Nurburgring, Stelvio pass, Museo Storico, Monaco, Col du Turini, Grimselpass

I took my car on a little road trip last week……


This trip has been on the drawing board for ages. The original plan was for 3 people to travel through Europe – Me & my friend Red on our motorbikes and my friend Monty was to drive my car, - however, that was not to be…

1st problem - The car:
The poor old car hadn’t moved for 2 years due to a blown head gasket as well as other various reasons, so with 6 weeks to go I fitted a new TS engine - built by Maurice Thomson in New Zealand & shipped to London for me to install. (It’s got 85mm forged pistons, C&B 11.4mm cams etc… - I’ll post that story in another thread). Anyway, all went well during the running in phase, but the trouble started when I left the car with my (trusted) mechanic in Windsor for an oil change & some rear suspension work. At the same time I had a polyurethane gearbox bush stiffening insert fitted plus new driveshaft universal joints. The work was expected to take 1 week (I supplied all the parts at the same time as dropping off the car) but as so often happens, the job took 3 weeks! I had planed to use those 2 extra weeks to get the distributorless TS ignition system up & running because at this stage the engine was only running on a regular distributor & just 4 spark plugs…

2nd problem – The Monty situation:
About 3 weeks prior to the big day - whilst all the delays were occurring with the car - I got a call from Monty saying that he couldn’t make it to London on the Friday night before our departure! As the entire holiday relied on having 3 guys driving 3 vehicles, this was a major problem! Luckily for us another friend – Euan - who is a regular visitor to the ‘Ring’ agreed to drive the car as far as the Nurburg, then fly back to London from Frankfurt on Sunday evening. This allowed Monty to arrive in London on Sunday morning, then take a connecting flight to Frankfurt later that day…

3rd problem – The car (again):
I picked up the car on a Wednesday, just 3 days before we were due to depart…
It became immediately obvious during the drive home that something wasn’t right – there was a nasty vibration throughout the car at 60 – 80mph (I presumed it to be caused by the gearbox bush stiffening insert), but even more concerning – when I went to check the engine oil level I discovered there was a huge oil leak coming from the engine – the front of the engine bay was covered in oil that had been flung around by the fan belt! The new oil filter was leaking oil & for some unknown reason the cam cover gasket seemed to have failed completely !?!?
Fortunately I had spares so I replaced the faulty filter & thoroughly sealed the cam cover with a new gasket. I didn’t have time to test drive the car that night (it was after midnight by this time) so that would have to wait till Thursday evening.
The next evening I tested the car, the vibration was still there but the oil leaks seemed to be solved. I decided to remove the new gearbox stiffener - I kind of expected that I might have to do this anyway – and I figured it shouldn’t take more that 20mins...
However, when I got under the car, I discovered that the rear half of the driveshaft was installed backwards! (the spline end was bolted to the diff flange) so, I spent another night working under the car till after midnight…

I took the car for a short test drive - I live in central London, so finding a quiet stretch of road is not easy - on Friday evening, less than 12 hours before our scheduled departure & everything seemed ok, however I realised that it might be a bit unfair to ‘dump’ a potentially troublesome car on my friend while I blasted around on my motorbike so I decided to leave the Ducati at home and the two of us would travel in the car together…

So, I packed my bags at 11pm on Friday night & at 6am on Saturday morning we were on our way!

Day 1: London to the Nurburgring – via Spa.

The first day went without a hitch, we drove from London to Folkestone, then onto the Eurotunnel to Calais. (I think the Eurotunnel is fantastic.) Calais to Spa was pretty boring - except for the shock of petrol prices! Euan suggested that we call in at the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit and we were lucky enough to see the last race of the historic formula 2 car racing that was taking place that day. We continued on towards Nurburg and settled in at Sliders Guesthouse that night with pizza & beers...

Day 2: Nurburgring – and on to Creglingen (south of Wurzburg)

The day started without a cloud in the sky, so we had a leisurely breakfast before unloading everything from the car into the guesthouse garage & heading to the Nordschleife for a couple of laps. By the time we got there however, there were ominous dark clouds in the sky, so I got out onto the track quickly to get a lap in while the track was dry. I took it easy on the track – I’ve done laps there before in Euan’s Porsche so I’ve got nothing to prove by blasting round in an old Alfa – it was really just to be able to say I’ve done it in my own car… Sure enough, just after I got back it started raining, so Euan & I paid a visit to see the guys at ‘The 75 Experience’ just up the road. They were all very friendly & enjoyed having something slightly different in their carpark. Although the track was still damp I had enough time to do one more lap with Red in the passenger seat before we headed back to Sliders, loaded the car, & drove to Frankfurt airport to drop off Euan & pick up Monty. From there we continued to Creglingen. That night we stayed at the “Gasthof Krone” which was very nice. The owner loved the car so much, he insisted that I park it in his private parking spot in the rear courtyard of the guesthouse…

Day 3: Creglingen to Schwangau via the “Romantic Road”

This route was Reds idea, - to travel through some beautiful countryside and end up at the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. It was certainly a nice stretch of road but unfortunately the weather was poor & got worse as the day went on. By the time we arrived at Schwangau it was cold, foggy & very wet… We stayed at the Hotel Weinbauer & had a very nice meal in their restaurant.

Day 4: Schwangau to Stelvio.

The original plan was to drive to Stelvio via Meran, but because the weather was so bad we decided to go a shorter route via Landeck & Curon Venosta. It turned out to be a good move – it rained non-stop all day and by the time we reached the Stelvio pass there was fog too! The road itself was unbelievable, - bumpy, twisty, tighter, & steeper than any alpine road I’ve ever driven. It was actually pretty tough on the poor old car (not helped by the weight of all the luggage in the rear) & required heel-toe downshifting into 1st gear on most of the hairpins. At the very top the carbs were gasping for air (I was sweating & gasping too), so the summit was a welcome sight.
We stayed & ate at the Hotel Genziana, it was a great night in with friendly staff although the meal (& wine) proved to be Very Expensive…




Day 5: Stelvio to Savona via Lake Como & Milan (Museo Storico)

The day dawned bright & sunny, but cold. I awoke slightly hungover but looking forward to the drive down the pass to Bormio… It didn’t disappoint – what a fantastic stretch of road! We got about 5km’s down the road before Monty realised that he had left his camera in the hotel, we had to turn round and go back up (another chance to drive more of the pass - which was fine by me) As we reached the lower slopes near Bormio we encountered an extraordinary number of cyclists heading for the summit, but otherwise it was a nice clear run  Also a good test of the car’s brakes!
We continued on to Colico where we found a car wash (can’t take a dirty car to the Museo Storico), after which Monty almost managed to drive us down a one way street the wrong way – oops! We took the lakeside road round to Lecco where we had lunch then took the main road towards Milan and to Aresse.
The Museo Storico was an interesting (if a little unusual) place, the security guard certainly looked surprised at the sight of my old car turning up at the gate! There were only 2 other people inside so we had a good look around before plunging ourselves into rush hour traffic around the Milan ring road & then headed south to Savona on the coast… We ended up camping, quite literally on the side of a hill, at a place called Campeggio Columbus just outside the town of Celle Ligure. Pizza’s & beer for dinner that night….




Day 6: Savona to Monaco Plus the Col du Turini.

We drove along the coastal road to find a place for a swim, stopping at a lovely beach near Borgio Verezzi. Red was most annoyed at having to pay to swim at a beach, (it’s a totally outrageous concept for anyone from New Zealand) even though I actually paid his entry fee for him! After a couple of hours we headed to Monaco via the toll road with a plan to get to the hotel by 3pm so Monty & I could unload all the luggage from the car & travel to the famous Col du Turini. What a fantastic drive! - In my opinion it was the best road of the week! Of course, it makes a big difference not having the weight of the luggage in the back & there was virtually no traffic around…
That night we dressed up in suits & ties, had a nice meal in a restaurant, then went to the Grand Casino. Red bought us Vodka Martinis while we stood around watching the gambling & soaking up the atmosphere. It was a Thursday night and the casino was actually fairly quiet. We left at 2am…

Day 7: Monaco to Verbania (Lake Maggiore) & Lago di Mergozzo

We drove from Monaco via the Col du Tende, Cuneo, & Asti, to Arona, then along the lakeside road to Verbania. It was a long and fairly uneventful day, with lots of motorway miles, although Lake Maggiore is beautiful. We decided to camp that night so we ended up at a stunning campground right on the shore of Lake Mergozzo – a few miles from Verbania. Luckily there was an incredible restaurant next door to the camp ground, where we had what was probably the best meal of the trip.

Day 8: Lago di Mergozzo to Nancy via Zermatt & Grimselpass

We got an early start as this was expected to be a long day. The first leg was to Visp and on to Zermatt. Zermatt is a traffic free zone (electric vehicles only) so you must drive to the town of Tasch, park your car and then take a train the rest of the way up the hill. It was a nice detour and included some great views of the Matterhorn. We had lunch before catching the train back to Tasch & heading off – via Visp again – to the Grimselpass. Red had this particular road marked on his map, however he couldn’t remember who had recommended it to him, anyway - whoever he was – he knew his stuff. The whole area is ‘picture postcard’ beautiful. A truly amazing stretch of road, although there was a lot of traffic and you have to be wary of exceeding the speed limit in Switzerland… (I know a guy who got hit with a €750 ‘on the spot’ fine in Switzerland a few years ago!) From there we travelled on through Luzern, Basel, Mulhouse & on to Nancy.
It was getting quite late as we approached Nancy so I suggested we might find it easier (& nicer) to find a hotel in one of the smaller towns nearby… First we tried Baccarat, but the only hotel that we could find had no room. They suggested we try Luneville. This time we thought we’d be clever & use the SatNav to guide us directly to a hotel, so off we went to Luneville (the name still makes me laugh) however when we arrived there we discovered that there was some sort of festival going on & the good ole SatNav directed us straight down a pedestrian zone right through the middle of it! We were not well received…  By now it was dark, so we decided to go to Nancy after all. As luck would have it, the SatNav drove us straight down another pedestrian zone right through the middle of another festival in the centre of Nancy! It was after 11pm by now so we ended up staying in the Hotel Formule 1 Nancy Sud – just out of town.
Finally, as we walked over to the small restaurant / bar on the other side of the road to get a well earned beer, we found they had just closed for the night…
C’est la vie?
Day 9: Nancy to London

Yet another early start, - today was really just a last blast up the motorway to get us back to Calais, on the Eurotunnel & back to London so Monty could catch his return flight to South Africa. As we pulled into a gas station about 100miles from Calais, we encountered yet another dreaded speed hump across the entry. I say ‘dreaded’ as these often scrape the car’s exhaust. This particular one was tall enough to catch the front lip of the middle silencer box a pull the middle section of the exhaust pipe apart at the slip joint. An easy repair, but slightly annoying! (the exhaust is brand new – from Alfaholics – and although it is very nicely made, it could use a little modification up where the front lip of the middle silencer hangs so low…) The remainder of the day was uneventful & Monty was delivered to Heathrow on time.


In summary:
It was an amazing trip, – approx 2500miles in 9 days. The car ran beautifully, never skipped a beat (apart from the exhaust issue) and was a joy to drive. We met loads of interesting people, saw lots of wonderful sights, ate too much & drank too much!

It will be tough coming up with a sequel for next year, perhaps a round trip from London through Scandinavia, Russia, Baltic states, Poland….