[4] Entrants travel on public roads and use a mixture of vehicles ranging from custom classic cars to hypercars, and attend a VIP party, dinner or event each night.

Maximillion Cooper started the event after he and a group of friends aimed to drive their supercars across Europe on a 3,000 mile journey that they referred to as a rally.

The rally received extensive coverage in the British media due to the attendance of a number of high-profile figures including Kate Moss, Guy Ritchie and Kylie & Dannii Minogue.

The rally then continued through Bilbao, Cannes, Milan, Hotel Bühlerhöhe Castle,[15] Nürburgring GP circuit and Hamburg, before heading back to the starting city, London.

[17][18] Entrants who featured in the 2001 rally included Formula One World Champion Damon Hill in a Lamborghini and comedian Vic Reeves who drove a Mercedes-AMG.

[20] Checkpoints along the route included a stop at the White House in Washington, D.C.; Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee; Texas; Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico; the Grand Canyon; Las Vegas; and, finally, the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

[25] The rally passed through Reno, Nevada; Las Vegas; Tucson, Arizona; White Sands, New Mexico; San Antonio, Texas; and New Orleans.

[25] Featured participants included Travis Pastrana, professional skateboarder Tony Hawk, who drove in a Dodge Viper the late Jackass' Ryan Dunn.

[28] Entrants drove through Brussels, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Sicily, Rome and Florence, before crossing the finishing line in Monte Carlo.

[28] Models Caprice Bourret and Jodie Kidd joined singer Jay Kay from Jamiroquai, British rock band The Darkness and Ken Block in the list of celebrities taking part.

The route then continued through Phuket and Bangkok, before flying to Salt Lake City[29] and finishing with a party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

Over 100 contestants including actors Tamer Hassan and Danny Dyer and model and entrepreneur Caprice Bourret were scheduled to drive through 16 countries in eight days.

The subsequent court hearing found Morley guilty and convicted him of "endangering traffic, leading to death";[35] he was released from custody after receiving a two-year suspended sentence.

The rally passed through Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas before flying to Nanjing in China and spending a night in North Korea for the Mass Games.

[39][40] Starting in London's Covent Garden, the 2011 Gumball 3000 rally saw the entrants drive through Paris, Barcelona, Monaco, Venice, and Croatia, before finishing in Istanbul.

Attendees of the launch party at the Playboy Club in London included Jo Wood, The Saturdays Vanessa White and former Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton.

The 2012 rally was a 'Sea to Shining Sea' route in the US from New York to Los Angeles, stopping in Toronto, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Santa Fe and Las Vegas.

Stops included Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Reno, San Francisco and Los Angeles, with a drive through Death Valley before reaching Las Vegas.

[46] Lewis Hamilton joined the final stage of the rally from Los Angeles to Las Vegas driving a Koenigsegg Agera HH.

[50] In 2017, the rally began on 1 July from Riga, passing through Warsaw, Kraków, Budapest, Dubrovnik, Porto Montenegro, Tirana, Volos, then Athens, and finally to Mykonos for two days.

[57] A number of new celebrity participants joined for this rally, including influencers Yung Filly and Michael Dapaah, and rapper French Montana, who performed at the opening concert in Dubai.

The rally began on 10 June in Edinburgh, Scotland, before heading to London, England, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Verbier, Switzerland, Venice, Italy and Budapest, Hungary, before crossing the finish line in the coastal resort of Porto Montenegro.

[64] Adidas subsequently withdrew its multi-million dollar sponsorship following a fatal accident in 2007 which resulted in the death of a person in a car not part of the event.