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Brock Yates - RIP


craig71188

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A great car guy has passed:

http://autoweek.com/article/car-life/brock-yates-crosses-finish-line

 

If you ever saw the movie Cannonball Run and thought they made up most of that stuff, go read his book Cannonball about the real "races" and you will find much of it was (in some cases) only minor exaggeration!

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he was a real interesting character for sure and left a large hole in the automotive journalism world even before he passed. He will be missed.

 

A lot of his work at car and driver is archived on their website so you can read some of his columns:

http://www.caranddriver.com/search/all/author/BROCK+YATES

 

if you are looking for a place to start this is a good one:

http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/brock-yates-even-the-cops-liked-the-cannonball-column

 

not only does it confirm that some of the cars used in the cannonball run movie (specifically the Dandy Dick Landy prepped 440ci ambulance) but also talks about the one of the best scenes in the movie and the real life event behind it.

 

Since he appeared in the movie as himself/organizer I think this quote is fitting:

 

Of course you know certain sceptics note that perhaps 10,000 of the nations's most elite highway patrolmen are out there waiting for us after we start, but let's stay positively: Think of the fact that there's not one state in the 50 that has the death penalty for speeding... although I'm not so sure about Ohio.
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