(photo taken by Michael Hollander at the US Express)
US Express and Cannonball photographer, Michael Hollander, has passed away from cancer. Included is footage from the ‘75 Cannonball, the finish of the ‘83 US Express, and a recent interview Cory did with him for 32 Hours 7 Minutes. Although the time had not been officially calculated (Hollander tells Diem and Turner their time was 32:15), Hollander is the one to announce in ‘83 that a new record had been set, which turned out to be the impetus for this film. I’ve included some words from Rick Doherty, US Express organizer and Cannonball participant, as well as Davey Johnson, a friend of Michael’s:
Brock Yates and Hal Needham, accompanied by Brock’s wife, Pamela, and a doctor friend named Lyle Royer, ran the 1979 Cannonball in an ambulance. Yes. It’s true. Their souped-up Dodge “TransCon Medivac” carried a modified 440 Chrysler Magnum, high-speed shocks and sway bars, a 60 gallon fuel tank, and a whole crap-load of flashing lights, medical gear, stickers, uniforms, etc.
This is a great one from some boys in the US Express:
"The sneaky-Pete award went to a last minute entry: George Lloyd from Austin, and his clever partner Ron Docie, from LA. George and Ron left M.Y. with a six-hour-old new rear-end in a Turbo Trans Am."
Alex had a night-vision thermal camera installed into the grill of the M5. The initial thought was driving at night, sans lights of any sort, using only an in-dash screen, and thus obtaining ultimate stealth. This turned out to be super dangerous. Surprise! The camera wasn’t deemed useless, though, as they could still spot a cop hiding in a highway median in the dark of night. Another more aggressive option that some drivers employed back in the Cannonball and Express days was night vision goggles/binoculars. The maniac pictured above used infra-red goggles while at the wheel in the 4-ball rally, an early 80’s Express knock-off run from Boston to San Diego. Call me crazy, but this, for some reason, also looks incredibly dangerous.
photo: [Road-Race Outlaws, The Plain Dealer, 9/18/83]
In early November 2005, 32 Hours 7 Minutes director Cory Welles screened a rough cut in NYC for Alex Roy, Team Polizei’s fearless captain and experienced rally driver. By mid-December, 2005, little more than one month later, Welles and Roy, along with his co-pilot Jon Goodrich, set out to see if this 20+ year old cross-country driving record was real - and maybe even breakable - today.
Are you freaking kidding me with this one? I want one of these. And I’m not driving a million miles an hour in a 55mph zone. This is a "ticket" Mack Howard got in his ‘82 US Express run. Granted he received 2 actual tickets within 3 hours of this warning, but still…
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