Gumball 3000 comes to a close in South Beach
Click above for a hi-res gallery of the Gumballers' arrival at South Beach
Well folks, it's over. The wacky/insipid/annoying (all-of-the-above?) 2009 edition of the Gumball 3000 wrapped things up with the drivers' arrival in Miami Beach. Freelance journo and friend of Autoblog Myles Kornblatt was there, and he ends his coverage with one final photo gallery and this report:
There's something special about seeing ultra-rare cars at the end of an eight-day, 3000-mile road trip. By the time the 2009 Gumball 3000 ended in Miami on Friday evening not only were the drivers visibly road weary, but so were their vehicles. Supercars were built to be driven, and these machines had the dead bugs, brake dust and road scars to prove it.
One hundred and twenty-three teams participated in the 11th running of the Gumball, and according to rally VP Julie Brangstrup, everyone finished. "Every Gumballer has the spirit to do whatever it takes to cross the finish line." Unfortunately not all the vehicles shared their driver's determination, and so some rental cars finished as stand-ins for injured road warriors. One Gumballer was even on his third vehicle by the time he reached Miami.
Some enthusiasts see the Gumball as a rip-off of the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash (which has evolved into today's One Lap of America.) That's not completely true. The term "Gumball Rally" was first used on a 1976 road race film that Cannonball founder Brock Yates considers to be sort of a bastard child of his rally. The Gumball Rally was Hollywood's excuse to use some minor celebrates for an over-the-top take on the road race (it even features a pre-crazy Gary Busey.) Today, the Gumball 3000 uses a mix of famous, rich and half-crazed participants, who are more about the party than the time clock. Any enthusiast who has seen the film (anyone who is a car guy/girl should,) knows these good-timing Gumballers have as much character as a movie script.
Photos Copyright ©2009 Myles Kornblatt / Weblogs, Inc.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gabe 9:36AM (5/09/2009)
Who Won?
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Jesse Fuller 9:41AM (5/09/2009)
Danny & the Dingo in the Monster RV did, an RV won the GB3K...
asuka 11:57AM (5/09/2009)
No one - they're all losers.
2004m3driver 1:46PM (5/09/2009)
@ Asuka
Yeah they lose because they basically went on a party road trip with their friends in nice cars.
What losers! I can't believe anyone would find it fun to drive exotics to a new party every night.
Jake B 3:32PM (5/09/2009)
Ah, I wish I could wake my still drunken butt to go hop in a Ferrari to continue trekking across the nation. What a time that would be.
Jesse Fuller 9:40AM (5/09/2009)
Not everyone finished... The black DB9 Volante had a mishap @ Palm Beach Int. Raceway http://twitpic.com/4sowa
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Stumpy 9:53AM (5/09/2009)
Maybe they towed it passed the finish line.
zamafir 10:35AM (5/09/2009)
what about the SLRs? I remember when all their alternators were having issues and couldn't complete the run a year or two ago.
Jesse Fuller 7:31PM (5/09/2009)
@zamafir There was the SLR Coupe whos alternator failed on the way to Sedona, the owners abandoned it on the side of the road & hitched a ride with Dennis Rodman in the Playboy Semi, Mercedes-Benz later picked it up & fixed it. I believe they got it back before the others arrived to Dallas, they completed their legs http://tinyurl.com/ctln28
Avinash machado 10:13AM (5/09/2009)
How come the greenies never protested about the Gumball?
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zamafir 10:36AM (5/09/2009)
the token prius participating :).
tankd0g 10:22PM (5/09/2009)
Because the hollywoods and the greenies are one in the same.
downtoearth 11:27AM (5/09/2009)
Gumball rally is here to prove that if you're an average Joe, you have to shut up, pay taxes and do as law says you to.
If you're rich on the other hand, money will pull you out of any problem or law offense. Risking other average Joes lives does not matter.
It's just a message that humans are anything but equal.
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asuka 11:34AM (5/09/2009)
If the public knows about your rally, it can't be that cool.
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Stumpy 12:47PM (5/09/2009)
Parties and Cool Cars, if I had the money, I would do it.
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Egon 2:55PM (5/09/2009)
In a game full of losers, there can be no winners. In theory, it sounds like a good time, but I'd rather not be associated with these d-bags.
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Jesse 4:26PM (5/09/2009)
Sounds like a good time to me. The real douches are the ones who buy these cars only to putter around South Beach or commute between Manhattan and the Hamptons.
asuka 1:15AM (5/10/2009)
What makes you think half of these 'bags own their cars? I'd bet more than one of those F430s is leased (along with the requisite McMansions).
1. Get some tats and do a backflip on a child's bike
2. ?
3. Lease a Murcielago!
Cory 11:59AM (5/11/2009)
The Rolls owner who covered the front of the car in wite tear-away plastic was smart. The rolls and the Bentley are proficient in collecting bugs. Look inside the gold-fendered Veyron. Fastest. Jackalope. EVER.
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