The Repco Garage has already covered the famed US coast-to-coast race immortalised in Hollywood named the Cannonball Run, but three friends have claimed to completed the feat in less than 24 hours using a familiar model to Australians.
Starting their record breaking run from Jacksonville, Florida and finishing in San Diego, California, the trio completed the trip in 23 hours and 35 minutes at an average speed of 167km/h driving a Chevrolet SS or Holden Commodore SSV.
A totally illegal run just like the Cannonballs previously, it is claimed the highest speed reached was in excess of 270km/h.
Bronson Justice gave an interview to VinWiki YouTube stating the claim and providing further information on how he alongside friends Christopher Michaels and Rob Spectre prepared for the trek.
An 83-litre fuel cell was fitted in the boot, while the back seat was converted into a Mission Control area featuring GPS sensors, computers, radar detectors and other equipment to aid in avoiding police, traffic or both.
“I said, it’s now or never. Somebody is going to do it before I get a chance to do it,” Justice said.
“We just had to trust our equipment, trust mission control and go for it.
“We were the first team to cross the country in one day under 24 hours. It’s been a dream of mine to get it done for two or three years. We accomplished it.”
Traditionally, the Cannonball Run starts at the Red Ball Garage in New York and ends at the Portofino Hotel in California, with Justice admitting his route was shorter.
It wasn’t all plain sailing due to the trio forced to restart their attempt due to a failure in the auxiliary fuel tank and a tyre delamination at high speed further delayed the record run.
The trio were also not adverse to the police and received multiple tickets including one at 60km/h over the speed limit.
“I’ve got out of quite a few tickets,” Justice said.
“This guy wasn’t having it.”
The Commodore is the latest of a long-run of V8s used to attempt the record, with Justice stating it was ideal for the journey.
The current record is held by Arne Roman, Doug Tabbutt and Dundee Daryoush in an Audi S6 set during the global pandemic of 2020.