Gumballers hitting the streets -- not shown is the trailer that carries their wallets. (Photo courtesy of W. Skinner)
Let's play pretend for a minute … Close your eyes and imagine that you are a celebrity/professional athlete/super wealthy person, etc., and you are a little bored at the moment. What would you do if you had access to exotic automobiles and $120,000 burning a hole in your pocket? No … you've already donated enough for tax purposes. (Wow you’re boring!) You would enter the
2008 Gumball Rally!
The Gumball got underway over the weekend with the city of San Francisco providing the starting point. Participating in the adventure are Ferraris,
Porsches,
Land Rovers, as well as one 60s-era VW bus powered by a Porsche engine. This year's Gumballers are heading on a course that will lead them all the way to Beijing and the 2008 Summer Olympics. The route leads through Los Angeles to San Diego and then over to Las Vegas. Once in Vegas, the cars and drivers will be loaded into planes and then flown to Nanjing, China! They will then follow a course that leads them into Beijing.
This is the 10th year for this extravagant (and occasionally, controversial) driving event that is the brainchild of Maximillion Cooper. He drew inspiration from the original Cannonball runs of the 1970s, and has transformed that idea into a rolling party for the world-wide elite.
Celebrities confirmed for this year's rally include everyone from David Hasselhoff (& KITT!) to Tony Hawk to John Mayer.
It's David Hasselhoff -- If you are German, please refrain from kissing your screen. (Photo courtesy of W. Skinner)
The other "celebrities" of the rally are the vehicles themselves. Anything and everything you can imagine, including modern American muscle (
Ford GT) to exotic Italian supercars (
Ferrari Enzo) to vehicles you may never see again in your life (Gumpert Apollo) show up for the Gumball.
Take a look below for images of some of the cars entered in the event …
(All photos courtesy of W. Skinner. Thank you for sharing them!)
