| Director | Jim Drake |
|---|---|
| Genre | action film, comedy film |
| Runtime | 95 min |
| Country | Canada, United States |
| Budget | $18 million |
| Box office | $3 million |
An assortment of people gather at a countryside inn in preparation for the infamous "Cannonball Run," an illegal three-day cross-country race from Washington, D.C. to Santa Monica where the winner and five runners-up will receive $1 million. However, the hot-headed Washington Chief of Police, Spiro T. Edsel, along with his long-suffering sidekick Whitman, arrests all of the drivers to prevent the race from happening. As a result, sponsors must find replacement drivers by the next day.
Leo Ross, seeing that his old school rival, Charlie Cronan, has driving skills while working as a parking valet, bullies him into driving his BMW. Ross also persuades Charlie to bring along Tiffany, a dimwitted Marilyn Monroe-esque actress.
Vic DeRubis is a hitman-for-hire sent to kill Alec Stewart, an English deadbeat and compulsive gambler who has squandered money that he borrowed from a loan shark, Big Wally. Alec convinces Vic to ride with him, hoping to win the Cannonball Run and pay off Big Wally. They team up in a Jaguar XJS.
Lea Roberts and Margaret, MIT graduates into electronics and gadgets, are tempted by the prize money and the challenge and enter the race. They take over a Ferrari Daytona Spyder by trapping Ferrari representative Gus Gold in the car, stunt-driving it, and refusing to let him out until he agrees to let them drive it in the race.
When Donato, the driver of the Lamborghini is arrested, a skittish Italian mechanic, Valentino Rosatti, is forced to drive it, but Flash, a former policeman who wants the money for his own reasons, takes the wheel.
Nelson and Randolph Van Sloan, two millionaires and the only drivers not arrested in the police sweep, enter in a Bentley Corniche convertible. They spend most of their time trying to secretly catch a flight to Los Angeles in order to win by cheating. However, the plane is hijacked during take off and the hijacker is subdued by the pilots, resulting in the plane overshooting the runway and going on to the highway.
Following the race are a pair of television reporters, Heather Scott and Jack O'Neill, who get so caught up in the action that they decide to race their Ford news van.
In hot pursuit is Edsel, who grows increasingly insane in his unsuccessful efforts to stop the racers. Edsel and his men manage to arrest Vic and Alec, who quickly escape and steal the police car. Edsel and Whitman chase after them in their Jaguar.
At the race conclusion, Edsel and Whitman inadvertently win the Cannonball Run by driving the Jaguar across the finish line at Santa Monica Pier first, crashing it into the awaiting line of police cars—saving Alec, because as he points out to Vic; the winner is the car, not the driver—followed by Vic and Alec in their stolen police car. Flash and Valentino with the Lamborghini came second, Charlie and Tiffany driving the BMW finish third, Lea and Margaret fourth, Heather and Jack fifth, and the Van Sloan brothers coming in last while riding on roller skis.
The ending credits features the cast playfully driving bumper cars.