In 1983, David Diem and Doug Turner set a world record: 32 hours 7 minutes to drive an automobile from New York to Los Angeles on public roads.  They accomplished this not as part of a manufacturer's promotion, Guiness attempt, or other publicity stunt, but because it could be done.  They were racing in the last year of the US Express, the underground, outlaw cross-country road race that succeeded the Cannonball Run, which ran from 1971 to 1979.  Many who participated in the race believed that Diem and Turner had somehow cheated, since their winning time required averaging -- averaging! -- over 89 miles per hour for more than 2700 miles, including five gas stops and a stop for a traffic ticket.

Now, the Cory Welles / Gravid Films documentary 32 Hours 7 Minutes has recently been released on DVD to document not only their story, but the story of the 2006 attempt to prove not only that the 32:07 record was possible, but that it could be beaten.

I purchased an early copy of the DVD and can provide the following brief review: it's great -- if you're a car geek, racing geek, or a fan of outlaw racing or the movie Cannonball Run, you need to pick this up to hear the real story.

Director Welles interweaves the stories of the early cross-country races and outlaw racing scene that surrounded the original Cannonball and successor US Express with the mystery of how Diem/Turner accomplished their historic feat, as well as how Alex Roy and Team Polizei 144 set out to beat the record.

Roy documented his attempt in his 2007 book The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World.  While the book is great and provides a tremendous amount of detail about the planning and execution of Roy's multiple attempts at the record, 32 Hours 7 Minutes is a necessary companion.  The one hour, forty minute film provides both histocial context via interviews with the original participants, as well as the drama of actual footage from both the 1983 race and the in-car footage from Roy's multiple cross-country attempts.  Short of driving it yourself, nothing quite captures the pucker factor of doing 140 down a public highway with eyes peeled for law enforcement and ears wired to the squawk of a CB radio, as the in-car documentary of the actual event.

I met Alex Roy at the 2008 New York Auto Show shortly after his book was published, and found him to be two people: a gifted showman and self-promoter who has built a larger-than-life image through his Polizei 144 exploits, and a focused, deliberate planner capable of setting all else aside to massage the slightest detail needed for success.  While you get a glimpse of both in the documentary, it's the latter that comes through the clearest: you'll see Roy's obsessive attention to detail as he pours over routes and preps the mulitple GPS systems and night visions sensors he used in his custom-modified 2000 BMW M5.  

Alex and I  had a lengthy discussion at the show comparing the planning and analysis for his cross-country runs to the remarkably similar military procedure known as "Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield".  While he doesn't have the same background, Roy planned with all the focus and attention to detail needed for a high-stakes military operation.  The film provides great insight into the outcome, though the book explores Roy's process in greater detail.

Oh, and the record?  Well, I won't spoil the ending or reveal the secret that enabled the '83 run to succeed -- you'll have to pick up the film or read the book for that!