We had seven days and wanted to pack as much into that time as possible, including race circuits, museums and retracing old road race routes. Here's our tale.
Day One: a early morning start, blast across south eastern England, before getting the Chunnel (so easy!) and driving across northern France into Belgium. We arrived just in time for the start of the Spa 6 Hour endurance race which had friends of ours participating in early 911's. Lee Maxted-Page was debuting his 901 which has early competition history and fantastic livery. He was partnered by Robert Barrie. And Adrian Slater had a '65 car he owns which he was sharing with Mark Sumpter.
What you don't realise if you've only seen Spa from video or photos is the gradient. This is a serious hilly circuit....
Lee very kindly lent us his monkey bike to navigate around the circuit. You can imagine how silly we looked with both of us on it.... I had to get off when it came to the hills! But it was a great way to get around.
The key to an endurance race is to stay out of trouble and out of the pits. Here Mark and Adrian show how it's meant to be done. In and out in a flash.
That's not to say they didn't have problems - an electrical gremlin meant they had to switch the car off for a few seconds every lap for something to cool down. That's okay in the daylight, but the 6 Hour is a night race, finishing at 10pm, so it doesn't bear thinking about when you have to switch everything off at 130mph in the dark! Lee and Robert had a few mechanical issues and Lee had a slight off requiring a bit of time in the pits, but they still finished in a respectable place in the order. Mark and Adrian finished 31st out of 108 starters which is really quite something, especially as the early 911 is hopelessly outclassed by the big guns such as GT40's.
Spa is also a circuit that requires real courage - i couldn't get over Eau Rouge, that's a real corner!
Before we move on from Spa it's worth mentioning the faintly ludicrous fuelling set up, which has you queue at a petrol station on the circuit! Having risked everything to shave a tenth of a second off a lap it was mind-boggling to then see competitors queue for minutes at a time sometimes to refuel.
Then it was off into the night to find our German hotel near the Ring. All very quaint and cliched!
Day Two: An epic day of driving in the heartland of Germany and spiritual home of my Ghia. It was the first time the Ghia had returned to the country of it's manufacture since being shipped to NZ in '65. Our destination was the Porsche museum, which even for a weary and seen-it-all enthusiast like me still completely blew me away. This fresh build of a Type 64 body shell greets you upon rising three floors up the escalator in what is a cutting edge, world class museum.
One of the lovely things about the museum is the light and space to be able to appreciate the cars. Another is the fact that there are no barriers so you can get up close and personal, here with the 911 prototype.
The 907 shell, lit beautifully from inside and suspended from the ceiling, was one of my favourites.
The most important car without a shadow of a doubt, Porsche number 1.
And then Porsche number 2, the first coupe and with the configuration we all know, in a lovely terracotta, burnt orange.
Speedster prototype shows how pure and simple a car should look in my view:
Obviously one of the most famous numbers in Porsche racing history....
And the car it's attached to in all it's glory.
Amazing powerplant for the 917.
And the wolf in the corner. Most of the people in the museum missed this one, but Ian and I spent ages looking over the flat 16 powering this beast.
And finally one of the most beautiful race cars of all time IMHO, the 804. Not sure about being surrounded by the petrol tank but a lovely car nonetheless.
And then the obligatory photo outside the museum, but also round the corner at Werks 1.
Day Three: Started by making the pilgrimage to the old Solitude circuit just outside Stuttgart. It was slightly sad that it's not been looked after, but the old control tower has recently been restored.
Then it was a blast through southern Germany, into Switzerland, and across the Alps. A quick stop for lunch at an amazing spot.
The drive through Italy was amazing, what a lovely country to drive in.
We stopped in Monza for the evening, having a quintessential meal of pasta, meat and red wine. The next morning we headed for the Monza circuit, blagging our way in. If you've never been it's an amazing place. The circuit is in the middle of the town, surrounded by a beautiful park. Extraordinary. Knowing Italian systems were rubbish I simply stated we were hear to race, told him my name, waited for the security guard to search his clipboard to no avail, before I gunned the engine and looked impatiently at him. He waved us through and we parked up the Ghia on the pit lane where it instantly drew an appreciative crowd. Although the Ghia was made in Germany it felt like Italy was its spiritual home. Pedestrians would stop and stare, people hung out of car windows to take photos, and we were generally given a hero's welcome wherever we went in Italy. I never experienced that in the 911, I'm not sure why. Perhaps it has something to do with the styling of the car or the age, I'm not sure. But it was amazing to pull up in the pits at Monza amongst the latest Ferrari's and Lambo's and instantly draw an enquiring and enthusiastic crowd who simply loved the Ghia.
Before a blast down part of the old Mille Miglia route to Modena. On a deserted and rural section I made a point of driving a section at 100mph to experience for myself what it must have been like for Moss and Jenks. And frankly it was frightening. How they averaged, AVERAGED, 100mph for 10 hours I have no idea, for it was deeply humbling to experience it fleetingly.
Even as a died-in-the-wool Porsche enthusiast you can't fail to be impressed by Ferrari. They have participated in every GP since the inception of the race series in the early 50's. And their dedication to building cutting edge race and road cars has to be respected. The museum wasn't as good as Porsche's and the amount of merchandise that confronts you on arrival at the museum, plus the tourists who flock to this place is a bit off-putting. But it was great to be back there and to be able to reproduce an image I captured 8 years ago when I last did a proper road trip, that time in the 911.
The Ferrari museum was wonderful, full of all the stuff you want to see when you think of Ferrari!
The next day saw us visit Lamborghini. What a contrast. The museum is housed in the factory grounds and much more consistent with a small and low volume manufacturer. But I liked that. It felt more real, less commercial and fussy than Ferrari. Before I had turned the engine off though someone in a Lamborghini uniform was upon us in the carpark. I feared the worst - had we messed up and parked in the wrong place? Had we inadvertently upset someone (I had revved the Ghia pretty hard through the carpark...). But no, turns out the curator of the museum is an old Porsche and VW enthusiast. Rodrigo loved the Ghia, peppering us with questions, noticing the Bologna stamp on the 46 IDA carbs, etc, etc. We spent some time talking to him in the Italian sun before ambling round the museum, which was just lovely.
The most beautiful car ever built IMHO.
Lovely Countach.
And the Reventon was just plain mean... full of carbon fibre and lightened mechanicals.
And just as the museum shut Rodrigo sought us out, led us into his office, and told us to leave our cameras and phones in his office. We were ushered through a door marked "privio" and stepped out onto the factory floor. we were treated to an impromptu and no holds barred tour of the factory, watching them being assembled. Just draw dropping to see them being made, and in such a traditional way. All still hand assembled, with just three guys assembling the engines.
Then it was off across northern Italy and into France to retrace one section of the Tour Auto. What amazing roads! We drove for two solid days on the most unbelievable roads. Fast, flowing A-roads that really suited the Ghia. Just sublime. In fact I'd go so far as to say they were almost out of body experiences. At one with the car, nothing on my mind but the road, ears being overwhelmed by the sound of a beautifully built engine properly on song. Ah.
We broke up the trip north with a pilgrimage to the old Reims GP circuit, which has been left to patina nicely. The circuit is now open road, so we took the opportunity to wait until the traffic had died down, did a proper drag-race start off the old start-line, and did a lap of most of the circuit, touching 110mph in a couple of places. Just magic.
I don't want to come over all misty eyed here, but you can almost hear the exhaust from the old race cars and see the ghosts of drivers from another era here. Amazing place.
Part of the circuit however has been dug up and the road simply ends. We pulled up and parked, reflecting on the poignancy of starting the trip at Spa, still a fully alive and flourishing circuit, and finishing at Reims, where only ghosts of the past reside.
Footnote. We completed 2,200 miles in seven days, and averaged 25mpg. The Ghia required nothing more than re-fueling and a quarter of a litre of oil half way through the trip. We cruised at 70mph happily, spanked it through the Alps and on A-roads everywhere, and saw triple figures on countless occasions. And it didn't miss a beat. If you've any inclination to do a road trip my advice is just pack a bag and do it. It's what being a car enthusiast is all about.
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