiance of the then introduced 55 mph US speed limit, rebellious journalist Brock Yates launched the “Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash”.
An account of his tale in Car & Driver Magazine lit the Cannonball fuse. Four subsequent races were held, the climax being the 1979 event – the fastest of them all - which attracted 26 entries and was won by David Heinz and David Yarborough, who completed the entire course in just 32 hours and 51 minutes at an average of nearly 88 mph. The legend was established.
Of course everybody remembers the subsequent Cannonball movies and great fun they were too. Whilst Yates was involved in the creation of the first, he felt the real spirit of the event was lost in the translation to film and professed his disappointment at the creative, if not financial outcome.
And so the rally ceased existence until Tim Porter brought it back to life in October 2002, when an astonishing 69 cars and 140 new Cannonballers stepped up to be counted when Cannonball Run Europe threw down the challenge of a European revival. The machines may have been more modern (save for the 1970s Fastback Mustang), the rules refined to take account of a more modern age, but the spirit of the event has not been diluted with the passing of time.
In January 2006 Jan Dechamps purchased the license for the UK event and following on from her successful 2006 & 2007 Run, plans to take the event onto further greatness in 2008 bringing even more new Cannonballers to the start line, creating new stories and new legends.