Ask the Best and Brightest: Are the Gumballers Idiots or What?
The point of the original Gumball Rally: cross the country in the fastest possible time without getting caught. While, at the same time, not killing anyone. It was a non-PC salute to Richard Nixon’s double-nickel speed limit. A political statement, of sorts. How in the world can you “recreate” this event with sponsorship, blogs, YouTube posting, and people without any political consciousness driving “arrest me” supercars that are 50 or more miles per hour faster than the original participants’ wheels (which included a converted ambulance)? Answer: easily enough, given the large number of magic feather missiles owned and occasionally operated by the rich and famous. I know: we’re giving these idiots the oxygen of publicity by even mentioning their pursuit of attention. But it’s time for TTAC Best and Brightest to rag or rave over this clear and present danger to public safety and auto enthusiasts’ image. If supercar owners want to do this sort of thing, they should either take it on the track or enter “ open road racing” events. Ironically, sensibly, open road competitions consist of time trials on closed-off public highways: a safe place for over-testosteroned drivers to compete for something that benefits us all: a Darwin award.
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Its great that people can have these nice cars and run together around the country. Endangering others is a no-no though. I'm not sure anyone can be trusted with such a vehicle as a 911 Turbo or whatever all the time really. The public deserves to be protected from these guys. I think the gumballers deserve a little room to speed sometimes, but very lightly and as responsibly as possible.
there's something kind of similar to this in europe, but the main point is retracing the "Targa Florio" route i think (hope i remember correctly. where filthy rich people drive their supercars in a sort of Show. they get the attention, they get to drive an amazing road, but all that within the speed limits. (i'm sure some of them break it most of the time). the gathering of such cars is attractive for bystanders, fans, and the rich people themselves. oops, nothing is similar to the Gumball, but lets face it, public safety aside it does sound fun to do. but how can you go so fast nowadays, you risk loosing your license and if you max a Veyron, your freedom.....
Just look at the douchebags in the still image of the clip. Need I say more?