When Gumball Comes To Town

This Sunday, the Gumball 3000 rally returns to Edinburgh, the third stop on its extraordinary trek from Dublin to Bucharest. Running from April 30th - May 7th, the competitors will tear up tarmac across Europe, with 13 stops at cities and racetracks along the way to party hard and drive fast.

Regent Street will play host to a display of cars from world's foremost manufacturers of hyperbole, and events and festivities will take place leading up to the arrival of the 2016 rally before the cars line up to depart for Manchester, the next stop on their 3000+ mile journey.

This isn't the first time Scotland's capital has been brought to a hault by this hyper-rally, which sounds like the stuff of comic book legend. Back in 2014, The Mound became the most expensive car park in Scotland, and thousands of people flocked to Edinburgh City Centre to see the Gumballers off on the next leg of their Miami to Ibiza run.

Despite the drizzle, people flocked to see the supercars parked up.
Not exactly Monaco, but it has it's own charm.

The cobbles of Rutland Street were entirely fenced off on the evening of 7th June, to provide a holding pen for an advance guard of mega-metal that had roared into town earlier that day.

Whilst the drivers unwound in nearby bars and hotels, their cars were swamped with spectators and spotters alike, phones out, fixated with the extraordinary machines that sat in the street that night. Security guards stood diligently in the rain, breaking their watch only to join passersby in sharing awe and ruminations on the cars, and imagine what it could be like for those involved.

The mix was eclectic; a Defender and a Shelby Cobra replica
were two motors dangling off either edge of the scale.

The warm and heady air of an Edinburgh June was tinged with excitement that night. The arrival of the cars was in many ways shrouded in mystery, and even the paddock of supercars already in situ couldn't have prepared for what was to come the next day.

Gumball regulars Team Wolfpack are one of the teams
set to return this year.

Rising fairly early, I dawdled along to Princes Street in the mid-morning sun; mercifully, the heavens were spent and the roof tops of the New and the Old Town were aglow in bright sunlight. Crowds had already begun to gather at Rutland Street, where windows shook to the sound of many cylinders being warmed up in their respective engines, and an impromptu t-shirt cannon dispatched memorabilia into the growing throngs.

Above: Covers are lifted, final polishes completed and engines idle thunderously
ahead of the UK leg of the Gumball 3000 2014.
Below: An orange Ferrari California was one of the first
to lead the pack from Rutland Street.

Pressing on towards The Mound, I took my place between families enjoying a summers day out and people going about their regular Sunday, whose curiosity peaked at the sheer numbers of car fans lining the street. Waiting ensued. Social media accounts of drivers were consulted.

And then, spilling round past the old Bank of Scotland building came wave after wave of extraordinary exotica. Familiar faces from the night before sat proudly in their machines, leading the cavalcade of cars from the airport directly into the centre of attention.

Attention leapt to a black Nissan Skyline, near the head of the parade, rumoured to contain one David Hasslehoff, sadly sans KITT-style scrolling LEDs. In it's wake came big name after big name; Mclaren P1, Bugatti Veyron, Ford GT, Lamborghinis big and small... the list goes on and reads like the single greatest GT racing grid ever put together, and in a lot of ways that's exactly what the Gumball 3000 is.

"Michal, my scanners show large crowds blocking the way.
Would you like me to turbo boost over them?"
"No, KITT, they're the reason we're here."

A cacophony of V6, V8, V10, and V12 engines sang, howled and rasped in symphony as splitters narrowly missed Edinburgh's ancient cobbles. The constant 'ca-click' of digital camera shutters was all but completely drowned out, and though marshals tried valiantly to part the crowds, the ebb and flow of sheer people power meant cars were often at a standstill, allowing for plenty of door-lifting, photo-ops and back-and-forth with between drivers and their adoring fans.

On a grid where social media stars like Schmee150 mingle with the likes of Deadmau5, and racing drivers from various series take stints in the rally, ostentatious showing off is inevitable. Two Brabus-tuned Mercedes-Benz 6x6s, one decked out in flags and flashing lights, charged over The Mound. A Union-Jack wrapped Jaguar F-Type sat in the same jam as a Rolls-Royce completely covered in velvet - the latter driven by a Scottish team. A McLaren P1 paused to erupt it's sonorus V8 howl, before silently traversing the rest of the way down to the paddock on electric drive.

Bringing a black Veyron amongst so many other supercars, most adorned
in bright wraps, could almost be called being discrete on a day like this.

The cars parked briefly at the foot of the hill, enough time for another quick flash-and-dash photo-op, before engines ignited once more. Outrageous car after outrageous car merged amongst the buses and taxis that typically trundle along Princes Street, before roaring off towards Manchester, London and then the continent beyond, bound for Ibiza.

Not your typical Sunday afternoon Princes Street black cab.

This year, the weather has not been as kind. An Arctic wind has brought plumetting temperatures, and despite the fact that it's May Day weekend, snow could potentially be on the cards.

Might be a tad chilly for doors up on Princes Street this year, Jon.

And yet, the Gumballers shall roll on. Come what may weather-wise, this circus of horsepower will pass through Auld Reekie on Sunday to delight and enthuse the city, before heading south on the next leg of their very-grand-indeed-tour.

Hopefully this week's December weather will give way to May sun by Sunday.

McMotors will be in Edinburgh this weekend,  soaking up the sights, sounds, and atmosphere that comes with the Gumball 3000. Follow us on Twitter @Jack_McMotors for updates.