You can’t call yourself a car enthusiast if you’ve never heard of Gumball 3000 supercar rally. Since 1999, this annual event has done more to promote car culture and lavish lifestyle than all hip hop music videos filled with pretty girls, gold chains, and fast cars. If you have at least a drop of gasoline in your blood, you must wish to participate in this crazy circus which covers 3000 miles in just 7 days and finishes every day of the trip with parties with celebrities at expensive hotels. Yes, we know that it sounds like a car guy`s wildest dream and for most of the time it is, but there is a lot more behind this flashy image. We have compiled a list of 16 facts from the history of Gumball 3000 rally which will blow your mind and really explain what this event is all about. Some things on the list you might know already, but some you don’t. Some things you might find funny, yet some are sad, but it all shows how crazy and epic Gumball 3000 really is and what makes it so special and popular.
1. The event was first called Gumball 2000
The first Gumball rally was held in 1999 and was organized by English car enthusiast, Maximillion Cooper. It was promoted by the name Gumball 2000 but as the year 2000 came and passed, the name has been changed to Gumball 3000 makes a lot more sense. Max Cooper got the inspiration and the name from a car movie classic “Gumball Rally” (1976) in which wealthy car enthusiasts race across America in a brutal road race to win a gumball machine and bragging rights. Cooper envisioned a similar scenario, but only on European soil and with celebrities and parties every night in different cities along the route, a recipe that has not been changed to this day.
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