Man Claims Fastest NY-to-LA Drive Ever

Ed Bolian says he's done something virtually impossible, highly dangerous, and extraordinarily illegal: Along with a hastily-recruited co-driver and passenger, he drove from New York City to LA in 28 hours and 50 minutes, he tells Doug Demuro of Jalopnik. That means the team traveled an average of 98mph, including 46 minutes of total stop time, USA Today reports, with a top speed of 158mph. If it's true—and Bolian allegedly has 218 pages of GPS tracking data to prove it is—the Oct. 19-20 drive shatters the 2006 record of 31 hours and 4 minutes.

Though little-known, the cross-country record has a storied history, dating to 1933. "I've wanted to break the record since I was 18 years old," Bolian says. He spent years planning his run, outfitting his car—a nine-year-old Mercedes-Benz CL55 with 115,000 miles on it—with two extra 22-gallon fuel tanks; two GPSes; a host of cop-avoidance gadgets, including three radar detectors; and a CB radio, used to trick truckers into getting out of his way by posing as one of them. They also brought a bedpan, so they could avoid all possible stops. It's a pretty wild story, with the drive kicking off with 15 minutes of NYC traffic, and Demuro's full writeup is worth a read. (More Ed Bolian stories.)