The Secret Life of a Vietnamese Mechanic: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Intense Work of Wrapping Luxury Cars for the Gumball 3000 Rally.

The Gumball 3000 supercar journey, which took place in Ho Chi Minh City on September 14-15, attracted the attention of car enthusiasts nationwide. Prior to the event, the vehicles were transported by plane to Vietnam in preparation for this journey.

Team On the Run participated with eight different cars, including the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series P One Edition, Ferrari 296 GTB, Ferrari Roma Spider, Porsche 911 GT2 RS, Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Audi RS5, Cadillac Escalade, Mercedes-AMG G 63, and Toyota Alphard.

With the aim of winning the Best Team and Best Wrap awards, the On the Run team decorated the eight cars with eight unique sets of decals, each with a unique story to tell.

Even more impressively, a small decal shop in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City, was directly responsible for decorating the two SUVs: the Cadillac Escalade and Mercedes-AMG G63. Sharing their experience, the shop representative said, “After working with the On The Run team, I was impressed by their unique style and bold thinking, with a clear focus on winning the Best Team and Best Wrap awards.”

The Escalade was decorated with a theme featuring Japanese Samurai warriors, while the AMG G63 showcased a battle between the iconic movie characters Godzilla and Kong.

According to the decal shop, due to the need for secrecy before the start of Gumball 3000, the technicians had to work in a secret warehouse in Binh Duong instead of their well-equipped facility.

The biggest challenge they faced was the high temperature, dense dust, and lack of light in the warehouse. The owner of the shop shared, “Decal installation requires a completely dust-free environment to ensure the quality of the car’s surface and the adhesive of the decal.”

Another difficulty was that the decal designs had to be printed out in large sections before being applied to the cars. After installation, the details and sections on the cars had to be seamless and aesthetically pleasing from all angles.

Furthermore, the On the Run team requested that no parts of the Escalade be removed during the decal installation process. This meant that the technicians had to be extremely meticulous and careful when working on challenging areas such as door handles, side mirrors, front and rear bumpers. For the AMG G63, the technicians were allowed to remove some parts, making the installation process slightly easier.

“However, I believe the biggest pressure was the time constraint. We only had a few days to decorate both cars, working 12-hour shifts, and even our meal breaks were rushed to ensure we stayed on schedule,” the shop representative shared.

Despite the challenges, the technicians successfully completed the decoration of the Mercedes-AMG G63 in 35 working hours, while the Cadillac Escalade took over 40 working hours to finish.

Additionally, along with a team from Malaysia, this decal shop was also responsible for decorating over 100 cars participating in the Gumball 3000 supercar journey. They applied team numbers, member names, sponsor logos, and more. They also provided decal support for a Porsche 911 GT2 RS from Malaysia.

“I consider this to be an extremely challenging test for our technicians, as everything had to be perfect before stepping onto the big stage that is Gumball 3000,” the shop owner stated.