Father and son bonding

[Tuna]

So, I'm in my early forties and my Dad is thirty years older than me. He enjoys his driving - racing a vintage car regularly and restoring a classic recently. I've occasionally wondered about he and I doing something like the Mille Miglia, but the commitment in a vintage car is more than daunting, so that's not on the cards. We've both had some fun cars over the years, but aren't obsessive about it - money goes on holidays and all the usual commitments rather than just petrol.

With his birthday coming up, I did wonder about doing a big trip in a more modern car as a bit of father and son bonding. Perhaps hire a Lamborghini or something like that and take it down to the Stelvio Pass. At the moment it's a very vague and undefined idea, so I thought I'd throw it out to the PH massive for suggestions.

I guess some of the questions are..

How long could/should it take - it's 900 miles or so, so a long weekend should be possible and not get boring. Or are there better destinations that would involve more fun driving on the way?

Would it be possible to hire something 'proper' to do it in, and what would be good? What would you choose to drive to make the journey fun, memorable and not completely physically destroying?

Could you even get a car on a two driver ticket and take it into Europe without spending insane amounts of money?

Would it be better to drive out, then leave the car and fly back?

Silly idea? Too extravagant? Not practical? A quick recipe to getting disinherited?

Over to you:

[benjj]

I think you'd struggle, particularly with the mileage allowance.

What about hiring something while you're in Europe for a couple of days? Not sure on the practicalities but could be easier to arrange.

If he has restored his own car why not enter it into an event such as:

LeJog (HERO)
Summer Challenge (HERO)
Tour Britannia
Rally of the Tests (Classic Rally Association)
Three Castles Rally

[redgriff500]

I think you'd have to hire it in the country you want to drive it in.

Understandably, few co.s are willing to let you leave the country with their £100k car.

Probably the easiest would be a Corvette or similar in the USA.

[Whitean3]

As others have said- I think you'd struggle with mileage, having 2 drivers, and taking the car out of the country. On top of all that, I wouldn't want to be taking arented Lambo on the Stelvio- guaranteed damage to the front from bottoming out- tight, narrow hairpins with steep ramp angles. I have no idea why everyone raves about the Stelvio, it's nothing special compared to a whole load of other mountain passes.

[CampDavid]

Fly to Bergamo, 30 mins north of Milan
Herz will hire you an Evora
Spend weekend in Stelvioland
Enjoy

[McHaggis]

How about buying a barge, doing the trip and then selling it?
Net cost would be cheaper than trying to rent a supercar. You'll need a couple of 'k anyway.
As you say, it's about the experience and bonding.

Taking a net budget of £2k and a cash flow of £5k:
(Buy car: £4k. Fuel and tolls: £1k = £5k. Sell for £3k. Net £2k.)

BMW 750iL: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3921415.htm
Alpina: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3970055.htm
Jaguar XJR: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3959260.htm
Merc AMG 500 SEC: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3921362.htm
Porsche Boxster: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3930305.htm
RenaultSport Megane 225: http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3964648.htm

[Tuna]

Whitean3 said:

As others have said- I think you'd struggle with mileage, having 2 drivers, and taking the car out of the country. On top of all that, I wouldn't want to be taking arented Lambo on the Stelvio- guaranteed damage to the front from bottoming out- tight, narrow hairpins with steep ramp angles. I have no idea why everyone raves about the Stelvio, it's nothing special compared to a whole load of other mountain passes.

Well I did say I was looking for suggestions! I've no strong allegiance on the car front, but it seems something you could have the roof down on would be good in a big landscape. Same goes for Stelvio - it's far enough away to make it into a good trip without being a full week of driving.

As I said, we've had some fun cars between us over the years, so it would have to be reasonably special. The barge idea would be tempting, but I'd have to divert more than a few K to it, or we'd just be going in a rougher (and less predictable) car than we've already got.

[Bluebarge]

Why not hire a Morgan for a few days and take it for a blast around Cornwall, or Wales, and stay in a nice country pub or hotel along the way.
http://www.morgan-motor.co.uk/mmc/hirecars.html

[sherman]

You could always hire a soft top in America and drive route 66 in it

[MattGTA]

sherman said:

You could always hire a soft top in America and drive route 66 in it

What, for a long weekend?

[Conor D]

It's not quite a road trip but Palmersport have a Father and Son day coming up, for fathers day I think.

Price is around £1600~ for two, which is a bit cheaper than booking separately throughout the year. Think it's nearly £1000/pp now incl VAT.

[sherman]

MattGTA said:

sherman said:

You could always hire a soft top in America and drive route 66 in it

What, for a long weekend?

Have you never seen the Cannonball run?

[SEE YA]

I took my son with me to Lemans we had a great time.

We have done it three times now, he still talks about it.

We even raced a Ferrari back, told him do not tell your mum its was the first thing he did when we got back. ha!!!!!

Edited by SEE YA on Tuesday 12th June 15:40

[dcb]

Tuna said:

With his birthday coming up, I did wonder about doing a big trip in a more modern car as a bit of father and son bonding. Perhaps hire a Lamborghini or something like that and take it down to the Stelvio Pass. At the moment it's a very vague and undefined idea, so I thought I'd throw it out to the PH massive for suggestions.

Fly to Munich.

Rent a 911 or something else exotic. Plenty of places
do this and international Green card as standard.

Do a VMax run on the autobahns. 150 mph on the way
to Augsburg no problems.

Take it to the Alps and exercise it a bit.

Spend any remaining time in the Munich beer gardens,
drinking it by the litre.