My girlfriend saw Antonio Esfandiari get out of a black mercedes S series covered in gold gumball 3000 decals and ads this morning at Panorama towers. The rally Arrived today in Vegas today so it seems reansonable he's in it, but i'd assume there would be some sort of press beforehand seeing the entry fee is 120k.

it is of course possible that the car belongs to some other resident and he was just taking a little ride in it, i could not find a list of participants this year.

I saw all the cars on Saturday night at the Roosevelt in Hollywood. Pretty sick collections of cars. Looked like they were set to have some good times.

i had no idea what the gumball 3000 rally is so i wikipedia'd it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gumball_3000

says esfandiari is a confirmed celebrity participant

they are awesome.

Why doesn't someone just call him. Does no one else have his cell # from that episode of I Bet You from last season??

wow nice, i guess there will be a i bet you gumbal special

hopefully the jackass guys will make something too

Gotta say I'm jealous of Antonio on this one! The Jackass episode on Gumball is a must-see.

Always seemed like one of the most exciting things to do and I always thought id love to build a car and go for it...just bring a fat checkbook to pay fines and bail... went as far as looking for a decent street racer car i could put some cash into...

then... someone asked me "what if you kill someone on accident?"

Changed the whole image for me...

Kept picturing some family on the way to grandmas getting creamed by some assclown like Bam Margera doing 140...

Tossed the whole idea...

Still seems like it would be a blast, but one i'll pass on.

2 words : Radar Detector

couldnt tell from your post, but u know that actually happened last yr right?

http://jalopnik.com/cars/gumball-300...ity-257447.php

i saw an orange lambo covered in gumball decals in downtown san diego today. didn't see the driver around though.


i'd love to do the gumball.

The rally is stopping over in Pyongyang, North Korea this year... I wonder how they managed that.

I think it's nothing short of a miracle, and concrete proof a God exists that nobody has been killed in one of these things yet. I've seen all the videos, love watching them, but I cannot believe that in large caravans like this people with lesser driving skills push the limit too much to keep up with the better drivers. I've seen insane passes on the shoulder of highways (where there is sometimes zero grip due to gravel etc.) at triple digit speeds.

I am by no means some old anti speed coot either. In fact, I grew up with fast cars and have never owned a vehicle with less than 350hp. My current car has nearly 500rwhp, and yes I speed every day. Is it stupid, probably. However I've been driving that way safely for years, and to drive the speed limit actually feels UNSAFE for me now. I've tried to do 55 and what does that get you? Stuck in a pack with every woman on a cellphone, and every 18 wheeler. I'd rather stay 50-100 feet away from everyone at all times, and if I gotta do 120mph at times to do this, so be it. If I need a panic stop, well that's what the 14 inch rotors and 8 piston Brembos are for. ;P

The main point that concerns me about driving in something like this, is all the other drivers. I've read stories of two cars drag racing on a public road, one driver hits and kills someone, and then the OTHER driver (who didn't crash) gets the same manslaughter/2nd degree murder charges due to participating in the wanton, wreckless act. This is what scares the HELL out of me, and why I never ever ever race anyone on public roads. In fact, all the time cars come up to me revvin etc. and I just wave them past. I have complete confidence in the way I can drive, but nobody else. I don't care if Schumacher himself is on my right and Fernando Alonso is on my left, I ain't racing on a public road.

some guy got killed last year in macedonia. (bystander, not contestant)

Bah, atheists win then.

I did the 2002 gumball from NY to LA in my friends 2001 Audi S4. Got to party @ the playboy mansion and only had to spend about 2 hours in jail in AZ. There were a lot of dbags but I also met some cool people. The cars were just sick. A lot of fun cruising thru the roads of US with some of those cars.

I'm posting from my phone so don't have the links but my youtube acct 'Orangebl00d' has 2 videos.

Video 1
Video 2

I always thought this race was pretty cool, but this puts a big damper on it.

THIS, is what keep idiots staying away from this activity and thus drastically decrease the kill rate on the road. Glad to see it actually works.

Omg this is so sick

Wasn't the gumball entry fee 10k a few years back?.

Either way it's the best thing ever, the best cars, a party at every stop, and god knows what else..

Why would anyone pay $120k just to be able to participate? I mean what do you get in return? Seems to me like the whole thing is a huge rip off, with all the money going to this Cooper guy, along with DVD sales etc.

They host huge parties at every stop, and accomodation etc., but yea AFAIK the entry fee used to be ~10k..

EDIT:

The entrance fee for the 2007 rally was GB£28,000 (US$55,060) for first-time drivers.[10]

This year they are shipping all the cars to CHina which may be the reason for the insane entry fee...

Only about 1/3rd of the entrants are doing the Asian leg of the rally. Most just did the US part... I assume their entry fee was much lower.

2 people that died in Macedonia were both 75+ years old and it was totally their fault. I live in the neighborhood and i know how old people around here drive. All of them should lose their drivers license if this was normal country, some are nearly blind and drive withoud glasses, most are just alcoholics that drive like they own the ****ing road. **** like this happens because even when you are blackout drunk you can bribe the police with 15-20$ and they let you go...