Gumball 3000 Invades Miami!
This past week the Gumball Army set off from Miami en route to the Daytona Speedway for the annual Gumball 3000 Rally. If you’re not familiar with the Gumball 3000 rally, it is a checkpoint-style run, usually driven with the worlds most sought after super cars. Drivers are usually rather wealthy individuals from different backgrounds, for example, Bun B and Xzibit are regular participants in the rally as well as newcomers Deadmau5 and Tony Hawk. Typically the rally is driven across continental Europe or North America; However, this year the run is from Miami, FL to Ibiza, Spain. The organizer/founder of the event is British billionaire and avid car enthusiast Maximillion Cooper, who is engaged to American R&B singer, Eve. One thing I would like to point out is that the cars are placed in order of which team raises the most money for the Gumball 3000 foundation. The Gumball 3000 foundation was established to benefit underprivileged youth through education, infrastructure and environmental projects. Advanced warning; I went at night time so my pictures aren’t the best quality, my apologies!
The night before they set off for their run, we had the chance to stop by Ocean Drive on South Beach to peep the line up. Incredibly, the first car that I was greeted with was the new Mclaren 650S, I almost mistook it for a P1(silly me). Honestly the only thing that gave it away was the MP4-esque rear end, truly a gorgeous vehicle.
Throughout the line up you had the usual exotics; countless 458s, a few F12s and FFs, some Lamborghinis etc. but there were a few gems that really stood out to me. The first one that really caught my eye was the Ferrari F40, until then I had never seen one in person. An F40 in all its greatness, covered in Gumball rally livery! The old girl stood out like a sore thumb, partly because it was parked in a standalone fashion with no other cars near it for at least 10 feet.
The next car that caught my attention was the magnificent Mclaren P1 of Team Galag, this was one of the main reasons I wanted to make an appearance. The P1 was decorated in a very unusual, yet typical Gumball fashion-over the top! I can only imagine how much fun the owner is having opening that bad girl up on Florida’s Turnpike!
After drooling over the P1. I was greeted by a lovely Ford GT of Team #99 featuring Miami Vice colored outlines. I know my brother is gonna love this one, haha, he is a huge fan of the GT. Another rare gem that we don’t see very often in Miami. Powered by a 5.4L Supercharged engine this bad pony will cost you a pretty penny, that is if you can get your hands on one!
Next up is the Weisman MF5 of Team Galag, a British styled, neo-retro German power horse. Again, I’ve never had the chance to see one of these up close and personal until now. I appreciate this car so much not only because it is super rare, but it is also powered by a BMW!
Then we had the 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe of Team Galag, one of the oldest in this years line up, second to the 1963 Jaguar MK2. Even if you’re an old school muscle car fan like myself, you would still be able to appreciate this beast. This girls got a set of ground trembling side exit exhaust that flow straight from the headers, loud enough to wake up any sleeping beauty.
Then my personal favorite, the Deadmau5 PURRARI! A Ferrari 458 roadster with a custom “nyaancat” paint job. This one off 458 is a sight for sore eyes, with a silly internet meme as the main focus of the car, cat rim caps and pink brake pads its so close to perfect it hurts. Great job Deadmau5, i cry tears of joy every time I see it!
Gumball 3000 is definitely on my bucketlist, I just need to save up the $30k it costs to enter (hahaaa). I cannot wait till they come back to Miami, I will definitely have better quality images next time around. I wish the best to the participants and good luck, FORZA!
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