Remember When An Audi S6 Dressed Like A Ford Police Interceptor Set A New Cannonball Record?

Most automotive enthusiasts out there are aware of what’s known as the Cannonball Run, an unofficial, unsanctioned race that has taken place several times over the past few decades. Typically spanning the coasts of New York to California, the Cannonball Run originated back in the 1970s, but enjoyed a bit of a resurgence in the early 2000s. Since then, the Cannonball Run record has been broken on multiple occasions, most recently, in 2020, when this Audi S6 dressed as a Ford Police Interceptor managed to reset the record books yet again.

Arne Toman and Doug Tabbutt piloted this Ford Police Interceptor in disguise from New York City to Los Angeles, California in a mere 25 hours and 39 minutes back in August 2020, averaging 112 miles-per-hour along the way. Thanks to a reduction in traffic during the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of teams attempted to do precisely the same thing, but ultimately, this particular effort came out on top thanks to those ideal conditions, along with some interesting modifications made to the German luxury sedan.

One of the most important modifications present on this S6 is a massive 45-gallon auxiliary fuel cell that fills up the trunk, but humorously enough, Toman and Tabbutt also wanted to make their white sedan look a bit more like a police vehicle – as one might imagine, as a way to prompt slow drivers to move out of their way, as well as perhaps evade detection in general. To make it look more like the Taurus-based Ford Police Interceptor from the past, the Audi was also fitted with a unique front grille and a Blue Oval-esque badge.

Traveling through busy parts of the country at night as part of their strategy, Toman and Tabbutt wound up stopping for fuel just five times and wasting a mere 31 minutes on that activity across the 2,816 mile journey. Thanks to a team of support scouts, they were able to drive cross-country without being pulled over by the actual police, either, reaching a top speed of 175 mph along the way. Obviously, such endeavors are dangerous, illegal, and generally frowned upon, but this is still an impressive achievement by any measure.