Well, I'm officially going to attempt to drive my 6 door VW Jetta Limo the ~2,500 miles non-stop from Orchid Euro in Pottstown, PA to the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, in under 36 hours. That's a average speed of approximately 70mph from start to finish, with no provision for slow downs or stops. Which means no extra food or bathroom stops, only 3-4 gas stops max, and no traffic or breakdowns allowed i.e. ..: CANNONBALL RUN! :laugh:
Myself and a couple of friends are planning to leave early on Friday 28th October, arriving in Las Vegas mid-afternoon on Saturday 29th. Even typing that makes me realise how dumb this idea is :laugh: We will be updating via Facebook, Instagram, VWVortex etc, and I hope that at least some people might be entertained for 36 hours by watching a 30 year old stretched VW Jetta 1.8l drive across America at breakneck speeds opcorn: The plan is to carry 10 gallons of additional fuel, and to not exceed any given speed limit (or at lost by 10-15% and the Limo has a top 'reasonable' speed of 85mph).
I'm hoping to raise some money for 2 different charities during the trip; the Alzheimer's Association Brock Yates Memorial Fund, which I have chosen as Brock Yates has recently passed, and he was the founder of the Cannonball Run (aka the Cannonball Baker), a beloved journalist, and much more. This fund furthers research to cure Alzheimer's. The second charity is the Foundation Blue, which was started by the friends and family of a VWVortex member, and friend/customer of my company, Alexi, whose build thread can be seen here. What originally started with a group of friends helping to complete the unfinished project, has grown into a foundation that assists people within the VW community in times of need, through scholarships and one time gifts etc.
I would like to ask that if you're interested in making a donation that you give the suggested amount of $0.01c per mile for a total of $25.00(we're rounding the mileage off a little bit). Iin return I will choose one person who donated at random to win a goodie bag filled with various swag from the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, and I will also give the winner a Wheel Whores t-shirt in the swag bag too, in the size of their choosing, and probably whatever else we can find along the way too :heart: And just for clarity, I do not want any money directly, thank you - please give directly to the charities, and include a note with your name and some sort of identifier for the Jetta Limo Challenge. If you're giving to ALZ, please make sure to make it a publicly viewable donation so I can put your name 'in the hat' at the end
DONATION LINKS:
Donate to the Alzheimer's Association in honor of Brock Yates Memorial Fund by Clicking Here
Donate to Foundation Blue by Clicking Here
The background on the car is that it was built about 25 years ago in Canada, by a professional coachbuilding/body company. We believe at least two were produced, with approved designs and safety inspections, which I have copies of. One is lost to the sands of time, while the other reappeared in Virginia where an old guy was daily driving it, followed by a VWVortex member taking it to Waterfest. It then finally fell into disrepair, and was purchased by a VW collector in New Hampshire who stored it for multiple years. He then posted it for sale, and also contacted myself to see if I'd be interested in rebuilding it. I towed it back from NH to PA, expecting to install an engine and repaint it etc - instead I realized quickly what a ground up rescue it was going to be. New brake lines, new wiring, new engine, transmission, suspension, interior, etc etc etc, until it was finally safe-ish to drive. Since then we've driven it all over, and had some great fun with it, but this challenge is going to be a whole different league. Of course it's silly, it's meant to be. I hope you get a laugh out of it, and have some fun following along, and that we can get some money for the charities :heart:
If you do make a donation and would like to be entered to win the swag bag, please post on here, or via my Instagram account (@xjamiexoe) or somewhere else that I will see it, just to make the tracking easier. This is meant to fun first and foremost, but I don't want to miss putting your name in if you after the finest freebies that SEMA can offer :beer:
Short URL for linking to this thread: goo.gl/5pqGWy