Chewing Gum Rallye

Just seeing these cars when in 1976 they were still "cheap" enough to not simply be garage queens - a Mercedes-Benz 300SL roadster, 427 Cobra, Ferrari Daytona Spyder, E-Type Jag...

This is based loosely on a true race, Brock Yate's original Cannon Ball Run - in which, if I am not mistaken, was in 1971 and like the movie, left Manhattan but ended up in Redondo Beach. Yates and Dan Gurney won in a Ferrari Daytona Coupe at 35:54, and surprisingly a Chevy Van was second some 50 minutes later.

Like the actual race there was some contestants who had a specially rigged van with a huge gas tank that was supposed to take them across the country without need for a fill up - nothing said on bathroom breaks.

If you are looking for a movie with some deep social message this isn't the one but if you like cars (and listening to the wonderful noises of the Cobra and Ferrari) this is the movie...

If you're looking for non-stop racing, wild chases and more of the old good movies, check out "the Gumball Rally". It's fast and hilarious, it's old but it didn't lose its charm. My personal favorites were Michael Bannon and Samuel Graves and the car they drove - a beautiful, blue Shelby Cobra. To find out who wins is up to you - so watch it!

There's one negative point I have to add: during the movie, you will only see freaky, no-limit racing and a speed above 100 mph. Oh yes, enjoy the Ferrari 275 GTB. Beside the 250 GT California in FBDO, this is a unique car you won't see a lot in movies!

Somehow this movie came and went on DVD and I missed out. My loss.

This is one of the great outlaw road race comedies - better than Cannonball

Run, better than most of the Smokey and the Bandit movies. Time-warp

yourself back to America in 1976 with its national 55 mile-per-hour speed

limit and a recent history of gas rationing, and you will better appreciate

the spirit of this film. The incomparable Raul Julia is superb as the ringer Italian race car driver hired to win for the Ferrari team. Norman Burton

defines for generations the frustrated cop role in this film, and a youthful

Garey Busey tears up the screen as a rebel hick in a Camaro. I still get a

chill when I see the Cobra and Ferrari tearing down the Long Beach flood

control channels with no speed limits, lots of water and smooth concrete,

and the California sun shining down, and I still can't visit the Queen Mary

without seeing the Gumball Rally finish line and the lovely young insurance

policy hired by Michael Sarrizin. Mindless fun, but like a Sunday drive up

the coast, well-worth the trip. And if you find an extra copy of the DVD,

please send it my way!!!

The driving sequences through the early mourning streets of New York City are some of the best I have ever seen. There are no camera tricks. The drivers really are launching those incredible cars around the corners at full throttle. The movie is worth watching just for the incredible driving. So few films do it correctly, fortunately this is not one of those films.

I remember articles about the movie when it was still being shot. It was supposed to be a light hearted romp across the country with the cars being the stars. With that in mind, it succeeds greatly. My son and I have watched the "Garage Scene" over and over again. This movie is to car nuts what a porno is to sex nuts. It's hard to believe you can indulge yourself this much in front of the family without feeling guilty. :^)

Also, I've read a few of the comments and would like to make corrections here. The transmission in the Cobra (yes it was a real 427 Cobra) was a four speed "Toploader" transmission, not a 5 speed Tremec. There were no replica Cobras in those days. Also, the Ferrari was a 365 GTS/4. I also remember reading that the first Ferrari rented for the movie was totaled and they had to get another to take its place. However, that was over 30 years ago.