993 - Roadtrip - France/Germany/Austria
Discussion
Not a frequent poster; instead tend to read these forums from a distance 
.
However, in a bid to address recent sentiment and heavy focus on values/market conditions/bubbles/etc. - as found in the spoiler below - thought I'd demonstrate there are still enthusiast owners out there who drive their classic Porsche, because they have been bought to be driven and enjoyed, rather than worry about the market!
Unfortunately, if a 'values' thread were placed in a separate area, I would suggest it would be a far more active area, than the odd driving thread we see pop up on here.
The 'driving threads' tend to be consigned to far smaller private forums like PGT or S9, Facebook or Whatsapp groups now. Sign of the times I'm afraid.
Roadtrip covered the final week of May, returning first week June, and the general order of the route was as follows:
, we knew that was just too much to make an enjoyable trip for us both.
All in all a manageable ~1,805 miles or ~2,905 kilometers were covered over 9 days, with 2 nights in Reims (champagne tour of course
) and 3 nights in Innsbruck (small city with a cool vibe).
On to some photos ...starting with the almost obligatory one?
Not too many photos along the B500 - it was so enjoyable - free flowing, fast moving roads with sweeping bends... we covered most of it without stopping
. Certainly lived up to expectations and it definitely won't be the last time we visit the Black Forest 
.
On our way into Lake Constance, we came across a pleasant surprise. We'd earlier seen a blacked out Porsche '992 test mule' absolutely flying - I'd not seen a vehicle move so quick 'in the wild' for a long time. Turns out we were heading into the same town, so after we caught him up and swapped a headlight flash/hazard light exchange, stopped at a petrol station:
He was indeed a test driver for Porsche and a very friendly one at that. They have felt coverings which they have to apply across the whole of the dash, centre console, door cards, etc. whenever parked up to prevent uninvited photos. The 992 has an interesting dash/gauge
- as since reported on PH.
A quick comparison...
I preferred mine...
.
Onto the Lake, a nice buzz at the waterfront and a perfect place to eat/drink/relax after the B500...
.
Heading into Austria, the scenary became rather spectacular...
Hahntennjoch Pass definitely lived up to it's dangerous roads tag; at times the pass can get quite narrow and often without any barriers
, pretty intricate, and not too many overtaking opportunities (unlike the B500). This technical nature of the road, with its very tight back to back hairpins coupled with a steep ascent at pace, meant I worried about grounding out a few times! It was a thrilling drive with some breathtaking views along the way 
.
In fact the route we took leading into the Hahntennjoch Pass was just as enjoyable & memorable - catch the 200 from Müselbach and follow it into the 198 around Warth all the way until Elmen for the pass
.
Innsbruck:
Next up, the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. Not much more to say other than it lived up to the billing of one of the best driving roads in Europe
. Definitely allow more time than you think; you'll be stopping more often than you expect to take in the phenomenal landscape... .
The change in weather from bottom to top was also quite dramatic!
We headed back into Germany via the Autobahn where the 993 managed to stretched it's legs
- satisfying to know that despite it's age, performed well and remained pretty stable at high speed. I think the car feels better for it! 
Finally, we stopped at Reims-Gueux on the way back to Calais...
Finishing with 2 of my favoured images from the trip:
Difficult not to be impressed with the 993's curves from above
:
The tone of the trip was set from the outbound Eurotunnel; a gentleman from the next carriage up came over to check out 993 during the journey. Lots of appreciating nods of the head or waves were exchanged across France/Germany/Austria which was quite cool too
.
Along the way, we saw a handful of pre-'89 911s, maybe 8 to 10 964s out and about, and maybe 20+ 997s (by far the most friendliest, always offering a wave!
) ...but only ONE 993 - a stunning French plated C2S in Arctic Silver. Where are the others all hiding? 
We're so glad we did the trip, we came back buzzing
- whilst it wasn't a relaxing break there was a real sense of adventure. Massively relieved the car behaved, too (I carry a spare DME relay in the car, but other than that... 
).
In future we hope to experience either the Spanish Pyrenees or the Italian Dolomites. Hopefully both! ...and without worrying about the market 
.
Look forward to seeing more content here of other 911's being enjoyed as intended
.
. However, in a bid to address recent sentiment and heavy focus on values/market conditions/bubbles/etc. - as found in the spoiler below - thought I'd demonstrate there are still enthusiast owners out there who drive their classic Porsche, because they have been bought to be driven and enjoyed, rather than worry about the market!
Robbo66 said:
Steve Rance said:
<snip>
This forum really is becoming an increasingly boring place to be.
Is anyone actually interested in driving their cars anymore rather than sitting in their counting houses adding up thier values or polishing them
Moderators, can we please have a separate ‘Values’ section within the Porsche forum?
<snip>This forum really is becoming an increasingly boring place to be.
Is anyone actually interested in driving their cars anymore rather than sitting in their counting houses adding up thier values or polishing them
Moderators, can we please have a separate ‘Values’ section within the Porsche forum?
Unfortunately, if a 'values' thread were placed in a separate area, I would suggest it would be a far more active area, than the odd driving thread we see pop up on here.
The 'driving threads' tend to be consigned to far smaller private forums like PGT or S9, Facebook or Whatsapp groups now. Sign of the times I'm afraid.
Roadtrip covered the final week of May, returning first week June, and the general order of the route was as follows:
- >>> Eurotunnel UK>FR
- >>> Metz, FR
- >>> Baden Baden, DE
- >>> Lake Constance, DE (via B500 Black Forest High Road, DE)
- >>> Innsbruck, AT (via Hahntennjoch Pass, AT)
- >>> Grossglockner High Alpine Road, AT
- >>> Karlsruhe, DE
- >>> Reims, FR
- >>> Eurotunnel FR>UK
, we knew that was just too much to make an enjoyable trip for us both.All in all a manageable ~1,805 miles or ~2,905 kilometers were covered over 9 days, with 2 nights in Reims (champagne tour of course
) and 3 nights in Innsbruck (small city with a cool vibe).On to some photos ...starting with the almost obligatory one?
Not too many photos along the B500 - it was so enjoyable - free flowing, fast moving roads with sweeping bends... we covered most of it without stopping
. Certainly lived up to expectations and it definitely won't be the last time we visit the Black Forest .On our way into Lake Constance, we came across a pleasant surprise. We'd earlier seen a blacked out Porsche '992 test mule' absolutely flying - I'd not seen a vehicle move so quick 'in the wild' for a long time. Turns out we were heading into the same town, so after we caught him up and swapped a headlight flash/hazard light exchange, stopped at a petrol station:
He was indeed a test driver for Porsche and a very friendly one at that. They have felt coverings which they have to apply across the whole of the dash, centre console, door cards, etc. whenever parked up to prevent uninvited photos. The 992 has an interesting dash/gauge
- as since reported on PH.A quick comparison...
I preferred mine...
.Onto the Lake, a nice buzz at the waterfront and a perfect place to eat/drink/relax after the B500...
.Heading into Austria, the scenary became rather spectacular...
Hahntennjoch Pass definitely lived up to it's dangerous roads tag; at times the pass can get quite narrow and often without any barriers
, pretty intricate, and not too many overtaking opportunities (unlike the B500). This technical nature of the road, with its very tight back to back hairpins coupled with a steep ascent at pace, meant I worried about grounding out a few times! It was a thrilling drive with some breathtaking views along the way .In fact the route we took leading into the Hahntennjoch Pass was just as enjoyable & memorable - catch the 200 from Müselbach and follow it into the 198 around Warth all the way until Elmen for the pass
. Innsbruck:
Next up, the Grossglockner High Alpine Road. Not much more to say other than it lived up to the billing of one of the best driving roads in Europe
. Definitely allow more time than you think; you'll be stopping more often than you expect to take in the phenomenal landscape... .The change in weather from bottom to top was also quite dramatic!
We headed back into Germany via the Autobahn where the 993 managed to stretched it's legs
- satisfying to know that despite it's age, performed well and remained pretty stable at high speed. I think the car feels better for it! Finally, we stopped at Reims-Gueux on the way back to Calais...
Finishing with 2 of my favoured images from the trip:
Difficult not to be impressed with the 993's curves from above
:The tone of the trip was set from the outbound Eurotunnel; a gentleman from the next carriage up came over to check out 993 during the journey. Lots of appreciating nods of the head or waves were exchanged across France/Germany/Austria which was quite cool too
. Along the way, we saw a handful of pre-'89 911s, maybe 8 to 10 964s out and about, and maybe 20+ 997s (by far the most friendliest, always offering a wave!
) ...but only ONE 993 - a stunning French plated C2S in Arctic Silver. Where are the others all hiding? We're so glad we did the trip, we came back buzzing
- whilst it wasn't a relaxing break there was a real sense of adventure. Massively relieved the car behaved, too (I carry a spare DME relay in the car, but other than that... ).In future we hope to experience either the Spanish Pyrenees or the Italian Dolomites. Hopefully both!
...and without worrying about the market . Look forward to seeing more content here of other 911's being enjoyed as intended
.
Great post/pictures/car!
Can't beat a euro trip like this. Have been the last 4 summers (in a 981 CS) to a mix of France/Italy/Switzerland/Austria/Germany/Lichtenstein. The Dolomites are a must if you enjoy the Alps. Truly stunning views. Am considering the Pyranees (not been yet)/southern France/Dolomites next year.
A view in the Dolomites last year. Paul.
Can't beat a euro trip like this. Have been the last 4 summers (in a 981 CS) to a mix of France/Italy/Switzerland/Austria/Germany/Lichtenstein. The Dolomites are a must if you enjoy the Alps. Truly stunning views. Am considering the Pyranees (not been yet)/southern France/Dolomites next year.
A view in the Dolomites last year. Paul.
Edited by mr pg on Wednesday 19th September 21:01
Edited by mr pg on Wednesday 19th September 21:03
Brilliant post and photographs, thank you. I love a road trip holiday and am hoping to do Spain and the Pyrenees soon.
Edit to add that your car looks so much cooler than the 992:
A couple of shots of previous trips in the spirit of the thread,.
Edit to add that your car looks so much cooler than the 992
:A couple of shots of previous trips in the spirit of the thread,.
Edited by Budflicker on Thursday 20th September 07:51
Sounds like you had a great trip. We were down in Austria a couple of weeks ago and my wife drove the Grossglockner (both ways) for the first time (albeit in our Octavia vRS this time rather than a 911). She has since declared it to be her favourite road! She does enjoy a road-trip...
Thanks all, for the generous comments. Pleasantly surprising given the 'marmite' paint plus wheel choice & ride height may not appeal to a traditional 993 connoisseur, who tends to prefer factory originality.
. I spent many years saving up for a 993, and significantly more lusting after one, so it would be a real shame to not use it frequently and it enjoy whilst possible . It's a car I never intend on letting go... and instead plan to continue to personalise/improve.
.
FerdiZ28 said:
Great pics, inspiring trip and that 993 is perfection. I’d bookmark a thread of it driving to get petrol/milk. Congrats.
Thank you! I actually aim to use the car for the office commute - on average - twice a week. It performs 'daily duties' without any issues and on those days, I often find the journey to the office and back is the highlight of my day . I spent many years saving up for a 993, and significantly more lusting after one, so it would be a real shame to not use it frequently and it enjoy whilst possible . It's a car I never intend on letting go... and instead plan to continue to personalise/improve. justin220 said:
Fantastic!
Which camera are you using? Pics looks great
Nothing special I'm afraid - Lumix G3. It's a 7 year old m4/3 camera body (a true photography enthusiast will probably tell you a m4/3 camera is not a 'proper' camera) coupled with a single prime lens... not very flexible kit but this combination means it's easily portable which encourages me to take the camera with me in the first place! The 20mm f1.7 lens has it's limitations but I'm really fond of the sharpness it offers Which camera are you using? Pics looks great
. 
ch3tman said:
........ I spent many years saving up for a 993, and significantly more lusting after one, so it would be a real shame to not use it frequently and it enjoy whilst possible . It's a car I never intend on letting go... and instead plan to continue to personalise/improve.
So refreshing to hear, I feel the same about my 996. Life’s too short!. It's a car I never intend on letting go... and instead plan to continue to personalise/improve. What colour is that then? It looks great and 993 is such a handsome car.
Gassing Station | Porsche Classics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff