Still under the care of its original owner, noted SCCA racer and automotive writer Jack May, and showing just 50,819 miles on the odometer, this is the Bianco Polo 1973 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS made famous by the sportsman-adventurer and his co-driver Rick Cline when they won the 1975 Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining- Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, in the process setting a new world record time for the Cannonball by racing from New York City to Los Angeles in 35 hours and 53 minutes, averaging 83 MPH. Conceived by Car and Driver Magazine editors Brock Yates and Steve Smith, the Cannonball was named in honor of one of the true giants of early American automotive competition, Erwin George “Cannon Ball” Baker, who amassed a total of 143 cross-country endurance driving records in the course of his career. To launch their project, Yates, two co-drivers and his son Brock Jr. made an “unofficial” solo run in May 1971 from New York City to the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California, in a 1971 Dodge Custom Sportsman van nicknamed “Moon Trash II.” They completed the trip in 40 hours, 51 minutes, covering 2,858 miles at an average speed of 70 MPH. Yates’ subsequent article and promotional efforts in the pages of Car and Driver bore fruit when, on Monday, November 15, 1971, seven entrants surreptitiously departed from the Red Ball parking garage in New York City for the first official cross- country dash. Sharing the wheel of a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona supplied by Philadelphia Ferrari dealer Kirk F. White, Yates and recently retired racing hero Dan Gurney famously won that inaugural race, traversing 2,863 miles in 35 hours, 54 minutes, their average speed 80.8 MPH. Gurney and Yates’ record remained intact after the 1972 race, which was won by Steve “Yogi” Behr, Bill Canfield and Fred Olds, who completed the run in a brand new 1973 Cadillac Coupe DeVille in 37 hours, 16 minutes. By then, news of the Cannonball had spilled over from the defiantly tongue-in-cheek accounts in the automotive press to wider attention in the establishment media. For May and Cline, that soon would include coverage of their record-setting win in the May 5, 1975 issue of TIME Magazine. May, a national champion SCCA racer, and Cline, also a national champion and expert engine builder, departed from the Red Ball garage at 10:07 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 23, as stamped on their official ticket, May’s Dino showing 9,571 miles. While May owned a Daytona at the time, he ultimately chose the Bianco Polo White Dino, viewing it as a more discreet choice for the duo’s high-speed, cross-country effort. During the course of their record run, the pair made all possible use of the Dino’s
