"This is designed to be the best software to defeat that 32:07 record that now stands." Isn’t the record 31:04? In this video Mark Nicholson of EyePatch Films, introduces a software package that integrates essentially all the systems that were used in 144A, with some new additions, in an attempt to break the Roy/Maher NY-LA record by using a ‘07 BMW Z4 M Coupe. We’re not sure it’s particularly wise to announce that you’re going to break the record lest you want to invite surveillance by numerous law enforcement agencies. We’re waiting for the record-breaking announcement and the data and the toll receipts and the witnesses, etc.. BTW, Alex doesn’t believe any of this is real.
I’ve left New York. What started as a ten-day trip to hammer out some business with Alex turned into five weeks of sleeping on his blue velour sectional, plenty of brainstorming, a ton of new friends and adventures the wooly world of startups that I couldn’t conceive of when I boarded that eastbound redeye in Sacramento over 4th of July weekend. But come to an end it has. We’re off to Monterey in 144B. We’ve enlisted the talents of Autoblog’s resident Northern California boy, Damon Lavrinc, to handle additional driving duties. We’re also attempting to warp the poor man’s brain. We’ve never attempted a driveplan that involved meeting an airline flight before, but that’s exactly what we’ll be attempting this time when we pick up Liz Moses.
She claims that she’ll bring some much-needed sense to the proceedings, but we’re a bit curious as to how much sense anyone who hitches a ride in a fake German police car crewed by a bald man, a bearded man and a blogging man could possibly have. Nevertheless, we intend to make our trek a memorable one. We’ll be broadcasting live video from Seero, as well as putting together one of our signature maps. We’ll be ruminating on the nature of driving in today’s America, passing through hamlets large and small as we travel the entire length of Interstate 80 — from the George Washington Bridge in New York to the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, then tooling down 101 through Silicon Valley and south to Steinbeck Country — where we’ll take in the goings on during what’s internationally recognized as the most fantastic collection of automotive events in one weekend. If you call yourself a car guy and haven’t made it to Monterey, mark your calendars. And once you experience it, you’ll want to come back every year.
I’ve never understood houseboats. Bad houses, worse boats. How many seemingly congruous combo "things" have ever been as good as their separate components? TV/VCR’s? No. TV’s can last decades, yet VCRs seldom last 5 years. TV/DVD players? Same problem. SUV’s? If you want a sports car yet need a truck, even a Porsche Cayenne Turbo isn’t as good a sports car or truck as the Porsche Cayman S and Ford F-150 you could buy for the Cayenne’s $115,000+.
Alex Roy isn’t crazy. I just thought I’d throw that out there, because when most people meet him and find out what he’s done, that’s their first reaction. I mean, only an insane person would dress up like a foreign police officer and drive around really fast in a fake foreign police car in a rally where the prize is nothing. Most people would say that doing just that one time is a crazy thing to do. How about eight times? Have we reached crazy yet? What if he then decided to break the long-standing Cannonball record by driving from New York City to Los Angeles in less than 32 hours? Would that be crazy? According to most people, yes it would.
A big congratulations and thanks to our old friend Brian Scotto, founder of the all-new car enthusiast magazine 0-60, whose gorgeous inaugural issue looks and feels like an American version of EVO - my long-time favorite of the UK car mags. Autoblog agrees, calling 0-60 "…a reason to wait by the mailbox again…"
Brian was kind enough to feature my Polizei M5 in the front of the first issue - with a full two-page photospread of the interior taken by master car photographer Jonathan Bushell - but you’ll have to buy it on the news-stand to see it.
