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Old 01-21-2022, 11:28 AM
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Default Cannonball 1975 (Super Duty)

Apologies if this has been discussed before.
I was watching a documentary on the Cannonball Run. The footage of the 1975 entrants showed a red '74 SD Trans Am; which finished 12th. A little research came up with this bit of info.

12/Dave Shugars, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Dennis Weglarz, South Lyon, Michigan; Ron McConkey, Milford, Massachusetts; 1974 Pontiac Trans Am; 40 hours, 43 minutes; average speed, 71.3 mph: These are three engineers, on vacation from the emissions laboratory at the proving grounds at what we will enigmatically describe as a Big Three automaker, ran an immaculate Firebird with one of the rare 455 super-duty engines and a tall 2.60 final drive. Unfortunately, a speeding bust, shock absorber troubles and set of radials that were excellent in the rain but limited top speed to 110 mph ruined their chances for a high placing

Anybody know these guys or know more of the story?

Curious,
Eric

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Old 01-21-2022, 12:31 PM
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Here's a picture of it. It was at a Trans Am show in Florida a few years ago.

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Old 01-21-2022, 01:55 PM
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Was the documentary streaming somewhere?

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Old 01-21-2022, 02:01 PM
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There are a few shots of the SD Trans Am in this documentary on the Countach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b7erU_DOfE

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Old 01-21-2022, 02:03 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Davis View Post
There are a few shots of the SD Trans Am in this documentary on the Countach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b7erU_DOfE
Yup, that's the video that I was watching. SD is visible starting at 21:35

Eric

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Old 01-21-2022, 03:35 PM
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Cool find guys, I was talking to the father of one of the guys who set the new record during covid. He was telling me
All about how technical it’s become in recent years.
Cool that there was a SD 455 car in the mix once upon a time.

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Old 01-21-2022, 09:35 PM
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They're still running the Cannonball Run? I thought it was over years ago.

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Old 01-21-2022, 10:13 PM
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I know of Dennis Weglarz (from when I worked at Milford) but did not know about his involvement in this.


K

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Old 01-21-2022, 10:16 PM
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I suspect Ron McConkey is from Milford, Michigan, like the rest of them; not Milford Massachusetts as stated in the article.

K

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Old 01-22-2022, 04:30 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GT182 View Post
They're still running the Cannonball Run? I thought it was over years ago.
My kid was reading about it and wanting to do it during covid ( perfect time). Of course we didn’t and this guy I ran into said his son set the record during covid and blew the old one away . That’s all I really know . As far as my kid was telling me it still goes on.

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Old 01-22-2022, 04:31 PM
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https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cul...d-coronavirus/


These guys are pretty high tech about it these days too.

Funny thing is I didn’t even know my kid knew what the cannon ball run was she’d never even seen the movie that I know of guess she just ran across a story about it somewhere or tik tok or something.

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Last edited by turbo69bird; 01-22-2022 at 04:36 PM.
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Old 01-22-2022, 06:35 PM
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It reminds me of a few years ago when a couple of GM engineers from the Milford Proving Grounds took a stock 2012 Buick Regal GS with a 6-speed manual trans and did the pony express. That car was a production Regal GS with a 260 hp 4-cylinder Turbo and they did very well in their class. They surprised a lot of people with that car.

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Old 01-22-2022, 07:53 PM
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Why bother to bring the car if you can't see it? Put that stuff with the other stuff to one side. I have had people ask me to move a card INSIDE the windshield because of reflection, thats fine. But this 74 YOU are blocked �� out of..

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Old 01-24-2022, 08:20 AM
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That's the only picture I had. Space at the show was limited.
There ought to be good pictures somewhere from articles in magazine or other sources.

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Old 01-24-2022, 09:41 AM
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https://m.imdb.com/video/vi306297881...f_=tt_pr_ov_vi

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Old 01-24-2022, 09:44 AM
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Very interesting documentary from ice tea I know he loves to race sports cars and such. He makes the documentary very interesting when you listen to his excitement. No I’m a big fan. Somebody recently broke the record in something like 24 hours in a AMG Mercedes disguised as a Honda.

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Old 01-24-2022, 12:02 PM
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Anyone remember the specs on gearing on this car? I want to say I vaguely remember 2.56 or 2.73 gears non OD of course.....

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Old 01-24-2022, 01:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thepontiacman View Post
Here's a picture of it. It was at a Trans Am show in Florida a few years ago.

Sent from my Moto Z3 Play using Tapatalk
A couple years ago I was in the market for a SD455 4 speed. The owner of this car approached me and offered to sell the car. I declined due to it having extensive sheet metal replacement. IIRC.. The current owner was from the Chicago area and had owned the car since the early 80's.

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Old 01-25-2022, 12:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jerry455 View Post
It reminds me of a few years ago when a couple of GM engineers from the Milford Proving Grounds took a stock 2012 Buick Regal GS with a 6-speed manual trans and did the pony express. That car was a production Regal GS with a 260 hp 4-cylinder Turbo and they did very well in their class. They surprised a lot of people with that car.
The convergence of the words "Milford Proving Ground" and "Pony Express" just reminded me of something; it doesn't have anything to do with this thread really, but I wanted to capture it while I was thinking of it.

When I was at MPG my office mate was the fleet coordinator for full size truck development.

One of his responsibilities was to administrate the "Pony Express" test program. We had two identical crew cab dually pickups with matching gooseneck trailers. Every week one rig would leave the Desert Proving Ground and at the same time another rig would leave the Milford Proving Grounds. They would meet up mid week in Oklahoma City, where the drivers would switch rigs and return home, thereby completing a full trip for the vehicle and cargo itself.

The motivation was twofold: (a) it gave us a dependable way to expedite material from one facility to the other, and (b) it was an opportunity to durability test the trucks and any additional equipment added.

I suspect they don't do that anymore. My office mate John was the champion of this project (among other real world evaluations) and it probably died when he was put out to pasture in the passenger car group.

K

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Old 01-25-2022, 01:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bird72 View Post
Anyone remember the specs on gearing on this car? I want to say I vaguely remember 2.56 or 2.73 gears non OD of course.....
From the pasted article:

".....with one of the rare 455 super-duty engines and a tall 2.60 final drive."

Eric

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