Hong Kong Drive Out - like nothing else in the world!
Discussion
I have just returned from the Luk Keng drive which is a weekly event over here in HK. Locals drive up to the Chinese border to enjoy their cars and have a morning coffee - I have never seen anything like it in my life, here's a quick review!
I was woken bleary eyed at 6.40am by my piercing alarm clock and after cleaning myself up I was stood on the street corner waiting for my ride for the morning. Soon a V8 roar rung out over the crowds of taxis, buses and half drunk wanderers and a Ferrari 348 rolled into view driven by Mike, an Australian living in HK and my guide for the day. We blasted out through the high rise blocks and onto the motorway to escape central HK and we were soon on the twisty roads of the New Territories. This was the polar opposite of HK Island with rolling fields, mountains and lakes in the mist - it was almost like being in China which is of course just down the road! Mike gave the car a good run with a cacophony of V8 soundtrack bouncing off the slopes beside us and suddenly we were at Luk Keng. The place is essentially just a traditional roadside cafe run by old Chinese ladies with a sleepy dog and rickety bicycle outside but on Sunday mornings it goes into overload!
We pulled into the car park behind a Ferrari F50 and Porsche GT3RS and the madness had truly begun. The car park was lined with Ferraris, Porsches, a Lotus and various banzai Japanese rocket ships - this remember is a back road cafe close to the Chinese border and across the water we could see the nearest Chinese settlement to HK rising out of the smog! We walked down the road to the cafe past various Ferraris and other supercars and took our seats at a plastic table. The waitress knew Mike's order immediately and we were soon tucking into sandwiches and hot tea! We got chatting to the guy at the next table who was from Manchester and had arrived on one of the many motorbikes lining the pavement beside the cafe!
This idyllic rural Chinese scene was soon broken by the distant sensational sounds of rung out car engines and we sat in awe as 2 911 GT3s, a Ferrari 550, Honda NSX and Nismo tweaked 350Z drove by and parked round the corner. Various unlikely supercars and sports machines rolled past as we sat in our deckchairs on the roadside and soon it was time to wander amongst the machinery on show. I got as far as the other side of the street when an almighty shout from the cafe signalled the most incredible arrival - a Pagani Zonda - one of the only ones in HK and super rare. The meeting had previously been surreal and now it had fallen off the end of the scale of madness - there aren't many places where this could happen except HK! As I marvelled at the Zonda, it seemed that the rush of supercars had begun in earnest with several Ferraris and 3 Lamborghini Gallardos rolling in within a matter of minutes! Finding a parking space was proving tricky!
I walked along the line of cars now in attendence and every one of them was a 100 grand supercar parked on an out of the way roadside in the middle of nowhere - unbelievable! Many of the cars had trade plates to avoid paying tax and to get round the law which bans LHD cars in HK - it was outrageous!
Soon it was time to leave and we were in the ultimate convoy led off by the GT3RS, F50 and including 2 Stradales, a 360 Spider, 348 and NSX rolling serenely through the New Territories countryside! We wound through little villages to the shock of locals waiting at bus stops and pushing their bicycles to market!
We were soon back at the motorway and the traffic light grand prix began. The GT3RS and F50 pulled aside letting the others cars blast off and we were able to run alongside the F50! The driver was taking it easy probably to avoid the speed traps everywhere although red lights and the motorway cameras didn't seem to bother him too much. The sound and presence of the car was out of this world and I even got a wave from the owner as I took a pic of the car, enthusiast to enthusiast - perfect! We passed the F50 as he kept it steady and blasted on down the road watching the laughably crazy scene as a taxi tried to race the 360 Stradale ahead of us!
All had gone quiet as we cruised back towards the city when suddenly a huge roar erupted somewhere down the road behind us and the F50 came flying past and off into the morning smog - obviously he was bored of going slow! Soon I was outside Shi Tan train station and getting back on the KCR to Mong Kok - it was time to get back to reality with a bump but what a morning it had been. In the middle of nowhere there had been a Zonda, F50, F430, 3 Gallardos, a GT3RS, 4 NSXs, 5 GT3s, a GT3RS, several 360s, a 355 Spider, M3 CSL, 997, Lotus Exige, 2 348s, plenty of 993 Turbos, a 911 Carrera RS, 996 Turbo and all manner of banzai jap machines. I have no idea how many millions of pounds of metal was on display but this is one experience I will remember for a lifetime - only in Hong Kong!
I was woken bleary eyed at 6.40am by my piercing alarm clock and after cleaning myself up I was stood on the street corner waiting for my ride for the morning. Soon a V8 roar rung out over the crowds of taxis, buses and half drunk wanderers and a Ferrari 348 rolled into view driven by Mike, an Australian living in HK and my guide for the day. We blasted out through the high rise blocks and onto the motorway to escape central HK and we were soon on the twisty roads of the New Territories. This was the polar opposite of HK Island with rolling fields, mountains and lakes in the mist - it was almost like being in China which is of course just down the road! Mike gave the car a good run with a cacophony of V8 soundtrack bouncing off the slopes beside us and suddenly we were at Luk Keng. The place is essentially just a traditional roadside cafe run by old Chinese ladies with a sleepy dog and rickety bicycle outside but on Sunday mornings it goes into overload!
We pulled into the car park behind a Ferrari F50 and Porsche GT3RS and the madness had truly begun. The car park was lined with Ferraris, Porsches, a Lotus and various banzai Japanese rocket ships - this remember is a back road cafe close to the Chinese border and across the water we could see the nearest Chinese settlement to HK rising out of the smog! We walked down the road to the cafe past various Ferraris and other supercars and took our seats at a plastic table. The waitress knew Mike's order immediately and we were soon tucking into sandwiches and hot tea! We got chatting to the guy at the next table who was from Manchester and had arrived on one of the many motorbikes lining the pavement beside the cafe!
This idyllic rural Chinese scene was soon broken by the distant sensational sounds of rung out car engines and we sat in awe as 2 911 GT3s, a Ferrari 550, Honda NSX and Nismo tweaked 350Z drove by and parked round the corner. Various unlikely supercars and sports machines rolled past as we sat in our deckchairs on the roadside and soon it was time to wander amongst the machinery on show. I got as far as the other side of the street when an almighty shout from the cafe signalled the most incredible arrival - a Pagani Zonda - one of the only ones in HK and super rare. The meeting had previously been surreal and now it had fallen off the end of the scale of madness - there aren't many places where this could happen except HK! As I marvelled at the Zonda, it seemed that the rush of supercars had begun in earnest with several Ferraris and 3 Lamborghini Gallardos rolling in within a matter of minutes! Finding a parking space was proving tricky!
I walked along the line of cars now in attendence and every one of them was a 100 grand supercar parked on an out of the way roadside in the middle of nowhere - unbelievable! Many of the cars had trade plates to avoid paying tax and to get round the law which bans LHD cars in HK - it was outrageous!
Soon it was time to leave and we were in the ultimate convoy led off by the GT3RS, F50 and including 2 Stradales, a 360 Spider, 348 and NSX rolling serenely through the New Territories countryside! We wound through little villages to the shock of locals waiting at bus stops and pushing their bicycles to market!
We were soon back at the motorway and the traffic light grand prix began. The GT3RS and F50 pulled aside letting the others cars blast off and we were able to run alongside the F50! The driver was taking it easy probably to avoid the speed traps everywhere although red lights and the motorway cameras didn't seem to bother him too much. The sound and presence of the car was out of this world and I even got a wave from the owner as I took a pic of the car, enthusiast to enthusiast - perfect! We passed the F50 as he kept it steady and blasted on down the road watching the laughably crazy scene as a taxi tried to race the 360 Stradale ahead of us!
All had gone quiet as we cruised back towards the city when suddenly a huge roar erupted somewhere down the road behind us and the F50 came flying past and off into the morning smog - obviously he was bored of going slow! Soon I was outside Shi Tan train station and getting back on the KCR to Mong Kok - it was time to get back to reality with a bump but what a morning it had been. In the middle of nowhere there had been a Zonda, F50, F430, 3 Gallardos, a GT3RS, 4 NSXs, 5 GT3s, a GT3RS, several 360s, a 355 Spider, M3 CSL, 997, Lotus Exige, 2 348s, plenty of 993 Turbos, a 911 Carrera RS, 996 Turbo and all manner of banzai jap machines. I have no idea how many millions of pounds of metal was on display but this is one experience I will remember for a lifetime - only in Hong Kong!
Lol its not what you know... same old story!
A friend was due to be driving up in his Merc CLS but couldn't make it so he put me in touch with Mike with his 348. He picked me up from my hostel and the rest is just the normal run of the mill weekend meet out in Luk Keng (no really it is!)
If the weather is fine they expect at least one hypercar up there. There is normally a Carrera GT in attendance and 2 F50s and 2 Mclarens at one time isn't unheard of!
A friend was due to be driving up in his Merc CLS but couldn't make it so he put me in touch with Mike with his 348. He picked me up from my hostel and the rest is just the normal run of the mill weekend meet out in Luk Keng (no really it is!)
If the weather is fine they expect at least one hypercar up there. There is normally a Carrera GT in attendance and 2 F50s and 2 Mclarens at one time isn't unheard of!
munky said:
Someone will be along with the "this thread is useless without pictures" smiley at any moment!
C'mon, put the photos up!! Please?
Will do so when I am back home next week... the pics are stuck on my camera along with all the holiday snaps so it'll take a while to sort them! I will put them up as soon as I can and I have a host for the F50 video on another site. They will be up as soon as I can!!!
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