#RallyPulse - The 2000 Gumball 3000; Get on the Plane!

Over the next few weeks, we are going to take you from the genesis of the endurance road trip to the modern international road rally. Each day we will share a bite sized history lesson about the development of this motorsport. We hope that you’ll join us for this absolutely fascinating ride.

Our last post discussed the story behind Maximillion Cooper’s failed bid for an F1 Gumball team and the 3,000 mile party that resulted. Today we are going to dive deeper into the early rallies, specifically the 2000 Gumball 3000. Given that the Gumball 3000 was never anticipated to be an annual event, the information is spotty at best. Piecing the stories behind these rallies is a difficult task. Much like the Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash and U.S. Express, it would take a few years for the cameras to warm up. Still, through diligent forum scouring and decade-old websites, it was clear that the personality of the Gumball had been forged by the second rally.

In 2000’s rally, Gumball founder, Maximillion Cooper drove Bentley Arnage 1WO. This was one of 86 cars and three motorbikes to take part. Nearly every luxury car maker was represented in this race, with a proper allotment of Aston’s, Bentley’s, and Jaguar’s driven by Britain’s social elite. The cars made such a commotion at the starting line that the traffic warden began writing tickets before the cars even took off!

2000 Gumball 3000 Teams

Much like the 1999 rally, the second Gumball was as much about style as it was about driving. In an interview with The Times in 2000, Cooper went on record as saying, “Gumball is about the mix of people we get — you know, rock stars, racing drivers, models — it’s about the rock ‘n’ roll attitude.”

The Gumball 3000 commenced in May at Marble Arch in Hyde Park, London. After waving the starting flag, the cars roared an hour north up the M1 to Stansted Airport where they met up with, and were loaded on, two massive Russian cargo planes. Once the Lamborghini’s were sorted out from barely squeezing inside the plane, the rest of the Porsche’s, Ferrari 360, 355, F40 and 550s, three Ducati’s, the planes took off and went on to carry each team to a private Spanish Airport. The teams took a separate chartered 737 plane and Gumballers proceeded to skateboard down the aisle throughout the flight.

2000 Gumball 3000 Cars Loaded on to Planes

This freight-transport of rally cars was the first of its kind and would be copied by future rallies for years to come. It was an unprecedented move. The rally would still cover 3000 road miles, just not consecutively. The idea opened the doors for global rallies spanning continents. A route was no longer confined by physical barriers.

2000 Gumball 3000 Route

Once landing in Spain, the planes took three hours to drop their cargo off. Two Ferrari teams found this process quite boring and decided to have an impromptu drag race along the airport runway! Bilbao quickly learned the Gumball way.

Numerous cars had already bitten the dust before leaving for Cannes. A 70’s Dodge Challenger, A Ferrari F40, firing on only 4 cylinders, but still good for 140mph,  a 3200GT Maserati, a 95’ Corvette, and a 1960 E-type Jag were all left in the Guggenheim car park. The Cannes festival was filled with parties on and off land. When the rally woke up the next morning they were one Lamborghini Diablo short! Unfortunately for one team, thieves had stolen it in the night. Nevertheless, the Gumball raged on.

Milan was next, followed by Hotel Bühlerhöhe Castle near Baden-Baden, where it was announced that two teams had their cars taken by the German police and imposed record fines on each of $30,000 for doing over 200mph through heavy traffic and 50mph zones. The party continued, and one man was said to have run up a bill of over $15,000 in four hours.

The rally then made a stop in Hamburg, Germany day before gunning it back to eastern England to tour the Lotus factory in Norfolk. The 2000 Gumball once again ended in London, this time at the St.Martins Lane Hotel. Prizes were awarded to all in the shape of a bust of Burt Reynolds - the original Cannonballer.

Lambo's at the 2000 Gumball 3000

Our next post will discuss the 2001 rally, and the cult following that turned “The Gumball” into a spectacle worth watching.

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Posted 1 year ago
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Tagged: 32 hours 7 minutes, 32:07, Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, Gumball 3000, Maximillion Cooper, U.S. Express, cannon ball, cannon ball run, cannonball, cannonball run, gumball, gumball rally, rally, rally pulse, rallypulse, sportscarhunter, Bentley Arnage 1WO, 1999 gumball 3000, 2000 gumball 3000, Marble Arch in Hyde Park London, Stansted Airport, Bilbao, Cannes, Milan, Hotel Bühlerhöhe Castle, Baden-Baden, Nürburgring, Germany, Hamburg, England, .
#RallyPulse - Maximillion Cooper’s F1 Back-up Plan: The 1999 Gumball 3000

Over the next few weeks, we are going to take you from the genesis of the endurance road trip to the modern international road rally. Each day we will share a bite sized history lesson about the development of this motorsport. We hope that you’ll join us for this absolutely fascinating ride.

Gumball 3000 Logo

Yesterday we revealed the 1980’s U.S. Express – and the Ferrari that crossed the USA in 32 hours 7 minutes. The record had been set and the media, not to mention police, were eating it up. While a few new rallies occurred afterwards, the peak had seemingly passed. After 15 years of silent engines, a charismatic 26-year-old Englishman took up the rally reigns.

Maximillion Cooper, born in 1972, grew up in an artistic and musical household. At 18 he learned to race and quickly worked his way up from Formula Ford into a McLaren GT car. In short order he became involved with action-sports, music, academia, and fashion. By his mid-20’s he knew a broad range of eclectic and influential people, and wanted to leverage that in to something he was passionate about: the purchase of a racing team.

Maximillion Cooper

Cooper, like most 25-year-olds, was broke but inspirational and at 25, nearly pulled off a $100 million deal for a Formula 1 team. $100,000,000. F1 entails racing two cars about 17 races a year, all over the world and is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the FIA. Only the best of the best with the most financial backing can afford to participate. You would have had Team McLaren, Team Mercedes, Team BMW, Team Ferrari…and Team Gumball. Cooper relished in the fact that Gumball would have been extreme underdogs and outsiders in every way.

1999 Michael Schumacher Ralf SchUmacher

He leveraged his “Gumball” Formula 1 team to the final negotiating stages. His concept of creating the most rock ‘n’ roll racing team was all but complete when, at the last second, Lucky Strike cigarettes swooped in and made a better offer. Legends are made from audacity like that.

While the deal fizzled, Cooper realized his strength in bringing together well-connected friends and showing them a great time. In his one bedroom Notting Hill flat, with no computer and one telephone, he devised a 3,000 mile route all over Europe.

1999 Gumball 3000 Route

The first Gumball 3000 Rally occurred in April 1999. 55 cars, most with no more than two people to a car, had no idea what they were in for. The entrance fee was a minimal “…pound a mile.” 110 people participated.

1999 Gumball 3000 Logo

Getting all of the personalities together in one room was challenging. Cooper managed to entice most participants by offering “party after party” when in reality it was more like party, drive, drive, get lost, drive, and break down. Even his E-Type Jaguar suffered such a delay! This was all deemed acceptable, as there were no prizes for being fastest or official timekeeping of any sort. Organizers emphasized that it was to be a road trip adventure and not a race.

Maximillion's broken down E-Type Jaguar from the 1999 Gumball 3000

The Gumball 3000 drew inspiration from movies such as Two-Lane Blacktop, Vanishing Point, Bullitt, and Le Mans. All true driving films putting man and machine on an equal platform. The term “Gumball” is actually traced back to 80’s pop culture and Andy Warhol’s suggestion that the decades culture was chewed up then spit right back out. Erwin “Cannonball” Baker, The Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, and the U.S. Express all served as the building blocks for Gumball 3000 success.

The 1999 rally began in London, went on to Paris, stopped at Chateau d’Esclimont, lapped the Le Mans race circuit, visited the Ferrari Museum at Mas du Clos, stopped by the Monaco Grand Prix, and reached its furthest point in Rimini, Italy. The rally then spun around and sprinted to the Modena Ferrari Factory, Ambras Palace in Austria, lapped the Hockenheim Grand Prix circuit in Germany, and crossed the finish line on Park Lane in London. 3000 miles were accomplished in only six days.

1999 Gumball 3000

It was a spectacle in all sense of the word; from the kick-off party at the Bluebird Club attended by London’s A-list, to the original British police car, borrowed from the British TV show The Bill, that was driven on the rally. Whimsical cars and super cars were piloted by friends from all walks of life.

1999 Gumball 3000

The 1999 Gumball 3000 set a new standard of rally excellence. Thanks to these men and women bake dust rained throughout Europe for an entire week.

The rally opened the door for anyone who loves fast cars to see them close-up and personal. It gave us all the opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of some of the best examples of motoring design and engineering from around the world. The 1999 Gumball 3000 embodied the flair and panache of a rally driver’s pioneering spirit.


Tomorrow, we will discuss how the Gumball 3000 was never meant to be an annual event, and how the 2000 Gumball 3000 shattered those assumptions.

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Posted 1 year ago
Tagged: rally pulse, rallypulse, cannonball, cannon ball, Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, rally, sportscarhunter, gumball, gumball rally, cannonball run, cannon ball run, U.S. Express, 32 hours 7 minutes, 32:07, Gumball 3000, Maximillion Cooper, F1, E-Type, Jaguar, Two-Lane Blacktop, Vanishing Point, Bullitt, Le Mans, Paris, Chateau d'Esclimont, Ferrari Museum, Mas du Clos, Monaco Grand Prix, Rimini, Italy, .