Summaries

Synopsis

Over the opening credits, Donato (John Schneider) spots a roadblock as he races his red Lamborghini down a country road, chased by a half dozen police cruisers. He turns sharply right onto a dirt road, causing one of the police cruisers to smash into the roadblock. Donato speeds up and skips his car over a small pond witnessed by an old man (Lee Van Cleef) and his grandson who are skipping stones. Donato drives to a small country hotel where he complains to his mechanic, Valentino Rosatti (Brian George), that the car feels sluggish.

Inside the hotel, drivers party before they engage in the "Cannonball Run," an illegal cross country race from Washington, D.C. to Santa Monica, California. Outside, parking lot attendant, Charlie Cronan (John Candy), is watching television when an old high school rival of his named Leo Ross (Eugene Levy) drives up in a BMW and blasts an air horn. Leo's girlfriend, Tiffany (Donna Dixon), the new "BMW Girl," leaps out of Leo's car and apologizes. Leo orders Charlie to park his car, but instead, Charlie races between other sports car before returning to inform Leo the lot is full.

In the ladies room at the inn, Lee Roberts (Melody Anderson) and her best friend Margaret (Sheri Belafonte), two automotive arts PhDs, pitch their "Fuzz Buster," a machine that can detect a molecule only found on police uniforms. Meanwhile, Mafia hit-man Vic DeRubis (Joe Flaherty) finds Alec Stewart (Matt Frewer), an Englishman deadbeat who has a contract on him for not paying a bookie, and apologizes that he has to kill him. Alec convinces him that after losing bets for eight years, it is a mathematical certainty he will win the one he has placed on the Jaguar team to win the "Cannonball" run.

Lee and Margaret find Gus Gold (Harvey Atkin), sponsor of the Fiat car, who will only look at the Fuzz Buster if the girls bring it to his hotel room. When they arrive, they find a naked Gus in a hot tub. They are all surprised when the Fuzz Buster goes off, indicating police nearby. In the banquet hall, Police Chief Spiro T. Edsel (Peter Boyle) leads dozens of machine-gun-toting cops who cart off all the drivers. Edsel brags to newscasters Jack O'Neill (Tim Matheson) and Heather Scott (Mimi Kuzyk) that this is a pre-emptive strike to cancel the race.

Vic locates Alec in a bathroom, and is strangling him when Mr. Benson (Louis Del Grande) arrives to wash his hands. Benson bemoans the fact that his contract with Jaguar stipulates a "Brit" must drive their entry. Alec volunteers, bragging that he drove in the "Albanian Grand Prix." Benson takes up his offer and Vic postpones Alec's death to become his passenger.

Meanwhile, with his driver in jail, Leo hires Charlie to drive the BMW after seeing his driving skills in the parking lot. As it is mandatory every car have a passenger, Leo orders Tiffany to accompany him. Before they go, Leo promises his divorce will be done by the time Tiffany reaches California.

Margaret and Lee convince Gus Gold to let them drive his car after they kidnap him and drive though a park at over a hundred miles an hour.

Jack O'Neill has his mechanic upgrade the Ford news van and convinces Heather Scott their news director wants them to enter the rally and broadcast live. As they take their place on the starting line, wealthy brothers Nelson and Randolph Van Sloan (Tom and Dick Smother) cut them off in a Bentley convertible. Valentino Rosetti stalls at the starting line and "Flash," (Art Hingle) an off-duty police officer, orders him to move out of the way and let him drive. All the participants punch a time clock and drive off. Only the Van Sloans maintain the speed limit. Nelson explains to his brother that they are going to cheat by flying to Las Vegas, Nevada, to do some gambling, then fly to Los Angeles where they will pick up an identical Bentley and drive it a few miles to Santa Monica for the win.

Back in Washington, D.C., Chief Edsel learns the Cannonball Run is underway, and calls for a conference of every state police commissioner in the lower 48 states.

As the race proceeds, Alec eliminates some of competition by telephoning police along the way, claiming other racers' cars are stolen or the drivers had committed hit and runs. When Alec comes to a ferry crossing, the boat is leaving the wharf. Vic DeRubis pushes him out of the driver's seat and jumps the car off the pier, over the ferry, and on to the other side of the river. When the boat docks, Alec attempts to bribe the pilot not to ferry the other racers. When the pilot refuses, Vic knocks him unconscious.

Meanwhile, Charlie is taking another route, when Tiffany has a panic attack. He teaches her a breathing technique that causes her to fall asleep. Charlie is distracted by her low-cut top and accidentally cuts off a tractor-trailer truck which the unseen driver gives chase (a reference to the 1971 film 'Duel'). As Charlie tries to get away from the truck, his cigarette ash falls between Tiffany's legs, setting the seat on fire. Trying not to wake Tiffany, Charlie tries to put out the fire as the truck rear-ends them. Charlie apologizes to Tiffany, who only believes his story when she sees the cigarette burn on the seat. Their car loses power due to overheating. The truck rear-ends them again, Charlie turns on the heater, which cools the engine and they speed away.

Back in Washington, D.C., Chief Edsel orders every interstate highway but Route 70 closed, and orders all state police to converge at Bakersfield, California, for the world's biggest roadblock.

Racing through rural Iowa, Flash and Valentino Rosatti evade a state police officer by riding up onto a car carrier, but the cop follows. Just as the policeman demands their drivers licenses, the car carrier passes into Missouri and Flash informs the cop he is out of his jurisdiction.

That evening, Valentino and Flash are left at a diner. As they order burgers, Alec and Vic arrive, see a Lamborghini, and Vic rips off the doors, airfoil and distributor. Valentino and Flash emerge from the diner and jump into an identical Lamborghini. They are followed by boxer Michael Spinks, the car's real owner.

The next day, the Van Sloan brothers board a flight in Las Vegas, but a hijacker attempts to take over the plane during takeoff. The crew overpowers the hijacker, but the aircraft rolls off the runway onto Interstate 80 where the plane loses its wings as it goes under an overpass. Refusing to lose the race, Randolph Van Sloan bribes the captain to taxi the plane to Los Angeles.

Alec and Vic are the first to make it to Bakersfield and discover the road is blocked by hundreds of state troopers. Vic attempts to run the barricades, but Alec pulls out the keys and they coast into the arms of police and are placed in a cruiser. As Chief Edsel pontificates to television cameras, the jet smashes through the barricade at full throttle, opening a hole for the other racers. Vic and Alec break off their handcuffs and Alec jumps into the driver's seat of the police cruiser. Deciding to hide in plain sight, Alec turns on his sirens and joins the other police cars chasing the racers. Finding himself without a car, Edsel jumps into the Jaguar and races after them. They drive to Los Angeles, cutting off other drivers, running red lights, and jumping meridians.

As they race through Hollywood, Tiffany tells Charlie she is afraid of Leo. Charlie tells her she has Leo "all wrong," then suddenly realizes they have lost their brakes. They hurtle down a hill, but Charlie turns onto a side road and rolls to a stop. Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis runs up complaining that he has been chasing Charlie for miles and hands Charlie his time card.

At the Santa Monica pier, Alec is chased by Chief Edsel in the Jaguar. He explains to Vic that it does not matter who is driving the Jaguar, if it crosses the finish line before the other racers, it wins. Alec uses the sirens to clear a path, but Chief Edsel loses control and the Jaguar smashes through a viewing stand into several police cruisers. When Edsel emerges holding the time card, a race official punches it and declares the Jaguar the winner. Michael Spinks arrives, asks who is driving the Jaguar, and then punches Chief Edsel in the face.

As the other racers celebrate finishing the race, Charlie and Tiffany take a walk on the beach. Leo catches them, congratulates Charlie for a good race and tells Tiffany he has booked them a room. As he leads her away, Leo mentions his wife is coming to town and Tiffany should lay low. Tiffany runs back to Charlie. When Leo calls her a bimbo, Charlie punches him in the face, and he and Tiffany skip off into the sunset.

The closing credits show the entire cast playfully riding bumper cars at the amusement pier at Santa Monica.