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Posted By: NateB Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 09th 2006 11:53 am
Gang,

This has been going through my head for quite a while now.

About 4 years ago I was at the All-Chrysler Nationals in Carlisle, PA. Since I'm in a club, I got to attend the VIP luncheon with the president of our club. That year's special guest was Brock Yates. As is cutomary, the special guest gets to make a speech. Anyhow, he was talking about this and that and the subject of the movie "The Cannonball Run." Now Brock could've talked about anything from the movie, but what he focused on was the Dodge ambulance. His exact words were, "..boy if that van could be found...it would be really something." He went on to describe what was done to the van for the high-speeds it would have to sustain during the shoots. Now I don't exactly remember all the details, but I do know that it was fitted with a 440 Magnum and a built A727. Of course that movie being made over 20 years ago, he didn't go into a lot of specifics. Last night I was reading an article about the movie and according to it, the suspension was modified somewhat so the van could sustain speeds of 130 mph in some shots (130 MPH!!!!...in a van)

I do know that the van is a '78 B300 127" WB Sportsman with double rear doors and slider on the side. There plenty of good pics of the van as well.

I've really considering building a replica down the road since the original van is probably long gone. Creative liberties would take place as well since the modifications this van went through is not documented. I could contact Brock Yates personally and ask him what he remembers.

What do you all think? This may or may not happen...I've just been brainstorming.

<small>[ March 09, 2006, 06:53 AM: Message edited by: Nate the skate ]</small>
Posted By: kevin nh Re: Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 09th 2006 12:18 pm
I think your on to something. You can do it!
Posted By: Da Bomb Re: Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 09th 2006 12:52 pm
There is a van on cardomain which was entered in the Gumball 3000 rally:-

Cardomain Gumball Van

Always wanted to enter a rally like that, dont know if i would want to get pulled over constantly by the police though!
Posted By: Capn Scurvy Re: Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 09th 2006 2:13 pm
That's awesome. I had always thought that they just speed the film up for the scenes where they were cooking along in the van. I had also assumed that the sound FX coming from the van were added in the editing. I may have been wrong. That van is the best part of that movie. To build a replica would kick much ass! I say go for it.
Posted By: NateB Re: Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 09th 2006 4:45 pm
Well...there's some things it would definitley have to have. I would definitely need to have the 440 Magnum engine (A 440 TNT engine out of an early 70's Chrysler 300 would work as well). It has to be a '78 B300 Sportsman with the same door & window configuration.

Once the '77 is up and done, I may sell the '94 to fund the project. Who knows....
Posted By: Capn Scurvy Re: Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 10th 2006 5:40 am
You'd definitely need an old donor ambulance for the vintage lights and other things that made that one unique to the 70's.

...and of course you'd need a 'Captain Chaos' outfit.

Da da DA!!!

<small>[ March 09, 2006, 12:42 PM: Message edited by: Cap'n Scurvy ]</small>
Posted By: Da Bomb Re: Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 09th 2006 10:45 pm
And dont forget Farah fawcett, and the strange bog eyed doctor!
Posted By: Capn Scurvy Re: Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 09th 2006 11:09 pm
Jack Elam. THe mystery proctologist.
Posted By: mondo Re: Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 09th 2006 11:12 pm
great idea nate you might want to check with the local cops first tho, you may need to exclude certain aspects
Posted By: Vantravlrs Re: Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 10th 2006 4:22 am
Wasnt the original also a maxi van?
You could always swap out sml and the tail panel, or weld in later laightlights, so it waould appear to be a 78.
Ill keep my eyes open. There are some Ford Ambulances locally for sale, and Ive seen the Dodges around here and there in the past. One will pop up sooner or later.
Posted By: NateB Re: Cannonball Run Ambulance - March 10th 2006 12:08 pm
Nope...not a Maxi. I was looking at some footage yesterday afternoon. The van has some odd looking mirrors as well. Almost look like E-body sport mirrors.
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