RE: PH takes an Anglo-Italian road trip

RE: PH takes an Anglo-Italian road trip

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Discussion

DevonPaul

1,169 posts

136 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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BFleming said:
I bet the bill was presented in the universal language of decimalisation. Not much goodwill at a Ferrari dealership in any country.
All but the early 458s are likely to be under the extended warranty, which covers electronics up to 6 years.

Perhaps your experience of Ferrari dealers is different, but Carrs in Exeter (the Ferrari place also maintains Maserati) make a nominal charge for this sort of thing. Perhaps I get it cheaper as a regular customer frown

martisracing

211 posts

188 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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I agree with one of the earlier comments that using a rail transporter is stopping it being a true road trip. The only time you can use rail is because it is the only option such as Eurotunnel or some of the Swiss rail links when the mountain pass is closed in winter.
I returned from my last road trip on Sunday having been down to Corsica in the 458 Spider. It is the third time I have been to Corsica in the 458 also having been 3 times in the previous 430, once in a LP560 I used to have and about 4 times in my Elise. The Elise is by miles the best car once on the island due to it's small size.
I have also taken the 458 to Sicily (using the 24 hour Ferry from Genoa) and the LP560 also went to Sardinia once. The Mediterranean ferries are a good 'cheat' to reduce mileage and get to really unusual places.
Longest road trip was to Greece in the mid 1980's in an Esprit S3. No issues at all on the trip `with the car and a real adventure as in those days it was Yugoslavia you went through and in the south around Albania cars were a rarity let alone a junior supercar like an Esprit! Some remote villages the locals actually hid when they saw it.
It was a bit of a long trip. I had a friend at school who did the journey with his parents down to Athens every summer as his mother was Greek in a Vauxhall Viva. Now that is what you call a hard road trip.

unsprung

5,467 posts

123 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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this is beautiful; freighted with emotion, really

the UK motorist is uniquely positioned to go in any and every direction on the Continent, and to report on it all

has there been a seminal meeting of the PH editorial team? there's nothing new per se, but there seems very recently a burst in quality of output; much more down-to-earth and accessible -- and less of the "Oooh, three Faberge eggs on wheels and each costs eleventy-million."

or maybe it's always been this way and I haven't been paying attention

RicksAlfas

13,355 posts

243 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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Surely this should be in "Holidays and Travel"?

biggrin


Flanders.

6,365 posts

207 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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Good timing im driving back to the UK after spending 10 days driviing around Lake Garda in my Z4 in the morning.

howardhughes

980 posts

203 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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As a family we did the drive to Italy three times over the last 40 years.

1977 - Triumph Toledo - Followed a family friend in a Bedford minibus. My Father rear ended the mini bus in Paris.
We spent a week in central Paris. No not a hotel, but in our tent in a damp park until parts arrived.

1983 - Vauxhall Victor - Left the oil cap off at an Italian lay by. One mile down the road we noticed smoke coming from the bonnet...Managed to save the engine before any damage was done.
Went onto Sicily for a further week.

1988 - Vaxhaull Cavalier Mk2 - Overloaded the roof rack and boot. Note to self. Double your breaking distance...

Would I do it again? In a shot. Nothing but nothing beats the smell of the English Channel. The drive through the French countryside and of course dependent of which route you take, Mont Blanc. Truly Mesmerizing.

plenty

4,655 posts

185 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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Nothing wrong with Motorail to Italy or Brittany Ferries to Spain.

Save the miles and the fuel for the interesting roads at your destination. With the honourable exception of the Eifel/Vosges most of Europe is pretty dull driving until you get to the Alps or Pyrenees. I'd rather start completely fresh and ready to enjoy my miles on the proper roads than arrive partially numb and tired from the slog down.

Having said that I'm partial to driving back as it's generally quicker and by the end of the trip you just want to get home. Did Portugal to London (just over 1,100 miles) in one stint a few months back.

Triple8

63 posts

151 months

Wednesday 12th September 2018
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plenty said:
Nothing wrong with Motorail to Italy or Brittany Ferries to Spain.

Save the miles and the fuel for the interesting roads at your destination.
Agreed. Have done the Motorail a few times with mates, essentially so that we pack as much time into the Dolomites/Alps as possible. You travel through the night so save time, and it adds another dimension to the trip. We've gone from Dusseldorf into Bolzano or Vienna - both great locations to start the "proper part" of the trips from. Have also done the reverse from Nice to Paris, again overnight. With that one, you pack your car off on a separate train and rejoin in Paris! I'll admit that was a bit of a leap of faith, but all our cars were in good health on arrival.
We've done the long schlep trips down and back too - just depends where you want to spend your time really.

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Thursday 13th September 2018
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I guess it depends on the purpose of the trip - if it's to spend a week or two on the beach or around the pool then flying is fine.

But a road trip wouldn't really work for that, because it isn't about the destination - it's all about the journey! Mind you putting the car on a train is a bit of a cop-out IMO.

My parents booked our first family holiday abroad in 1968. It was a week in Austria, with 3 days each end driving through Europe in our 1964 Hillman Minx. I loved it - but looking back I think my Dad may have loved it more!

Which may be why in 1974 we had a family holiday in Italy driving there in Dad's 1970 Fiat 125. That was even better, probably mostly because the car was so much better - although the scenery was too!

I've never got out of France on my European trips, but really enjoyed both of them.

Looks like I need to expand my horizons. rolleyes

slk 32

1,486 posts

192 months

Thursday 13th September 2018
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I went over to Italy in the summer of '17.

There's nothing like just jumping in the car and heading off.

Yes, it's cheaper to fly but nothing beats the memories of driving down through the Alps in the early morning sun and the roof down

howardhughes

980 posts

203 months

Thursday 13th September 2018
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Mr Tidy said:
I guess it depends on the purpose of the trip - if it's to spend a week or two on the beach or around the pool then flying is fine.

But a road trip wouldn't really work for that, because it isn't about the destination - it's all about the journey! Mind you putting the car on a train is a bit of a cop-out IMO.

My parents booked our first family holiday abroad in 1968. It was a week in Austria, with 3 days each end driving through Europe in our 1964 Hillman Minx. I loved it - but looking back I think my Dad may have loved it more!

Which may be why in 1974 we had a family holiday in Italy driving there in Dad's 1970 Fiat 125. That was even better, probably mostly because the car was so much better - although the scenery was too!

I've never got out of France on my European trips, but really enjoyed both of them.

Looks like I need to expand my horizons. rolleyes
We went to visit family In Italy on all our last trips. 4 weeks in total. Took the Ferry (Sealink) I believe, then through France, Switzerland and into Italy. Whilst flying maybe much cheaper, you miss the beauty and sights each country has to offer.

Going back to the original story. I'd love to blast over in the Mercedes soft top. Pure class!

Travel Agent

2 posts

66 months

Thursday 13th September 2018
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I would like to respond to Banana Heads comment about our trip being more a rail trip than a road trip. We had a window of 9 days maximum for our jaunt.

We had decided that we wanted to tour Tuscany for 7 days and as the round trip from Calais to Artimino (our first Hotel stopover) is 1800 miles, it was not feasible to drive there and back. I would point out we do not use Autoroutes, Autobahns or Autostrades for our trips. We like to enjoy our driving.

Banana Head may be in the enviable position of taking more time off than us lesser mortals and not having to juggle our boys weeks away without incurring the wrath of wives and girlfriends

A driver of the tuscany tour

DanBMW

194 posts

183 months

Thursday 13th September 2018
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A Friend and I did a big European trip in July/August (our 5th I think) with the O/H's. We were in Italy for about 5 days, and also found the roads to be absolutely terrible. Made UK roads look smooth, they were alot worse than we remembered.
Some of the Motorways (non-toll) were so bad, that for most of the time the inside lane was pretty much unusable. Luckily it was quiet-ish so we sat in the outside lane at times, only moving over to let people past.

cramorra

1,664 posts

234 months

Thursday 13th September 2018
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Not sure how much transcontinental driving actually happened here...
But I agree when done properly this beats everything
We went down to Apulia this spring in Mrs Cramorra’s c43 and it was glorious French motorways for the surface, German ones for maxing it and Italian ones for the drama
I agree with the author on the general deterioration of the Italian road network despite tolls and an infestation with speed cameras and average speed checks
Whilst fines are low (Italians say to encourage moderate speeding and fund roads) it takes the fun out of it (although locals don t care)...
Still one of the greatest drives I ever had ... the Benz a great car for this too

AMGSee55

629 posts

101 months

Friday 14th September 2018
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Travel Agent said:
I would like to respond to Banana Heads comment about our trip being more a rail trip than a road trip. We had a window of 9 days maximum for our jaunt.

We had decided that we wanted to tour Tuscany for 7 days and as the round trip from Calais to Artimino (our first Hotel stopover) is 1800 miles, it was not feasible to drive there and back. I would point out we do not use Autoroutes, Autobahns or Autostrades for our trips. We like to enjoy our driving.

Banana Head may be in the enviable position of taking more time off than us lesser mortals and not having to juggle our boys weeks away without incurring the wrath of wives and girlfriends

A driver of the tuscany tour
Welcome to Pistonheads - I notice this is your first post. I'm afraid there's always plenty of folk here ready to shoot down other people's cars/activities/ideas if they don't match their own ideals. Par for the course sadly rolleyes

f1ten

2,161 posts

152 months

Friday 14th September 2018
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This is why I wouldn't use the motor rail. Surprised they didn't Damage all the wheels on the 458 and gt4.


Good road trip though !

Also stand how the sl has an h Reg as they stopped making it on a g Reg unless it was in storage.

Travel Agent

2 posts

66 months

Sunday 16th September 2018
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In reply to my SL being on an H plate. The car arrived at Mercedes Benz Hertford in January 90. It was a stock car and not a customers order. The R129 had replaced the R107 by this time and nobody wanted an old model. She sat in the showroom until Sept 90, by which time MB Hertford was sick of looking at her. The dealer principal registered her on September 5th and gave her to his wife to use. I think she is one of the last R107's registered in the UK