Anyone run the Gumball Rally?
 

I've just finished watching a tv doco of the Gumball 3000 which ran in 2004 through Africa. What a great collection of characters and cars!

Anyone taken part or have a story to tell about any of them?

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons, AMG facelift to 2002 style.
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver/black leather, CD, immaculate
~1999 Lexus LX470, sand/ivory leather.
~1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara. black & silver.
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5, Jaguar Daimler and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.

Thats on my have to do list before I die! :cool:

Was that a guy called Kim Schmitz or something similar? If so, he was in this one also... a software developer who later did 6 months for insider trading. One of the only drivers without a co-driver. Marvellous character - made excellent tv.

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons, AMG facelift to 2002 style.
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver/black leather, CD, immaculate
~1999 Lexus LX470, sand/ivory leather.
~1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara. black & silver.
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5, Jaguar Daimler and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.

Found a link: http://www.gumball3000.com

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons, AMG facelift to 2002 style.
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver/black leather, CD, immaculate
~1999 Lexus LX470, sand/ivory leather.
~1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara. black & silver.
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5, Jaguar Daimler and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.

Never have but I've daydreamed about it. I went so far as to get an application for the "one lap around America" deal, and planned to do it in my last MGB-GT. I ended up moving and did my own one lap around America. A little lonely, but the car made out well.

Great! Must have been a real experience for you. I did a solo across-Australia by motorcycle 15 years ago on a BMW Paris-Dakar, and it was lonely too, but an experience I won't forget. You've really got to have someone to share your experience with... a group of mad like-minded enthusiasts like the Gumball crowd to make the thing worthwhile.

Ken Silver
--------------
~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons, AMG facelift to 2002 style.
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver/black leather, CD, immaculate
~1999 Lexus LX470, sand/ivory leather.
~1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara. black & silver.
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5, Jaguar Daimler and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.