DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

Just returned from a wonderful road trip that I’d been planning for a while ..... 1600 miles & 5 countries.

So, last Tuesday myself, Mike ( 210bhp), James ( 58a-71e) and our partners departed Hull for Zeebrugge.

Wednesday consisted of an early start from the ferry followed by a long drive through Belgium, into Germany and onto our 1st overnight stay at Zuffenhausen / Stuttgart. We had chosen a hotel within walking distance of Thursday’s destination



sleepy passengers








Thursday morning & I awoke to find I was now 36 years old ☹ !! Coincidentally James had had his 34th birthday the day before, so we were 2 birthday boys ….. and what better way of celebrating than a Porsche Factory Tour. It had taken a bit of organising but it was well worth it , an amazing place & fascinating to watch their process. Unfortunately no Photos were allowed, but basically all the ‘boxer’ engined cars are built on the same production line . Our guide had joined Porsche in 1967 & had worked on 917’s amongst other projects … he had some wonderful tales to tell.







So after a couple of hours being guided around the factory, time for a quick lunch & then onto the new Museum where we had also booked a guided tour. Our Guide here was a young girl who was surprisingly knowledgeable considering her short career with Porsche, but she too learnt a thing or two from hardcore anal DDK’ers The museum has been covered may a time on here so I won’t bore you with too many of my photos.



holes in the floor

more

917’s





904





The sound booth ☺

The museum was great, but what made it really special was my wife asking if we could have access to the restoration facilities ( as a birthday treat ) ….. we finally got permission & security lead us through to be greeted with this : ( CLICK ON PICTURE FOR MOVIE )

The resto house was full of interesting cars … like this 914/8 with sunroof ( Porsche family car ) etc etc …. I’ll let the photos do the talking.











UK 356

The day’s events had taken longer than expected & we still had a long drive ahead of us !!! We left Porsche around 4.30pm and headed South for Switzerland. Very tired & jaded we rolled into Interlaken for 10pm.



Friday was to be a rest day, so we headed for one of the local touristy attractions, the Schilthorn & the famous ‘James Bond’ revolving restaurant …. 36 minutes of breathtaking cable car journey to reach the summit … Mike & James who are ‘not good with heights’ loved it

Saturday was our big day …. We had planned to do some of the great Swiss passes.

We started on the Grimsel, which was a great starting road, tight & twisty but unfortunately as we neared the top the weather deteriated & we ended up in thick cloud.

A quick bite to eat & we were off down the other side & heading for the one pass I had always wanted to drive ever since watching James Bond’s Goldfinger … the Furka. This was a very striking pass & I loved it .













Furka with the Grimsel in the background

The route we’d planned took us back down the Furka and onto one of my favourite passes, the Neufenen. This starts in wild flower meadows & flows wonderfully up to the summit.

Heading down the almost empty pass we carried onwards to the beginning of the St Goddard pass. We started this pass on the original & historic cobbled road …. Tough on the cars, but very atmospheric, especially when you meet horse drawn carriages coming towards you ☺ … we continued on this for a couple of miles until we pulled off & joined the modern St Goddard which again is another stunning road, although easily the busiest with quite a lot of traffic.



At the end of the St Goddard was the start of out final pass …. The stunning & long Susten Pass. You could see why the bikers love this one … smooth flowing tarmac with plenty of sharp bends & tunnels, it was glorious .

I could write in detail about all these passes, but to save boring you all I’ll just say they are all different in character & all great drives .

At the end of the day we visited a loverly restaurant we’d been recommended .. what a view !! ☺

Sunday came, James, Tracey & their son William got up early & headed south to the France / Spain border & myself + Mike headed north.

We decided to travel home on the back roads of France & discovered more wonderful roads & even more wonderful restaurants ☺ 2 days of driving through France & Belgium & we boarded the ferry home .







Great driving holiday & well recommended

Wow! Looks like a superb trip James, glad you all had a good time. Thanks for taking the time to post some fantastic pictures.

Swiss passes really are the dogs wotsits

Must get the name and location of that restaurant......what a memorable place to eat!!

That's really cool James - excellent photos and good commentry

Too late now - but you should have visited the glacier at the source of the River Rhone. You aint seen ice blue until you've walked inside a glacier!

Your photos brought back loads of memories for me - I went up all those passes on a school trip nearly, er, 50 years ago The roads have improved a bit since then

Probably fewer Wooly Mammoths too.

Mike

Looks like a fantastic trip