Maximillion Cooper, founder of the Gumball Rally, explains how what started as an excuse for a party is now a global extravaganza - from Thailand to Croatia.
I HAD THIS IDEA to do a 'cannonball run' across Europe. I phoned 50 friends and told them about a Wacky Races sort of event where everyone drives their own car and comes together to have a party every night. This was how Gumball Rally started, in April 1999, with 55 cars.
The rally stretches over 4,800km and is a tremendous test of endurance. Everyone I invited had a passion for cars or a passion for partying. At that point I didn't know if it was just a one-off or not but nine months after the rally ended the media were still sniffing around. Now, eight years later, we have nine companies dealing with publishing, films, music and merchandise, as well as the rally itself.
Compared to my school-friends' parents, mine were unusual - my dad was a drummer and an artist and my mum a model. There must have been moments when I wanted normal parents. When you get dropped off at school in your mum's beat-up Morris Minor - the only car she has ever had (and still has)
- while your friends turn up in flashy new cars, you wish sometimes that you were in a new car, too.
I was a sporty child, passionate about skateboarding and riding my BMX.