Boat International – April 2018

http://www.boatinternational.com | April 2018

BOAT LIFE

P

ushopenthedoorsofanunassuming

black brick building in West London and

you’llfindyourselfinanAladdin’scave.

Onthegroundfloor,prideofplaceisgivento

twocars(a1969LotusType47inpaleblue,

anda1993racingJaguarXJ220S)anda

motorbike(asilverBSAB40onceownedby

SteveMcQueen).“Iftheycouldtalk,they

wouldtellgreatstories,”saystheowner.

WeareintheheadquartersofGumball

3000 Entertainment Group, the business that

hasbeenbuiltonthebackofthenow20-year-

old annual 3,000 mile rally founded by my

host,MaximillionCooper.That’sthename

his parents gave him, but he went by plain Max

untilhewas18,heexplains,asitprovedabit

awkwardathisstateschool.

Spread over three floors are also Evel

Knievel andCharlie’s Angelspinball machines,

Segaarcadegamesconsoles,awallfullof

TheGumball3000rallyisaneventlikenoother

–justlikeitsfounder,saysPeter Howarth

Oneina

Maximillion

painted skateboards, another of

unused, coloured BMX bike frames,

and a pair of Nike Air Jordans from

thefirstproductionrun–“they’relike

theholygrailforanyoneinterestedin

sneakers;Iboughtthemfor£1,000in

the 90s, but recently someone ofered

me £50,000 for them.”

Barelyanywallspaceisnotcovered

byart.ItwasCooper’sfirstlove,becauseofhis

father,asculptorandpainter.Foryearshe’s

beencollecting,fromfriendslikeJonathan

Yeo and Banksy (who used to decorate his

warehouseswhenhethrewpartiesinthe

earlyGumballdays),topiecesbyFrankStella

and Pierre Soulages.

The idea behind Gumball is combining

motorsport with fashion, music and

entertainment, and is the result of Cooper’s

uniquely spent youth: during the weeks he

was based in remote English countryside,

weekendswerespentinLondonwherehis

parentssharedaflatwithartstudents.From

anearlyage,hewasintoskateboardingand

BMX riding, and was good enough to attract

sponsorship. He simultaneously began

modellingforthelikesofGiorgioArmaniand

Dolce&Gabbana.Coopergotinterestedin

carsasakid,acuriosityfedbythedietofUS

television shows he consumed, likeKnight

Rider.Hedecidedtoinvestabigpaycheque

fromamodellingjobinsomerace-cardriving

lessons and soon he was competing, while also

studying fashion at Central Saint Martins.

Aftergraduating,Cooperdidalawandfilm

studiesMAandracedforseveralyearsfor

sports car teams.

In1998,hesays,“IrealisedIwasnever

going to be world champion”, and decided

to try a new track. He

consultedhisaddressbook

forideasandfounditfull

of contacts at automotive

firms and sponsors,

fashion designers, extreme

sportsstarsandasizeable

constituency of the 90s

Londonpartyscene.He

first dreamed of buying

an F1 team and found an

investor to help him. “I grew

upwhenJamesHuntwas

“I grew up when

JamesHuntwasthe

poster boy for F1,

and I wanted

to bring some

of the fun and

glamour back into

motor racing”

Gumball’s West London

HQ is adorned with

artworks that Cooper has

collected over the years