Gallery: Supercars and social media star in Donegal for Bumblebee 1000

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A convoy of supercars rolled into Letterkenny over the weekend as the Bumblebee 1000 Northwest Adventure made its way to Donegal.

The run started in Kildare on Saturday and featured over 60 supercars to raise money for Little Blue Heroes, the Garda-based charity.

Upwards on €20,000 was collected in a road trip that featured social media star Jason McConnon and included a raft of Ireland's finest machinery.

McConnon arrived in his distinctive green GT-R from Carrickmacross.

McConnon has 193,000 followers on TikTok and his car-related content has amassed over 8million likes on the platform.

“You just have to love Donegal,” McConnon, a regular in these parts every June for the Donegal International Rally, told Donegal Live.

Ben Lambe and his wife, Anne, came from Dublin, their Ranger Raptor sporting American police-style livery.

The 'SWAT' and 'Police' stickers added to the lights and sirens, not to mention the guns for show.

“We just thought that, with this being for Little Blue Heroes, we'd go for the spin on the American cops,” Ben said.

The stunning array of equipment included a Lamborghini Aventadors that can do 0-100km in 2.8 seconds, a range of Nissan GT-Rs, Ferraris, Maseratis, Bentleys, McLarens and an optimistic BMW i8 with its roof retracted as the convoy prepared for the off at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Letterkenny.

The cars were based at the Radisson on Saturday night and around 9.30am on Sunday the convoy was pointing for north Donegal.

Honorary Garda Jack Beattie from Raphoe was among those out to wave off the cars.

There, too, were Noreen O'Donnell and her daughter Aoife, who sailed over from Arranmore on Saturday.

The Bumblebee 1000 was the brainchild of PJ Harte from Galway. After the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, his son, Dylan, who has cerebral palsy, posted on social media regarding a car run for Enable Ireland and over €4,000 was lifted in around 15 minutes.

A meeting with a Garda at a subsequent car run planted the seeds to raise money for Little Blue Heroes.

Harte was in Donegal in his Boden Autohaus tuned McLaren 720S.

“We at An Garda Siochana in Donegal are absolutely delighted to be associated with the Bumblebee 1000,” said Donegal-based Garda Grainne Doherty.

“Little Blue Heroes is a charity that is very close to our hearts. Our Little Blue Heroes show bravery and dedication every day of their lives.

“We want to thank everyone involved in Bumblebee 1000 for their fundraising efforts.”

Paul Byrne, the Managing Director of the Radisson Blu, Letterkenny, added: “We were delighted to host the Bumblebee 100 on the visit to Letterkenny. It is an amazing spectacle. It's great to see everyone coming out in big numbers.”