Gumball 3000 is a brand known for the annual Gumball 3000 Rally, an international celebrity motor rally that takes place on public roads. The brand was founded in 1999 by English entrepreneur Maximillion Cooper,[1] with his vision to combine cars, music, fashion and popular culture.[2]
The Gumball 3000 Rally takes approximately 120 vehicles[3] across multiple countries on a 3,000 mile journey that takes place across 6 days – occasionally including continental travel via cargo planes to transport vehicles by air.[4] Entrants travel on public roads and use a mixture of vehicles ranging from custom classic cars to hypercars, and attend a VIP party, dinner or event each night.[3] The rally features a number of exclusive experiences along the route that includes lunchtime checkpoints and overnight stops in major cities, where major public roads are often closed down to traffic for access of participating vehicles.[5] The rally was founded in 1999 by Maximillion Cooper, initially as a road trip with his friends.[6] Organisers emphasise that the event is a road trip and in no way a race or competition, with their rally slogan reading "It's a rally, not a race".[7]
Rally participants pay for their entry. The entry fee is cited as around $75,000 in Toronto Life, while a new participant quoted in The Globe and Mail said $85,000 and a repeat participant said their rate was around $50,000.[8][9]
Rally participants are split evenly each year between new and previous participants (referred to as 'alumni'). Rally participants are referred to as 'Gumballers'.[10]
Rally history
1999–2004
The Gumball 3000 was first launched in 1999. Maximillion Cooper started the event after he and a group of friends aimed to drive their supercars across Europe on a 3,000 mile journey that they referred to as a rally. The rally was aimed at friends of Cooper, with an initial entry fee of $8,700. Participants had to use their own vehicles.[11]
The first Gumball 3000 rally, 1999.
The first event took inspiration from a number of racing events throughout the world. In 1933, motorcycle racer, Erwin Baker, had crossed the United States coast-to-coast in 54 hours. He earned the nickname "Cannonball" which spawned a number of race events in both the United States and Europe over the next few decades in his honor. The Cannonball events were held in the 1970s, with the first prize being a gumball machine. It has been suggested that this is the origin of the Gumball 3000 brand name.[12]
The first event took place in 1999, with the journey starting in London and heading to Rimini, Italy before returning to London.[13] Cooper planned different events on each night of the rally, ranging from parties to dinner events. The rally received extensive coverage in the British media due to the attendance of a number of high-profile figures including Kate Moss, Guy Ritchie and Kylie & Dannii Minogue.[14]
Following the success of the first Gumball 3000 rally, the second event in 2000 began at the Marble Arch in London, before heading to Stansted airport to fly over to Spain. The rally then continued through Bilbao, Cannes, Milan, Hotel Bühlerhöhe Castle,[15]Nürburgring GP circuit and Hamburg, before heading back to the starting city, London.[16]
In 2003, Gumball 3000: The Movie was released. It was a 98-minute 2003 film feature directed by Steven Green and narrated by the late Burt Reynolds.[24]
The 2006 starting flag was dropped in London where participants then travelled onto Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade, before jumping on a plane in Serbia to Thailand. The route then continued through Phuket and Bangkok, before flying to Salt Lake City[29] and finishing with a party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.[30]Travis Barker was present on the 2006 rally, as well as Martine McCutcheon, who drove a pink Range Rover in an all-female team.[31] Gumball 3000 Films also produced a movie, 3000 Miles, following five other entrants: skateboarders Tony Hawk, Bam Margera and Mike Vallely, BMX rider Mike Escamilla and Margera's Jackass co-star, Ryan Dunn. The 2007 route was scheduled to travel from London to Istanbul, via Amsterdam, Munich, Tirana, Dubrovnik, and Athens. Over 100 contestants including actors Tamer Hassan and Danny Dyer and model and entrepreneur Caprice Bourret were scheduled to drive through 16 countries in eight days. The entrance fee for the 2007 rally was £28,000 for first-time drivers.[32] In the 2007 event, two people in North Macedonia died in a traffic incident involving a participating rally vehicle. The incident occurred on 2 May 2007, when a TechArt Porsche 997 Turbo driven by Nicholas Morley collided with a Volkswagen Golf, whose occupants were both killed.[33][34]
The organisers of the Gumball 3000 initially continued with the rally until the facts about the incident became clear, at which point rally organisers canceled the remainder of event as a mark of respect. The subsequent court hearing found Morley guilty and convicted him of "endangering traffic, leading to death";[35] he was released from custody after receiving a two-year suspended sentence. After the verdict, Morley's family released a statement detailing its own expert's findings, which contradict those of the prosecution's expert.[36]
In 2008, the rally travelled from San Francisco to China, finishing at the Beijing Olympics. The rally passed through Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas before flying to Nanjing in China and spending a night in North Korea for the Mass Games.[37]
2010–2019
More than 100 cars took part in the rally in 2010. The rally began in London and ended in New York, passing through Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Boston, Quebec City and Toronto. Michael Madsen joined the rally, but was forced to leave the rally in Belgium after his driver was stopped by police for speeding.[38] A number of other celebrities took part in the event, including Idris Elba and Cypress Hill. It was on this rally that Cooper met Grammy-winning US rapper Eve, who he later married in 2014 at the end of that year's rally.[39][40]
Starting in London's Covent Garden, the 2011 Gumball 3000 rally saw the entrants drive through Paris, Barcelona, Monaco, Venice, and Croatia, before finishing in Istanbul. Attendees of the launch party at the Playboy Club in London included Jo Wood, The Saturdays Vanessa White and former Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton. Participants in the rally included David Hasselhoff, Eve, Xzibit and Tony Hawk.
In 2013 Chernin Entertainment and Warner Bros acquired the rights to produce and develop a film based around the Gumball 3000 rally.[43]
In 2014, and with a cost for participants rising to a rumoured £40,000, the rally started in the United States in Miami, before passing through Atlanta and New York City before flying to Western Europe to conclude the rally, travelling from Edinburgh and continuing through London, Paris and Barcelona, before finally culminating on the island of Ibiza.[44]
During the 2014 event, deadmau5 and his co-driver Tory Belleci drove a Nyan Cat inspired Ferrari 458 Spider named 'Purrari' that received a cease-and-desist order from Ferrari.[45] The car was listed on Craigslist following the rally and was sold for $380,000.[6]
In 2015 participants followed a transatlantic route from Stockholm to Las Vegas. Stops included Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Reno, San Francisco and Los Angeles, with a drive through Death Valley before reaching Las Vegas.[46]Lewis Hamilton joined the final stage of the rally from Los Angeles to Las Vegas driving a Koenigsegg Agera HH.[47]
The 2016 rally was from Dublin to Bucharest. David Hasselhoff waved the start flag in Dublin to mark the beginning of the rally.[48] The route took participants from Dublin to Edinburgh, London, Rust, Prague and Budapest before ending in Bucharest. Other famous faces that took part were F1 drivers David Coulthard and Jean Alesi, Grammy-winning rapper Eve, Dutch DJ Afrojack, Major Lazer, rapper Bun B, pop star Marlon Roudette, music producer Dallas Austin, Sullivan Stapleton, reality star Calum Best and YouTuber Calfreezy. The 2016 Gumball rally featured a one-off 'Batmobile' based on a Lamborghini Gallardo, driven by Team Galag.[49] It is estimated that over one million fans attended the 2016 rally across all locations.[50]
2018 saw the return of intercontinental travel as part of a rally route. The rally began on 5 August starting in London, passing through Domaine De Chantilly in France, Sforza Castle in Milan, Italy and heading to Bologna to fly on "Gumball Air" (A Malaysian Airlines airplane hired by organisers, which stopped in Kazakhstan to refuel) to head to Osaka, Japan. All participating vehicles were flown to Japan via two cargo planes. From Osaka the rally headed to Kyoto, Nanao before crossing the finish line in Tokyo.[51]
The 2019 Gumball 3000 Rally took place in June, starting in Mykonos, Greece, before finishing on the Spanish island of Ibiza. The rally passed through Thessaloniki, Greece, Porto Montenegro, Montenegro, Venice, Italy, Monaco and Barcelona, Spain. Dutch DJ Afrojack participated in a Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse and a Bugatti Chiron in matching blue camo livery.[52]
2020–present
In 2020, the Gumball 3000 Rally was due to head from Toronto, Canada to Havana, Cuba, however the rally was cancelled due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.[53] This was the first time a full rally had been cancelled in Gumball 3000's history. The rally was eventually further postponed to May 2022 due to continued concerns surrounding the pandemic in 2021.
In May 2022 the postponed 22nd Annual Rally took place from Toronto, Canada to Miami, United States. The rally was originally intended to finish in Havana, Cuba, however organisers changed finish line locations due to concerns caused by Cuba's relationship with Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in March 2022.
David Hasselhoff waves the start flag of the 2022 Gumball 3000 'Toronto-Miami' Rally.
The May 2022 rally began on 27 May with a free public concert in Toronto's Yonge-Dundas Square featuring performances from local artists and headline performances from rapper Bun B and deadmau5.[54] The flag drop event took place in the same location the following day, with David Hasselhoff returning to drop the flag. The rally then travelled via Indianapolis (the Gumball participants watched the Indy 500 race with VIP hospitality), Nashville and Atlanta before crossing the finish line at the Inter Miami's DRV PNK Stadium, where the inaugural Gumball Goodwill Cup Charity Football Match took place, featuring the Gumball All-Stars XI facing a Laureus Sport for Good World XI.[55]
For the first time in Gumball 3000 history, and in reaction to the cancelled 2020 & 2021 rallies, Gumball 3000 hosted two rallies in one year, with the 'Middle East' rally taking place in November 2022. The rally route began in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,[56] and travelled a circular route through Oman via Jebel Akhdar, Salalah and Muscat before heading back into the UAE via Ras Al Khaimah, where Gumball 3000 joined the Global Citizen Forum Charity Gala. The rally crossed the finish line on 18 November in Abu Dhabi at the W Hotel, where Gumball participants enjoyed VIP Hospitality at the finale of the 2022 Formula One Season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.[57] A number of new celebrity participants joined for this rally, including influencers Yung Filly and Michael Dapaah, and rapper French Montana, who performed at the opening concert in Dubai.[58]
YouTubers DailyDrivenExotics in Edinburgh for the start of the 2023 Gumball 3000 Rally.
In June 2023, Gumball 3000 returned to Europe with a European Tour – the first time the rally had come to Europe for four years. The rally began on 10 June in Edinburgh, Scotland, before heading to London, England, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Verbier, Switzerland, Venice, Italy and Budapest, Hungary, before crossing the finish line in the coastal resort of Porto Montenegro.[59]
Apparel, brand partnerships & popular culture
Since the establishment of Gumball 3000, the brand's popularity led to the launch of Gumball Apparel. Apparel is designed in-house, with designs influenced by previous Gumball 3000 events and motorsport.
Since the launch of the apparel brand, there have been a number of capsule collections released in collaboration with major fashion houses. These collaborations have included Puma,[60][61]Adidas and Nixon.[62][63] Since 2019, Gumball 3000 has partnered with eyewear brand Carrera for a number of limited-edition eyewear releases.[64] Adidas subsequently withdrew its multi-million dollar sponsorship following a fatal accident in 2007 which resulted in the death of a person in a car not part of the event.[65][66]
Gumball 3000 has released a number of products in various entertainment categories, including movies, video games and toys.
In 2000, Top Trumps, a popular card game in the United Kingdom, released a version of the card game using the Gumball 3000 brand name.[67] In 2002, Gumball 3000 the game was released for the PlayStation 2 console, developed by Climax Studios and published by SCi.[68]
Gumball 3000 announced a partnership with MTV in 2001 to cover the rally for five years. MTV also covered the 2007 rally.[69]
Gumball 3000 has released a number of limited-edition toy cars with American scale model brand Hot Wheels. Gumball 3000 Edition Hot Wheels cars are premium models within the Hot Wheels brand.[70]
In 2015, Guess announced a collaboration with Gumball 3000 for the 2015 rally. The brand designed exclusive drivers jackets for Gumball 3000 participants and participated in the Stockholm to Las Vegas rally in 3 Dodge Vipers, driven by three Guess models.[71] Armin Strom announced in they would also launch an official watch for the Gumball 3000.[72]
Gumball 3000 has partnered with a number of automotive brands for a number of purposes, included support vehicles for crew & staff travelling on the rally, celebrity and sponsor vehicles and for events along the rally. Automotive brands that have partnered with Gumball 3000 include Abarth,[73]Alfa Romeo,[74]Nissan,[75]Aston Martin[76] and Koenigsegg.[77]
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