# Gumball 3000



## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

WOW.

I went on Saturday afternoon to see the cars parked up just off Pall Mall and what a selection there was. The cars set off at just after 6pm and i left at about 5:45 hoping they would catch up with me on the Motorway and i could either have a bit of banter with them or just admire them going 160mph! (this was the case with an RS6 and a Lambo on the m4  )

The atmosphere there was incredible, and kind of got me thinking i'd like to do it next year (am i mad!! :lol: )

Anyway, here's some photos, was pleased to see a TT there 

http://public.fotki.com/Gumballer/


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

I was arround too.

Glad to see a TT participating, 3.2 in black with grey 9 spokes.

The cars were amazing.

I didn't see any other TTs though?!

I was parked on Pall Mall along with my mate in a 355 spider...

The start sound like an F1 :twisted: 8) :lol:


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

I visited at about 12 when about 3/4 of the cars were there, i spoke to one of the security guards who said that it would be best to come later as we could have a walk around the cars.

I came later than i intended to - 5:30 and Pall Mall was absolutely packed full of cars and people, i managed to squeeze in front of an X5, but when i left just before 6 there were so many people a policeman helped me get out of my spot along with thousands of people cheering and taking photos of everything and anything that moved!

According to some news sources on the internet, the TT was going to be driven by Caprice!! and the pink Range Rover by Darryl Hannah - i think i've even got a photo of the latter if you look at the rr photos!


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

I can early morning at about 11:30 - 12 spoke to some of the chaps and had a good look, was pretty full, but still enough space to get a good look. (forgot camera though  ).

Came back at about 5:30, with my mate, nearly got ticketed, got moved on, found a space on the meter, and then found a spot to watch all the cars.

Way to many people, which was a shame, still nice.

Good on Caprice for going in the TT, cant wait for the DVD 

Guessing you didnt see another black TT with black rims?


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

Just to add again.

The cars were amazing.

Hopefully next year I will be able to participate too, age restriction doesn't help :evil:

Though if I was gonna do it, I would wanna do it in a Porsche 911 or a Lambo 8)


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

It is funny that the police supports this activity. 

Good photos. There was a hummer in them!  I thought this car has a top speed of 110mph or similiar. And when the first bend come in, it will go straight on. :lol:


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## phil (May 7, 2002)

My sister was at the launch party. I warned her not to go but she went anyway. She'd never met a bigger bunch of complete tossers in her life. 
Ha ha. Shocker.


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

dj c225 said:


> Guessing you didnt see another black TT with black rims?


'Fraid not old chap, i guess you didn't see a red orgy either  

I've been keeping up to speed with whats been happening via a couple of websites, and one Beema has already had an "incident" with a deer which mashed in the front rh side of their car.

Never mind they thought, and carried on driving with only one headlight!!!!

Crazy cats.

V - there was also an extremely stretched Hummer!!!

Here are the two shots i found from the RS and Lambo - apparently the pigs pulled over a car on the M20 and were heard saying to the driver, "we were doing 141 still trying to catch you", the driver then proceeded to drive off and the pigs couldn't catch up with him again :lol: :lol: :lol:

http://img93.echo.cx/my.php?image=audirs65ck.jpg

http://img206.echo.cx/my.php?image=lambo3fq.jpg

And a photo of a Lambo being persued by a slightly slower car in Prague :lol: 

http://img240.echo.cx/img240/3879/43391 ... 0446dc.jpg


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## steveh (Jan 14, 2004)

> I've been keeping up to speed with whats been happening via a couple of websites, and one Beema has already had an "incident" with a deer which mashed in the front rh side of their car.
> 
> Never mind they thought, and carried on driving with only one headlight!!!!
> 
> ...


The guys in the Beema are Ant and Pete of antandpete.com where you'll find some incredible videos of last years Gumball. It's a 330d which has been modded to 250bhp and I think they came second last year mainly because they could keep going for longer than the Exotica and also because of the mid-range grunt of the diesel. Watching them out drag Porsches and Ferraris at 130mph through Morocco is quite entertaining. 

It has to be said that all the Gumballers seem to have more money than sense but the world would be a much duller place without people like 'em.

Would love to enter it but I haven't got enough money and I value my driving licence and car too much. :?


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

No I didnt see a red orgy TT 

What sites are you following dude?


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## Boba FeTT (Jan 29, 2005)

phil said:


> My sister was at the launch party. I warned her not to go but she went anyway. She'd never met a bigger bunch of complete tossers in her life.
> Ha ha. Shocker.


I was at the party as well, was sat behind chris eubank, loads of top totty though


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## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

Some more pics

http://viliondzas.fotopic.net/c539664.html


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

dj c225 said:


> No I didnt see a red orgy TT
> 
> What sites are you following dude?


Here u go fella - http://www.antandpete.co.uk/

http://www.tutelary.org/gb/

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showth ... 602&page=3

http://board.ultimaterally.com/forum/vi ... php?t=1181

One of them has live tracking so you can see on the map where people are.


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

Cheers for the links, will keep watching them!

Anyone know if I can get tickets to Monte Carlo for Friday?


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## himpe (Jun 11, 2002)

Well, i met them in Belgium.

I plotted the route they would most likely take and took post on a bridge over the motorway to spot them.
When i arrived at the bridge i was suprised to see i wasn't allone, as some a couple of 18year olds were there allready 

We then waited around 1 hour for the first cars to pass.
It was a carrera GT followed by a phantom and some other cars.
To our surprise they were driving very slow 120 -130 km/h !

After 10 minutes another group of around 7 cars came through.
When i saw a SLR , DB9 and F430 were among them i decided to join them and jumped in my car.
After about 2 min i caught up with them as they weren't driving very fast ...

I overtook all the cars to get a closer look. Boy oh boy what great cars !
The black SLR had stickers on it that represented flames coming for the wheelarches and on the go at night it looked amazing !

When a few other cars started to get in between them (seat ibiza, passat) the gumballers got a bit agitated and uped the speed to lose them.
As i was just in front of them at this point i followed suit 

After 2 km's i noticed a radartrap and slowed down aswell as flashing my rearfoglight to warn the gumballers behind me !
They got the message and fortunatly slowed down in time !
After that close call we all stuck to the speedlimit as we were nearing the checkpoint and there was police every 5km !
The SLR came allong side me and thanked me for warning him about the speedtrap 

When we got to the checkpoint (a Castle near Acoz) all the roads were blocked by police and only gumballers were let passed.
Apparently the little town had been overrun by no less than 15,000 gumballfans and police had difficulty keeping the streets clear.
I tried to get throught by following the SLR but i got pulled over  
After seeing the amount of people i realised there was no way i could get to the castle to look at the cars and decided to head back home.

All in all a fun experience ! 8) 
To bad of all the people at the Castle so that i didn't get a chance to see the cars at a standstill and have a chat with the drivers ...


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

Great story Himpe, how do you flash your rear fog light?


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## omen666 (Oct 10, 2004)

Great videos.

I haven't been able to find a site where you can get pics of each day. Is anyone running a site we can follow.

I've tried the official site, but haven't found anything.


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

omen666 said:


> Great videos.
> 
> I haven't been able to find a site where you can get pics of each day. Is anyone running a site we can follow.
> 
> I've tried the official site, but haven't found anything.


Nor have I, spent late last night searching and looking at photos, but they seem to be spread around.

Himpe, glad you had fun mate


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## omen666 (Oct 10, 2004)

It sounded like andy and pete were going to, but have broken the camera and laptop they were using :?

The M5 forum is sponsoring them so will take a peek there.


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

omen666 said:


> Great videos.
> 
> I haven't been able to find a site where you can get pics of each day. Is anyone running a site we can follow.
> 
> I've tried the official site, but haven't found anything.


You've seen the ones of the Lambo being persued by the police haven't you, and with the Bentley?

I've also seen/got some of the cars arriving in Prague, lots of people seem to focusing on the blue Lambo (111 JJ).

Here's some more photos from inside the castle in Acoz;

http://www.crimescene.be/index.php?sect ... annerID=52


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

And more...

Mostly from Praha/Prague

http://hruda.ic.cz/albums/gumball3000/index.html

http://matheclub.ath.cx/gumball05_prague/index.html

http://www.phj.at/Gumball2005/index.htm

http://www.pbase.com/freds_gumball3000/gumball_3000

Should keep you happy for a while!


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## himpe (Jun 11, 2002)

L8_0RGY said:


> Great story Himpe, how do you flash your rear fog light?


pull the light switch serval times :lol:

It worked great because they got the message :wink:


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## steveh (Jan 14, 2004)

omen666 said:


> Great videos.
> 
> I haven't been able to find a site where you can get pics of each day. Is anyone running a site we can follow.
> 
> I've tried the official site, but haven't found anything.


Try this site, some useful links but you're right, there doesn't seem to be one site that has daily photos although ultimaterally.com comes close although none of the videos seem to work. I think there's too many people trying to download.

http://gumballblog.blogspot.com/


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## forzaf1 (Nov 14, 2004)

Im impressed with the live tracking:

http://live.gumball3000.alk.com/

Alex


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

I've updated my Fotki site with some of my favourite photos so far i've found on the net.

Have a look - http://public.fotki.com/Gumballer/gumball_3000/


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## himpe (Jun 11, 2002)

Gumball video on UK motorways ...

Video Link 16MB

mental [smiley=freak.gif]


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## Dotti (Mar 9, 2003)

Our 7 year old son has just been given a pack of Gumball 3000 set of cards in a really nice plastic box to store them in for his 7th birthday from his little friend next door . Awwwwww  WAW!  .


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

himpe said:


> Gumball video on UK motorways ...
> 
> Video Link 16MB
> 
> mental [smiley=freak.gif]


Wicked link, nice one.

The blue Lambo is taking the p*** though - he's got an RS6 as his support car though and is regularly leading the pack :lol:


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

In this video it looks as if the painted road lines are moving forward!

I am wondering...what did the police do to the drivers of the stopped cars?


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

vlastan said:


> In this video it looks as if the painted road lines are moving forward!
> 
> I am wondering...what did the police do to the drivers of the stopped cars?


Dunno about this beloved country but in last years rally various drivers had their licences confiscated, some of their cars confiscated for a day, others were locked up overnight in the "local" cells, and nearly all of them had severe fines to pay!

No doubt the pigs dealt out some serious pointage to these "offenders" 

Do you think they were doing over 158mph.


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## steveh (Jan 14, 2004)

vlastan said:


> In this video it looks as if the painted road lines are moving forward!
> 
> I am wondering...what did the police do to the drivers of the stopped cars?


Apparently one of the cars stopped was told by the police "we were doing 141mph and you were puling away from us" but they gave him a warning and let him go :!: Don't know how true that is but I'd like to believe it.


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## himpe (Jun 11, 2002)

L8_0RGY said:


> Do you think they were doing over 158mph.


Well, one of the guys in the EVO says they are doing 180 and the CLK DTM is still pulling away


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

Now that its over, who is the overall winner?

And any pics from Monte Carlo?


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

himpe said:


> L8_0RGY said:
> 
> 
> > Do you think they were doing over 158mph.
> ...


180kph he was saying...wasn't he?

Anyway why some cars have sticker that say NUTS? What does this mean?


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## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

vlastan said:


> himpe said:
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> 
> > L8_0RGY said:
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Its a magazine


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## himpe (Jun 11, 2002)

vlastan said:


> himpe said:
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> > L8_0RGY said:
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Euh no, MPH ! :lol:


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

himpe said:


> vlastan said:
> 
> 
> > himpe said:
> ...


On the screen it says 180kph.

I still can't find who won.


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## himpe (Jun 11, 2002)

L8_0RGY said:


> himpe said:
> 
> 
> > vlastan said:
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Listen at 2:20 min they say : "180 mhp" :wink:

It sure looks allot faster than 180 km/h :roll:


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

jonah said:


> vlastan said:
> 
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> > himpe said:
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I yes of course. But how was the magazine involved in this? Do you know?


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## steveh (Jan 14, 2004)

vlastan said:


> jonah said:
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> > vlastan said:
> ...


Sponsorship I think.


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## steveh (Jan 14, 2004)

The winner is Alex Roy. I'm trying to find out what he was driving but I think he's the guy in the CLK.


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## steveh (Jan 14, 2004)

Apparently his is the M5 with all the polizei markings. He is an American from New York.


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## steveh (Jan 14, 2004)

Apparently he was racing a Merc SLR on the approach to Monaco but the SLRs engine blew up - ouch - that's gonna hurt someones wallet. :roll:


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

steveh said:


> Apparently his is the M5 with all the polizei markings. He is an American from New York.


Actually a Canadian that lives in New York, runs a car rental company renting cars in Europe.

Very nice chap in real life.

The M5 is only for the Gumball.

He drives an impreza in the winter and a porsche turbo in the summer


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## paddy TT (Feb 13, 2005)

Here's a link to one of Alex Roys companies.

http://www.gumballcarhire.com/ unfortunately some of the links are in German but those that are not make good reading.

So this is where you get your car, now all you need is the small entry fee of Â£10,000


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

paddy TT said:


> Here's a link to one of Alex Roys companies.
> 
> http://www.gumballcarhire.com/ unfortunately some of the links are in German but those that are not make good reading.
> 
> So this is where you get your car, now all you need is the small entry fee of Â£10,000


This is his company which was passed on by his father http://www.europebycar.com/


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

Also here is a link with all the cars adn photos of most drivers... http://board.ultimaterally.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1175

Caprice was in a Porsche 996, not a TT :roll:


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

dj c225 said:


> Also here is a link with all the cars adn photos of most drivers... http://board.ultimaterally.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1175
> 
> Caprice was in a Porsche 996, not a TT :roll:


I found that out later on the first day but didn't want our thunder stolen by a Porsche


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

So I wonder who was in the TT, maybe it was a hired car :?: :?


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

dj c225 said:


> So I wonder who was in the TT, maybe it was a hired car :?: :?


They shouldn't be allowing cheap cars in this competition. There must be a minimum price for the car that joins in the competition, of maybe 50k. There was a Golf GTi in the pictures.


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

vlastan said:


> dj c225 said:
> 
> 
> > So I wonder who was in the TT, maybe it was a hired car :?: :?
> ...


Why should there be a minimum price?

There was an old Porche 944 in there which is worth well below 20k :?

You don't make sense.


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## L8_0RGY (Sep 12, 2003)

And an ice cream van!! :lol:


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## steveh (Jan 14, 2004)

Was there actually a TT taking part? I looked through the entry list and have probably seen most of the photos and I don't remember seeing a TT. :?


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

YEs there was a TT coupe V6, with grey 9 spokes, actually took part, saw it off the start line, but didnt see the driver in detail :?


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

dj c225 said:


> vlastan said:
> 
> 
> > dj c225 said:
> ...


In order to attract attention and keep it special, supercars will have to be taking place. If you start seeing BMW 330s and TTs, it may become a bit boring and lose the interest of the guys that come with the supercars and they pull out in the future.

Gumball is meant to be special and in order to keep it special, special cars must only be allowed.


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

What a load of rubbish, the problem with the gumball is, 5% of the entrants are drivers, the other 95% are just interested in messing around, partying and showing their faces.

To be honest I would rather see some "real" drivers that enjoy driving and the competition and like fun and games too.

To be honest I can't see the point of Caprice attending the Gumball, won't really make fun watching, apart from her aging good looks.

I do agree with what you are saying partly, I would prefer to do the Gumball in a special car, ie a Porsche or Ferrari.

I was going to do the Gumball in my TT, but age constraint was an issue, which I couldn't understand why? and the car, would prefer to do it in something a little faster and more trustworthy.

Will probably be an amazing expirience in life, hopefully next year 8)


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## dj c225 (Nov 3, 2004)

Before people start flaming me, those 95% make the Gumball what it is, and I like it. Fun to have a small group racing, after all racing on the public road is illegal :lol:


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## vlastan (May 6, 2002)

> What a load of rubbish, the problem with the gumball is, 5% of the entrants are drivers, the other 95% are just interested in messing around, partying and showing their faces.


I don't see a problem with this provided that they have a nice fast/flashy car.

After all some of these guys are in their twenties that have lots of money from a family business and they only want to have a laugh driving fast. What we enjoyed and from the pictures that go around are the nice special expensive cars that they drive.

Caprice adds to the show of course. :wink:


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## ir_fuel (Jan 10, 2003)

vlastan said:


> dj c225 said:
> 
> 
> > So I wonder who was in the TT, maybe it was a hired car :?: :?
> ...


I think the entrance fee already takes care of that, indirectly


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