San Marino and back
Discussion
I've finally put the video together of our recent trip down to San Marino to spectate on the 7th Rally Legend (a classic rally featuring Grp A, Grp B, Grp 4 and 10 WRC cars with drivers such as Marcus Gronholm, Miki Biasion, Juha Kankkunen).
The route took us via the Grimsel, Furka, Oberalp, Lukmanier, San Bernadino and Splugen pass' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aALnia5EU2o . They're all worthwhile passes IMO with the Splugen starting off as a typical climbing/hairpin pass then, as you're halfway down on the Italian side, you're left clinging to the mountain side as you tackle the hairpins (some within tunnels). It's certainly not the fastetst part of the pass, but one of the most stunning roads that I've driven to date. As you descend from the Grimsel approaching the furka, the view that greets you is fantastic with the valley floor and the Furka winding it's way up the moutain in the distance.
The rally itself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMzz2GxrXCM showing parc ferme, driving part of a stage, a proper night stage (as compared to the modern WRC events)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8NO51UzEGk the driver of a Metro 6R4 having a go at his co-driver as to why he didn't tell him to pull over when the car was on fire (even though the marshalls & spectators were flagging him down). Tunnels............then the lower part of the Stelvio Pass, approached from the North.
The second half of the Stelvio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0Ly1Nzjuqw . We arrived in the dry and cold (-2) then woke the following morning to 4 inches of snow! The drive down the Umbrail was, shall we say, slow. We weren't prepared for this at all and even had mini buses with French school kids overtake us (well, they did have snow chains fitted). From here we headed North up through Switzerland, Austria and into Germany to the Nurburgring. Unfortunately it was shut to the public (I did know this in advance, but we still went there to have a look around) then it was off to Spa Francorchamps to have a look at Eau Rouge. Personally, I don't really see what all the hype is all about, I think the Craner Curves at Donington are just as steep, although I wasn't able to drive on the circuit to see it from a drivers perspective.
All in all we crossed 7 countries, drove 10 passes and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. All this in 5 old Lancia's(the youngest being 17 years old). A few of the cars did have some troubles, but nothing that couldn't be sorted by the roadside, like changing a fuel pump in the middle of Bergamo!!! Thanks.
LAWRENCE
The route took us via the Grimsel, Furka, Oberalp, Lukmanier, San Bernadino and Splugen pass' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aALnia5EU2o . They're all worthwhile passes IMO with the Splugen starting off as a typical climbing/hairpin pass then, as you're halfway down on the Italian side, you're left clinging to the mountain side as you tackle the hairpins (some within tunnels). It's certainly not the fastetst part of the pass, but one of the most stunning roads that I've driven to date. As you descend from the Grimsel approaching the furka, the view that greets you is fantastic with the valley floor and the Furka winding it's way up the moutain in the distance.
The rally itself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMzz2GxrXCM showing parc ferme, driving part of a stage, a proper night stage (as compared to the modern WRC events)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8NO51UzEGk the driver of a Metro 6R4 having a go at his co-driver as to why he didn't tell him to pull over when the car was on fire (even though the marshalls & spectators were flagging him down). Tunnels............then the lower part of the Stelvio Pass, approached from the North.
The second half of the Stelvio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0Ly1Nzjuqw . We arrived in the dry and cold (-2) then woke the following morning to 4 inches of snow! The drive down the Umbrail was, shall we say, slow. We weren't prepared for this at all and even had mini buses with French school kids overtake us (well, they did have snow chains fitted). From here we headed North up through Switzerland, Austria and into Germany to the Nurburgring. Unfortunately it was shut to the public (I did know this in advance, but we still went there to have a look around) then it was off to Spa Francorchamps to have a look at Eau Rouge. Personally, I don't really see what all the hype is all about, I think the Craner Curves at Donington are just as steep, although I wasn't able to drive on the circuit to see it from a drivers perspective.
All in all we crossed 7 countries, drove 10 passes and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. All this in 5 old Lancia's(the youngest being 17 years old). A few of the cars did have some troubles, but nothing that couldn't be sorted by the roadside, like changing a fuel pump in the middle of Bergamo!!! Thanks.
LAWRENCE
Edited by snapper8v on Saturday 14th November 12:23
SimonV8ster said:
Only watched the first video so far but great stuff !! 
Thanks for posting it all up - makes me want to go out driving !!
Apologies if they're a little too long (10 minutes each) but I'd only just finished editing 5 hours worth of footage down to 40 minutes and thought I'd share on here due to the amount of questions as to which pass' to travel. Thanks for posting it all up - makes me want to go out driving !!
The driving may be a little
over exuberant in places, but those roads NEED to be driven. The beauty of driving abroad is that there's very little in the way of "road rage". We're always looking way ahead to see if there's anything coming in the opposite direction. Enjoy the videos.LAWRENCE
Longers said:
Only part way through, but I agree with above 
How long did that day 1 route over the passes take you altogether?
We were out for just over 13 hours, but a good hour and a half was lost due to "car problems". Here's the exact route:-How long did that day 1 route over the passes take you altogether?
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&a...
. If anyone requires any information, then please drop me a line.Awesome route and some great video footage there. Looks like you had a cracking time, the bit through the blizzard was scary. Love the intergrale but have always been put off by running costs. Used to have a Delta HF Turbo which was great fun but cost an arm and a leg to keep on the road. Thanks for sharing
Links 2 & 3 on your original post are for the same vid clip
Links 2 & 3 on your original post are for the same vid clip
snapper8v said:
Longers said:
Only part way through, but I agree with above
How long did that day 1 route over the passes take you altogether?
We were out for just over 13 hours, but a good hour and a half was lost due to "car problems". Here's the exact route:-How long did that day 1 route over the passes take you altogether?
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&a...
Thanks for that.I can think of worse ways of spending 13hrs
Family Guy said:
Links 2 & 3 on your original post are for the same vid clip
Thanks for the heads up, all sorted now. As for the running costs, it really depends upon what you're comparing it with really? I don't really set aside a budget for the car, just lavish ££££££'s on her 
. Every other year all the belts get done which is around £250, a set of tyres £250 per year (Toyo's, I average around 12k miles per year). All of the major bodywork restoration was carried out over 3 years ago, just trying to keep on top of it now! Insurance (classic car insurance £305, this also includes a Rover P6 V8), as for the MPG, on a good run I can average 25MPG. Gassing Station | Roads | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff