Renting a Mustang GT to Drive from New York to Los Angeles in Under 26 Hours!
This might be the best example ever for why it’s a HORRIBLE idea to purchase a pre-owned rental Mustang.
While 2020 has been a pretty garbage year for far too many people, one niche automotive community has been making the best of it thanks to reduced cross-country traffic. Cannonballers. Don’t know the Cannonball challenge or remember the ’80s movie series it inspired? Here are the basics. It’s an unsanctioned race against time where solo drivers or driving teams hustle from New York to Los Angeles as fast as they can. In the last few years, several prominent Cannonballers have chronicled their exploits on YouTube channels or pivoted into other automotive careers.
And as you can see in the video above, a Cannonballer named Fred Ashmore just set the solo Cannonball record by driving from New York to L.A. in 25 hours and 55 minutes, which obliterates the previous record by over 40 minutes.
Oh, and Ashmore did it with a RENTAL CAR he returned after his record-breaking drive.
Of course, it helps that this particular rental car was a silver 2019 Ford Mustang GT Premium that Ashmore stripped and modded to meet his needs. Outside of his heated and cooled driver’s seat, he chucked the rest of the seating and replaced them with 130 gallons worth of supplemental gas tanks so he only had to stop for gas once across country.
Ashmore also added a light bar to improve high-speed night vision as well as a laser jammer (that went unused), radar detector, and iPad running Waze, and an iPhone running Google Maps and a timer. (Ashmore also used the Mustang GT’s internal timer).
Ashmore contemplated using a Taurus Interceptor as well as a Dodge Chargers, but ultimately it was the third-gen 5.0 Coyote-powered Mustang GT that offered the perfect combination of comfort, size/weight and the ability to travel long distances at high speeds. How fast, you ask? Ashmore told Road & Track, “The Mustang GT will not go any faster than 159 miles per hour. “Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying.”
After setting the record and attending one more (non-cross-country) car challenge, Ashmore put the interior back together, slapped on a fresher set of used tires, and returned the Mustang GT to the rental car company. His total investment in the car? $600 for the rental and $100 for the used tires.
God, I feel sorry for whoever buys this Mustang GT when the rental company unloads it. Or if that person or the rental company ever sees these videos, what will happen?
Screengrabs: VinWiki
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