Reddit mentions of The Getaway Special

The Getaway Special, by Jerry Oltion? or maybe its followup - Anywhere But Here?

>Allen Meisner, a member of INSANE (International Network of Scientists Against Nuclear Extermination), has created a hyperdrive with parts you could pick up at Radio Shack. Testing it during a routine space shuttle mission, he ignites a firestorm of controversy. Ground control tells pilot Judy Gallagher that the Pentagon has taken control of the flight, and everything about the device is henceforth top secret. But Allen has e-mailed the hyperdrive plans to the rest of INSANE. Damaged by an automatic laser satellite, the shuttle docks at the international space station, where the crew is to be arrested. Allen and Judy get away to Wyoming, whose friendly citizens help them build a spaceship out of a septic tank. In it they search for a safe haven, returning less than a week later, with such new friends as intelligent butterflies and trees, to quell the chaos that distribution of the hyperdrive plans has fostered. Oltion's fast-paced, droll take on the discovery of faster-than-light travel leaves ample room for more Allen and Judy adventures.

The sequel -
>A sequel to "The Getaway Special" finds Trent and Donna Stinson joining hordes of people who would journey into outer space in order to escape a domineering United States but who encounter the government's increasingly restrictive policies, which prove deadly to freedom-seeking citizens.

Some of my favorite books that don't get mentioned much. I tried to tag the series if they were in it.

• Wildside by Steven Gould (Wildside))
  
• Conrad Stargard by Leo Frankowski ([Conrad's Time Machine](https://www.google.com/#q=Leo Frankowski AND Conrad's Time Machine), The Radiant Warrior, The Cross Time Engineer, The High-Tech Knight, The Flying Warlord, Lord Conrad's Lady, Conrad's Quest for Rubber, Lord Conrad's Crusade))
  
• New Kashubia by Leo Frankowski (A Boy and His Tank, Kren of the Mitchegai, The War With Earth))
  
• Copernick's Rebellion by Leo Frankowski (Copernick's Rebellion, The Fata Morgana, The Two-Space War))
  
• Solar Clipper Trader Tales by Nathan Lowell (Quarter Share, Half Share, Full Share, Double Share, A Light in the Dark, [Captain's Share](https://www.google.com/#q=Nathan Lowell AND Captain's Share), Owner's Share))
  
• The Getaway Special by Jerry Oltion (Anywhere but Here, The Getaway Special))
  
• Thunder and Lightning by John Varley ([Red Lightning](https://www.google.com/#q=John Varley AND Red Lightning), Red Thunder, Rolling Thunder, Dark Lightning))
  
• Tuf Voyaging by George R. R. Martin (Tuf Voyaging))
  

A really fun read is The Getaway Special. http://www.amazon.com/The-Getaway-Special-Jerry-Oltion/dp/0312877781

It's actually the sequel. The first book was about the invention of the hyperspace drive. The second book is about the consequences.