We will admit to a soft spot in our hearts for Alex Roy’s book, The Driver [1], which chronicles his exploits in pursuit of the coast-to-coast driving record between New York and Los Angeles. As part of the story, Roy relates tales from the “Gumball 3000 [2]” rally, which the organizers are quick to point out is most definitely not a speed competition of any sort [3], period, end of sentence. It’s a rally, not a race, and the point most definitely isn’t to get from one checkpoint to the next before anybody else. That would involve violating our fine nation’s speed laws, which would endanger the possibility of future Gumball rallies.
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[5]Instead, it’s a celebration of everything good about being a gearhead – getting together with like-minded people, taking an extended road trip, and perhaps making a few memories along the way. Hopefully ones that don’t involve getting pulled over and cavity-searched multiple times in the process.
Of course, that explains why these competitors in the 2012 Gumball Rally [6], running the #44 Corvette ZR1, feel the need to have license place hiders front [7] and back [8]. We have to admit they’re pretty slick, but it sort of defeats the purpose of hiding your plates if you make a video showing how you can hide your plates, with the actual real plates shown…