Driving a 43-HP Geo Metro From NY to LA Takes a While. It’s Worth It

What’s your idea of the perfect car for a cross-country road trip? Is it a comfortable cruiser that will make all those miles seem less arduous, or is to something fast that will make things more exciting, particularly in the middle of the country where speed limits are often higher? Whatever your priorities, I’m guessing a 1992 Geo Metro convertible isn’t what immediately comes to mind.

Mitchell Kohrmann was fascinated by the Cannonball record runs between New York City and Los Angeles, but decided to make things more interesting by choosing the slowest possible car. This first-generation Metro is powered by a 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine that, because this is an LSi model, made 55 horsepower from the factory (there was also an XFi model that was detuned in the name of fuel economy). Before setting off, Kohrmann put the Metro on a dyno and found that it was actually making 43 hp at the wheels, which he calculated was more like 26 hp at the altitudes he’d reach while crossing the Rocky Mountains.

Mitchell Kohrmann via YouTube

Why attempt the Cannonball in a car that, as Kohrmann admits in the video, can barely get up hills? The goal was to do an “everyman’s Cannonball,” without the resources of wealthy would-be record breakers. Instead of a modified car with extra fuel tanks to stretch the time between stops, and spotters looking out for the police, this was just one guy and a simple, easy-to-fix car.

The Metro is legendary for its frugality. A rebadged Suzuki Cultus, it was underpowered even for its small size, but delivered up to 50 mpg (based on period testing standards) in come configurations. It was also one of the cheapest new cars available at the time, selling for just under $10,000 when new. First-generation models like the one used for this epic road trip were sold from model years 1989-1994. A follow-up version arrived for 1995 and lasted until 2001, adopting Chevrolet branding in 1998 as General Motors wound down Geo, which existed only to sell rebadged Japanese cars.

The tradeoff was safety. Driving something this small on a highway without the plethora of airbags and meticulously simulated crash structures of new cars is not for the faint of heart, which makes Kohrmann a true automotive hero for attempting it. And he did it the correct way, starting at the Red Ball Garage in the heart of Manhattan and driving to the Portofino Inn, just feet from the Pacific Ocean, as is traditional. He covered 2,838 miles in 49 hours, 11 minutes, and 18 seconds from start to finish.

Kohrmann’s Metro marathon is a great counterpoint to the typical Cannonball runs, and not just because it was done on the cheap. The speeds required to set a new cross-country record make the original goal of the Cannonball impossible to safely achieve. This is an example of how a Cannonball run can still be worth doing, without putting oneself and innocent bystanders at risk.

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