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Motor Trend
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
1966 Shelby 427 Cobra vs. 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder: Gumball Rally Revisited
[This article originally appeared in the Summer 2006 issue of MotorTrend Classic] Given the giddy brew that comprises 1976's 'The Gumball Rally'—dream cars in an illegal race from New York to California (all for glory and a gumball machine), authentic high-speed zooming and vrooming, plenty of anti-establishment gags, plus a steady stream of spectacular stunts and pulchritudinous ladies in shrink-wrapped attire—it's a wonder the movie didn't sweep the Academy Awards. But Gumball took home not a single golden statuette. (In an obvious anti-auto conspiracy, also winning nothing was that year's other big car picture, 'Taxi Driver.') The New York Times, probably put off by Gumball's lack of subtitles, called it 'nothing but one long exhaust pipe.' 0:00 / 0:00 Hel-loooo? We've carefully watched all the big Oscar honorees for 1976—films like 'Network' and 'All the President's Men'—and haven't found a single scene involving a Ferrari Daytona Spyder or a Shelby 427 Cobra. And therein lies the guilty pleasure of 'The Gumball Rally.' For auto aficionados in the Seventies, watching Gumball was like spending 107 minutes inside Willy Wonka's Cheater Slick Factory. After all, owning a car in late-1970s America was a lot like being locked in your room by your parents—without the dirty magazines hidden under your bed. There seemed no end to the things we couldn't do. We couldn't drive over 55 mph—not without Fuzzbusters, anyway. We couldn't buy gas without a reservation. We couldn't own high-horsepower cars without feeling the static cling of Jimmy Carter's cardigan sweater. We couldn't even turn on the car radio, because the Bay City Rollers or Barry Manilow might be on it. Then the first reel rolled on 'The Gumball Rally,' and within 15 minutes the cast had raised a prerace toast that swept aside all societal fouled plugs: 'To internal combustion. And wind in the face.' Okay, 'Macbeth' it isn't. But Gumball fairly glistens with breath-snatching wheels: the sensuous Ferrari, the bulging Cobra, a black Porsche 911, a hopped-up Camaro, a vintage Mercedes 300SL roadster, a Rolls-Royce worth an astronomical '$40,000.' The dialog boasts a few 'Casablanca'-caliber gems, too, including perhaps the most immortal line in car-movie history—when Italian race champ Franco (the late Raul Julia) yanks the rearview mirror off the Ferrari as he declares to teammate Smitty (the late Tim McIntire): 'And now, my friend, the first rule of Italian driving: What's behind me is not important.' Above all, Gumball took our catalyst-choked, fuel-shortaged souls along on a vicarious thrill ride in which the only rule was 'there are no rules.' Who among us hasn't dreamt of doing naughty things with a Porsche right through midtown Manhattan? Who hasn't fantasized about outrunning a police helicopter in a Ferrari that 'must be doing 180 mph'? And who didn't go envy green over the classic, climactic duel between Franco's Daytona and the Cobra of Michael Bannon (Michael Sarrazin) down the semi-dry L.A. River to the finish line at the Queen Mary in Long Beach? Do the pictures on these pages look familiar? They should. That's the same L.A. River you see in Gumball, and those are the actual two cars that appeared in the movie (we look exactly like Sarrazin and Julia, too—at least if you're reading this while seated on a paint shaker). Drive the actual Gumball Rally cars? Who said youthful fantasies never come true? Enthusiasts will recall, of course, that the idea for an illegal cross-country race was hardly original. 'My agent sent me a clipping from the Los Angeles Times about this race from New York to L.A.,' says Chuck Bail, 70, Gumball's producer and director. 'And the more I thought about it, the more I thought, 'What a great idea for a comedy.'' Not finding the idea quite so amusing, though, was then-Car and Driver writer Brock Yates, whose notorious Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash was the illegal race in question and who had plans for his own movie version. 'I was furious about it. Really pissed off,' Yates said. Yet Gumball rolled on. 'I picked every car in the movie,' Bail says. 'The studio tried to force me to use star actors, but my feeling was, the cars are the stars.' Then Bail laughs. 'Also, I wanted to keep the budget down!' Bail remembers the first time he met his 'Franco Bertollini.' 'My agent said, 'You've got to meet this guy, Raul Julia.' And I said, 'I need an Italian!' But unbeknownst to me, Raul had already been prepped on the part. So he auditioned and he was just so Italian, so wonderful. But of course he was a New Yorker. He couldn't drive!' Bail had more difficulty finding his 'Michael Bannon.' 'Finally the studio president said, 'How about Michael Sarrazin?' And I said 'fine,' 'cause we started shooting in three days! But I gotta tell you, Michael was a wonderful choice. While we were filming, though, so many people thought he was Peter Fonda. Used to drive him nuts!' 'Michael was an even worse driver than Raul Julia!' laughs Linda Vaughn, the omnipresent motorsport beauty queen who appears in Gumball as the dishy 'Emergency Plan Alpha' to distract the amorous Franco from the finish line. 'Raul was such fun. I brought my Ferrari 246 to the set to show him how to shift gears, and I think it made Michael jealous—he wanted to go out with me. But the man could not even drive the Cobra! Raul got the hang of it. I was so impressed with how he handled himself. I still have the silk scarf he wears in the movie.' For his four-wheeled stars, Bail had backups. 'We had two of everything,' he says. 'You don't dare do a movie with just one of each car.' Bail's vehicular Noah's Ark included two authentic Cobras (plus one replica that appeared on screen briefly) and two authentic Daytona Spyders. The Cobra you see here, serial number CSX3255, is one of the two genuine cars; both were painted Guardsman Blue during the filming (CSX3255 has since been restored, repainted in red, and fitted with a new hood that lacks a scoop). While shooting, one of the two Cobras (it's unclear which) suffered nose damage during a crash into the L.A. River's concrete wall, forcing Bail to finish filming with the second car (look closely near the movie's end, and you can see the Cobra switch from damaged to undamaged and back again). Like the other film Cobra—CSX3243—the red car is now in private hands in California (see 'Ask the Man Who Owns One'). Gumball also used two genuine Ferrari Daytona Spyders. 'My stuntmen got to dicing with each other while we were filming the night race in Arizona between the Ferrari and the Cobra,' Bail says, 'and the Ferrari driver went off. Totaled the Daytona—and a Panavision camera. Somehow they found me another car in Scottsdale, and I wrote a check for $35,000 so I could finish shooting. At the end of the movie, the studio reimbursed my $35K. Can you believe it? I should've kept the damn car!' The Spyder you see here, serial number 14829, graciously loaned to us from its permanent home at L.A.'s Petersen Automotive Museum ( is likely the second car. According to the best available information, the wrecked Spyder, serial number 16467, was rebuilt, 'crashed' on screen by Kris Kristofferson in 1976's 'A Star Is Born,' and then converted into a 'NART Spyder' (however, one of 14829's earlier owners, former Ferrari racer and repair-shop owner Joseph Crevier, claims his was the Ferrari that appeared in both Gumball and 'A Star is Born'). Eventually, 14829 joined the collection of Noel and Mel (the voice of Bugs Bunny) Blanc before moving to the Petersen seven years ago. Since Gumball, 14829 has been restored and repainted, including new cockpit trim by famed interior specialist Tony Nancy. Both cars are gorgeous. Looking at the two of them side by side on the concrete of the L.A. River, just as they appeared in 'The Gumball Rally,' adolescent memories come flooding back. Why, we drooled over these very machines three decades ago. It's like climbing aboard a time machine and spending a day in 1976 with Farrah Fawcett and Lynda Carter—except the cars won't smack you if you put on a Barry White album. Unexpected for an exotic of its vintage, the Ferrari is a polished jewel (on reflection, perhaps that isn't surprising; this being the model that in the premiere issue of Motor Trend Classic our expert panelists ranked number two on the list of greatest-ever Ferraris). The engine starts easily, the five-speed slots gracefully through the pattern, and the steering quickly shrugs off an initial heaviness to become, as speed builds, quite light and fluid. The four-cam, 4.4-liter V-12 revs like a turbine, and the horses awaken smartly as the tach climbs. Beyond 5000 rpm or so, all 352 of them are racing hard for the 7500-rpm redline, emitting a howl that makes grown men weak in the knees and teenage boys stand in line to watch car movies. Franco and Smitty chose well—you can feel the Ferrari's long legs, its comfort with speed. For an illegal dash across the country, the Daytona would make a brilliant accomplice (and, in fact, in 1971 a Daytona coupe carried Brock Yates and racing legend Dan Gurney to a win in the Cannonball, averaging 80 mph over nearly 2900 miles and once reaching 176 mph). Gun this beauty through the gears, listen to it sing the high notes, and you can only smile and say, as Franco would, 'She is happy.' If the Ferrari is from Venus, the Shelby 427 Cobra is a beast from Mars. Climb aboard the Cobra, and you're tying yourself onto a rodeo bull—hell, this thing might even kick you if you try to climb back out. Twist the ignition, and the race-bred 7.0-liter big-block V-8 crackles and shudders, the flimsy aluminum body quivers like an overgrown Chihuahua, and soon your toes are slow-roasting against the firewall. You're still in neutral. The four-speed shifter juts out of the floor like a crooked cactus but finding the gear notches is effortless. Press in the clutch pedal (precursor to the Nautilus calf machine), tickle the throttle, and…sorry. We unintentionally clenched shut every bodily orifice just remembering how the Cobra charges off the line. All the acceleration clichés come to mind: aircraft-carrier catapults, NASA rockets, teenage girls catching sight of Leonardo DiCaprio. Driving this thing across the country would be pure masochism, but, man, even after four decades the Cobra has lost none of its famed bite. There's so much torque you can start off in fourth gear if you want. Put it in first, and it'd humiliate almost anything made today (it feels way quicker than the 5.3-second 0-to-60 time we recorded on skinnier tires—and with two aboard—in 1966). Legend has it that the Cobra could rocket from 0 to 100 and back to 0 in under 14 seconds—and from the way this one crushed our eyeballs, we believe it. Which car wins our Gumball Rally rematch? Without Emergency Plan Alpha on hand to bust loose a clear victor, we're happy to call it a draw, a question of taste—the Ferrari's Toscanini virtuosity versus the Cobra's shattering heavy metal. Besides, as Franco says in Gumball when yet another young lovely diverts his attention, 'Some things are more important than winning.' 1972 Ferrari 365GTS/4 Daytona Spyder Expect to Pay: Concours ready: $750,000 (perhaps $800,000 or more with Hollywood connection); solid driver: $600,000; tired runner: $500,000 Join The Club: Ferrari Club of America; Our Take Then: 'The Daytona Spyder will provide all the thrills a sane man could want and do it with full security at a level where lesser machinery might feel as though it were reaching escape velocity.'—Chuck Queener, Motor Trend, December 1971. Now: As scene-stealing as it ever was. And rare to boot: This car is one of only about 120 genuine Daytona Spyders built from 1969 through 1974 (thanks to abundant coupe-to-convertible conversions since then, of those original Spyders about 250 exist today). Still feels seriously fast, still feels robust. We'd gladly take one on a cross-country race tomorrow. Currently in the collection of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles ( 1966 Shelby 427 Cobra Ask The Man Who Owns One The Cobra's owner, a businessman and attorney in California's central valley who prefers not to be identified, says he didn't learn his car was used in 'The Gumball Rally' until after he bought it in 2002. 'It was a nice surprise,' he says, 'but really I'd always just wanted a Cobra. I used to own a replica, but when I had enough money I started looking for an original.' Why He Likes It: 'Running through the gears! I probably put 300 to 400 miles a year on the car driving it through the twisties. I've had it up to about 140 mph. But the handling is pure 1966. I can't imagine how anyone raced these cars on a road course.' Why It's Collectible: Shelby built only 348 427 Cobras (including 21 competition cars) from 1965 to 1967. Without question, the baddest automobile of the 1960s—it's a dream for many enthusiasts just to see one. Restoring/Maintaining: 'I have my Cobra maintained by a very talented guy named Brian Frick,' says the owner. 'When I bought the car it had already been restored, so I really haven't had to do anything major to it.' Expect To Pay: Concours ready: $700,000; solid driver: $550,000; tired runner: $400,000 Join The Club: Shelby American Automobile Club; Our Take Then: 'Although amazingly tractable and untemperamental for such a powerful machine, this is clearly not a car for everyone. If you want to pretend that every stop light is the grid at Nürburgring or every freeway the Mulsanne straight, forget it. You can't afford the tickets.'—Bob Schilling, MT, September 1966. Now: Still one of the most visceral and exciting rides ever put on four wheels. Fast, loud, unabashedly primal. Might want to go on a low-residue diet before you start it up.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
The Amazing World of Gumball Season 7: First teaser, release window, streaming platform, and what to expect
The Amazing World of Gumball is officially returning with a brand-new season, seven years after its original run ended in 2019. While two special episodes aired in 2021, this is the first full season since then. And yes, it looks just as wild (and wonderfully weird) as ever. New teaser brings Gumball back in a big way On May 19, Cartoon Network International dropped a teaser for the new season, now titled The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball, and it is enough to send the fans of the BAFTA Children's, International Emmy, and Annie multi-award-winning series into a nostalgic trip. The teaser opens in Gumball's familiar old neighborhood, but it looks abandoned, muddy, and drained of color. A strange alarm blares as Gumball, dressed in rags, wakes up and stumbles out. He finds Darwin, who tells him, 'We're seven years late for school," a fun nod to how long the show's been gone. As they get moving, the color slowly returns to the world, and the usual chaos begins, proving nothing's really changed, and if anything, things might've gotten wonderfully weirder. The Amazing World of Gumball Season 7: Release window revealed While there's no exact date yet, Warner Bros. Discovery executive Sean Henry recently confirmed that the new episodes will premiere later this year. The teaser shared by Cartoon Network's official channel also confirms it's coming in 2025. The Amazing World of Gumball Season 7: Where to watch? You'll be able to stream the new season on Hulu and Disney+ in the U.S., while international viewers can catch it on Cartoon Network International and HBO Max (outside the U.S.). What's in store for Gumball and friends? Season 7 will pick up where things left off, with Gumball's nemesis Rob returning and more of the mysterious 'Void' being explored. The first episode, titled The Burger, will follow Gumball and Darwin as they attempt to eat healthy, which—predictably—won't go as planned. Is the Gumball movie still happening? A movie was announced alongside the new season but was rumored to be cancelled. However, series creator Ben Bocquelet recently confirmed it's still happening. He shared that the original story is being reworked and that he's actively developing a new version of the film. No release window has been shared yet, but the good news is it hasn't been scrapped.
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Amazing World of Gumball is returning for season 7 — Here's how and when you can watch it
After six gloriously chaotic seasons, The Amazing World of Gumball went on hiatus in 2019, leaving a Gumball-shaped hole in the hearts of animation lovers everywhere. But now, thanks to the magic of streaming, the surreal cartoon is officially getting a second life. Hulu, in collaboration with original series creator Ben Bocquelet, has announced the return of the beloved series with new episodes picking up exactly where season six left off. The Cartoon Network show follows Gumball, an anthropomorphic blue cat, and his goldfish brother, Darwin, as they navigate the everyday absurdities of middle school in the fictional town of Elmore. Needless to say, mayhem usually follows. 'Welcome back to Elmore, where the laws of reality are a joke, and family life is anything but ordinary,' reads Hulu's description of the show. With six years since the last episode aired, fans are eager to see how the new season will evolve — especially as it moves to a new home on Hulu. Here's everything we know so far about The Amazing World of Gumball season 7, as well as a sneaky teaser trailer to whet your appetite. When will 'The Amazing World of Gumball' season 7 come out? It's been a long wait since the season six finale aired in 2019 and, while a release date for the new episodes is yet to be confirmed, the teaser trailer offers a potential clue. 'Oh, dude, we're late for school!' Darwin says to Gumball. Gumball asks, 'How late?' Darwin replies, 'About seven years!' — a clear reference to the show's extended hiatus. If that's any indication, the new season could arrive some time in 2026. We'll make sure to keep you updated as soon as we hear any more, so keep checking back for updates. How to watch 'Amazing World of Gumball' season 7? Hulu has picked up the exclusive streaming rights, so fans can expect all new episodes to drop there. If you want to re-watch or catch up on earlier seasons, Hulu has the full back catalog available, either on its own or through the Hulu and Disney+ bundle.
GMA Network
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- GMA Network
In 'Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball' teaser, Gumball and Darwin rise from the dust 7 years later
Gumball and Darwin are returning this year! On social media Monday, Cartoon Network Asia shared a teaser video of 'The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball,' an upcoming spinoff to the popular animated series 'The Amazing World of Gumball" that is set to premiere this 2025. The trailer opens with Gumball and Darwin waking up covered in dust seven years later. According to the post, 'The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball' will be available on Cartoon Network and Max in Asia. 'So amazing we had to rename it. 'The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball.' Coming in 2025 to Cartoon Network and Max,' the caption read. 'The Amazing World of Gumball" follows a young blue cat named Gumball Watterson and his adoptive goldfish brother, Darwin, and their adventures and shenanigans in the fictional town of Elmore. Its sixth and last season was released in 2018. —Jade Veronique Yap/CDC, GMA Integrated News
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
'The Amazing World Of Gumball' announces its season 7 after a long hiatus
Gather around, ' Gumball ' fans, it's returning for the seventh season after a long hiatus since 2019! With a little tweak in the name, 'The Amazing World of Gumball' will now be ' The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball .' However, the creator, Ben Bocquelet , stated that it would still be considered as the seventh season of 'The Amazing World of Gumball.' The official synopsis states... The official Hulu synopsis states, 'Welcome back to Elmore, where the laws of reality are a joke and family life is anything but ordinary. Whether he's battling an evil fast-food empire, facing off against a sentient AI in love with his mom or trying to stop Banana Joe from wearing pants - Gumball Watterson drags his brother Darwin, sister Anais, and the rest of the town of Elmore along for the ride.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch vàng CFDs với sàn môi giới tin cậy IC Markets Tìm hiểu thêm Undo Well, the official date has not been announced yet; however, the season plans, 'With even wilder stories, bigger twists, and surreal humor, the show is so amazing that they had to rename it!' the synopsis added. About the teaser trailer In the teaser trailer released by the production, Gumball wakes up from the spider webs and asks how late they are. Darwin states that it's about seven years (the exact time that the audience has been waiting for the new season) - but there is still time for a five-minute nap, and Gumball goes back to sleep. Statement from the creators The creator, Ben Bocquelet, along with the executive producers and directors Matt Layzell and Erik Fountain , gave an official statement about the release. 'What an amazing opportunity to play with these characters again! Fans can look forward to plenty more antics and misadventures in Elmore because Gumball and Darwin haven't grown up much since we last saw them…we haven't either,' they stated, according to Decider.
