Euro road trip car...

[Mansell90]

Myself and two friends are planning on going on a road trip around europe in the summer, hopefully incorporating Monaco, the alps, and the Nurburgring, in a kind of cyclical trip, i.e down from calais through france to monte-carlo, then across to italy, up through the swiss alps... into germany and then heading home through holland, belgium and then back to calais in france.

We are planning on just taking a tent, not booking anywhere and hoping for the best, (upon the advice of my dad who did it in his MG midget in his youth, who beleives we will not need to book anywhere, do you think this is still realistic 30 or so years on? Secondly, as we figured none of our cars are suitable (my focus ST would be too new and boring, same for my mates V70, and as for my mates mini... it only has 2 seats.

We want to get an older car with character for no more than about £2500 ideally, that has done depreciating and so should be able to be sold on. I have been looking at older 4 seater convertables as this might be quite nice to double up as a soft top for the summer, or older saloon cars (more powerful, more space.) It needs to have enough space to sit 3 of us relatively comfortably (i.e not in crunched up in little balls) Take enough gear to camp for a week in, i.e tent, sleeping bags and our clothes, and has to be relatively fun or characterful to drive (dont want to just be bored on the alpine passes.)

Shortlist so far is: On the convertable front... audi 80 convertable 2.6/2.8 Bmw e36 323/325 convertable (these look a bit ropey for the price though) and saab 900/early 9-3 2.0t convertable. On the saloon/estate front i have been looking at e34 530/535/540's, audi S2 estates, early alfa 156 2.5 v6's, Old C/E classes and as an outsider vauxhall omega/carlton gsi's

Any idea's/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

Edited by Mansell90 on Monday 31st May 21:24

[oilslick]

Mansell90 said:

Any idea's/advice would be much appreciated.

Use paragraphs.

HTH

[Fleckers]

old landrover

[ewenm]

Open top would be a definite requirement for me. Much as it pains me to say so, MX-5 / MGTF / MR2 would be my first ports of call.

[chrisr29]

I'd have thought out of all the cars mentioned your ST would be the most fun over alpine roads. Most of the other cars mentioned would feel wobbly old death-traps round the hair pins!

......although I may be tempted by an old e30 325 soft top. You should be able to pick one up in your budget, bit of a squeeze for 3 people though. I've toured Europe in a 4 door e30 325 a few years ago and it was a lot of fun.....in fact I've still got it.

[OnTheOverrun]

Something like this would be ideal:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C141247/

(Take some spanners with you)

[Mansell90]

ewenm said:

Open top would be a definite requirement for me. Much as it pains me to say so, MX-5 / MGTF / MR2 would be my first ports of call.

Needs to seat 3 im afraid... hence the 4 seaters i listed. I would definitely be looking toward that direction otherwise!

[ewenm]

Mansell90 said:

ewenm said:

Open top would be a definite requirement for me. Much as it pains me to say so, MX-5 / MGTF / MR2 would be my first ports of call.

Needs to seat 3 im afraid... hence the 4 seaters i listed. I would definitely be looking toward that direction otherwise!

Sorry, didn't see the 3+ seat requirement in your big paragraph

[Mansell90]

chrisr29 said:

I'd have thought out of all the cars mentioned your ST would be the most fun over alpine roads. Most of the other cars mentioned would feel wobbly old death-traps round the hair pins!

......although I may be tempted by an old e30 325 soft top. You should be able to pick one up in your budget, bit of a squeeze for 3 people though. I've toured Europe in a 4 door e30 325 a few years ago and it was a lot of fun.....in fact I've still got it.

True I personally think that my ST would be great fun for the driving but.... but as a brand new car the general consensus of my friends is that itd take everything in its stride a little too well and ultimatly lack the character of an old shed of a car that will give us more stories to tell haha, this may be slightly backward i know, leaving the fast, reliable, fun and practical car at home... but at least it means that i wont be wincing at the thought of leaving my friends in the driving seat over the alps and alike.

[Davey S2]

oilslick said:

Mansell90 said:

Any idea's/advice would be much appreciated.

Use paragraphs.

HTH

If you have nothing useful to add then don't post at all because it just makes you look like a bell end.

HTH

Tom, Your Focus would be a good choice to take IMO. It will be comfortable and fast on the Autoroute sections you will have to use and fun on the twisty roads. It will also have enough space to take all your stuff and still have room to stock up with wine on the way home.

I've done several Euro trips in a Lotus Exige and it was an uncomfortable place to be for hour after hour, day after day. My Cayman S on the other hand is great as a tourer.

As for the accommodation I have always booked it in advance but you should be ok to take a flyer. There are loads of roadside motels in France (F1 branded) which are simple but clean. If he worst comes to the worst you can rely on the the tent.

Just pack up and do it. I'm off on another trip to drive the Milla Miglia route in August.

[magpie215]

how about a Volvo T5 ??

[Mansell90]

Davey S2 said:

oilslick said:

Mansell90 said:

Any idea's/advice would be much appreciated.

Use paragraphs.

HTH

If you have nothing useful to add then don't post at all because it just makes you look like a bell end.

HTH

Tom, Your Focus would be a good choice to take IMO. It will be comfortable and fast on the Autoroute sections you will have to use and fun on the twisty roads. It will also have enough space to take all your stuff and still have room to stock up with wine on the way home.

I've done several Euro trips in a Lotus Exige and it was an uncomfortable place to be for hour after hour, day after day. My Cayman S on the other hand is great as a tourer.

As for the accommodation I have always booked it in advance but you should be ok to take a flyer. There are loads of roadside motels in France (F1 branded) which are simple but clean. If he worst comes to the worst you can rely on the the tent.

Just pack up and do it. I'm off on another trip to drive the Milla Miglia route in August.

As stated above, i do get the feeling that the focus would be a very good and able car, and most probably the ideal compromise in most senses..... however I do quite like the idea of a soft-top, or something a bit older, something that has a bit more of that indefinable "character." It seems a general consensus among the 3 of us that something a little older and a bit more flawed perhaps in some ways would provide us with a more memorable trip than just heading at lightspeed everywhere in the focus. As a personal opinion, i would be inclined to agree with you, but i can also see where my friends are coming from, and as it is them im going with.... I think id like to explore the option at least for a bit. If it does seem unviable and likley to be a bad idea, im sure we can allways have a very good road trip still in the focus

[ewenm]

A few softtop possibilities which should all have "character":

Mini
Triumph Vitesse
Triumph Herald

Edited by ewenm on Monday 31st May 21:21

[Mansell90]

magpie215 said:

how about a Volvo T5 ??

This is what my friends v70 actually is... but to be honest its not the most interesting thing to drive, and im not sure if he's willing to put it through 2000 miles for our pleasure as its his daily runner.

[rottie102]

Davey S2 said:

oilslick said:

Mansell90 said:

Any idea's/advice would be much appreciated.

Use paragraphs.

HTH

If you have nothing useful to add then don't post at all because it just makes you look like a bell end.

HTH

On the other hand it is very difficult to read and since WRITING and READING is what we do here, OP could show some courtesy when asking others for advice and put some minimal effort...

[Mansell90]

rottie102 said:

Davey S2 said:

oilslick said:

Mansell90 said:

Any idea's/advice would be much appreciated.

Use paragraphs.

HTH

If you have nothing useful to add then don't post at all because it just makes you look like a bell end.

HTH

On the other hand it is very difficult to read and since WRITING and READING is what we do here, OP could show some courtesy when asking others for advice and put some minimal effort...

Edited due to popular demand....

[Fleckers]

how about this ?

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1599960.htm

[Mansell90]

Fleckers said:

how about this ?

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1599960.htm

Haha, that does look mad! Not a big fan of 4x4's though.

[fridaypassion]

Car wise I'd go for a BMW 6 or 8 cylinder of any description.

Thats what we did last year. Full writeup over on lovepetrol

http://www.lovepetrol.com/content.php?174-Summer-2...

(any excuse to post this lol it was a bloody good trip)

[Mansell90]

fridaypassion said:

Car wise I'd go for a BMW 6 or 8 cylinder of any description.

Thats what we did last year. Full writeup over on lovepetrol

http://www.lovepetrol.com/content.php?174-Summer-2...

(any excuse to post this lol it was a bloody good trip)

Certainly does look like a fantastic trip, im afraid ours will be even more budget than that though haha, in a far far more budget car!