Cooper conceived the Gumball 3000 after organising a European road trip with a group of friends and their supercars. The name is linked to the Cannonball events of the 1970s, whose first prize was a gumball machine, and to motorcycle racer Erwin "Cannonball" Baker, who had crossed the United States coast-to-coast in 54 hours in 1933. The inaugural event in 1999 started in London and ended in Rimini, Italy, before returning to London, with an entry fee of $8,700 and participants using their own vehicles. Attendees including Kate Moss, Guy Ritchie, and Kylie and Dannii Minogue generated extensive British media coverage.
Through the early 2000s the rally expanded its geographic scope considerably. In 2002 it made the first coast-to-coast United States run from New York City to Los Angeles, with checkpoints at the White House, Graceland, and the Grand Canyon. In 2004 Jenson Button waved the start flag for a London-to-Monte Carlo route. By 2006 the event incorporated intercontinental air transport, flying vehicles from Serbia to Thailand before continuing to the United States.
A fatal incident in 2007 tested the rally's reputation: a TechArt Porsche 997 Turbo driven by participant Nicholas Morley collided with a Volkswagen Golf in North Macedonia, killing both occupants of the Golf. Cooper cancelled the remainder of that year's rally as a mark of respect. A court later convicted Morley of "endangering traffic, leading to death," resulting in a two-year suspended sentence.
In 2008 the rally ran from San Francisco to the Beijing Olympics, including a night in North Korea for the Mass Games. The 2015 route spanned Stockholm to Las Vegas, with Lewis Hamilton joining the final stage driving a Koenigsegg Agera HH. The 2018 edition flew all participating vehicles on two cargo planes to Japan, routing through Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo after stages in France and Italy.
Cooper met Grammy-winning US rapper Eve during the 2010 rally, which ran from London to New York. He married her in 2014 at the conclusion of that year's rally, which finished on the island of Ibiza.
Cooper established the Gumball 3000 Foundation in 2013 to benefit underprivileged youth through education and recreational infrastructure projects worldwide. In September 2024, during the rally's 25th Anniversary edition in South East Asia, the Foundation held a charity auction and gala dinner at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, raising over $600,000 for charitable projects and setting a Guinness World Record for the largest display of supercars at a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 179 cars on display.
The Gumball 3000 brand has expanded into apparel, limited-edition products, and major sponsorships. Partnerships have included Puma, Adidas, Guess, and Kappa for clothing, as well as watch manufacturers Nixon, Armin Strom, and Ulysse Nardin. Automotive partners have included Aston Martin, Koenigsegg, Rimac, and Alfa Romeo. In 2023 Hard Rock was announced as an official hotel and casino partner in a long-term multi-million dollar deal. The 2022 event, postponed from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, included the inaugural Gumball Goodwill Cup Charity Football Match at Inter Miami's DRV PNK Stadium, featuring a Gumball All-Stars XI against a Laureus Sport for Good World XI. The 26th rally in 2025 ran from Istanbul to Ibiza, underscoring the event's continued presence as an international automotive and cultural phenomenon.
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