Italian roadtrip

[Secondtothird]

Hello all

Been a while but thought I'd pop on for those of you wanting a little coupe porn. I drove down to Puglia in southern Italy for a day last weekend, and took a few pics along the way.

The car is set up for fast road use, and with the polybushing and fresh Eagle F1s the levels of lateral grip was insane. Whipping up the Stelvio Pass with the traction control off is one of life's great pleasures. (Got in on the last day before they shut it for the winter).

The coupe is such a great all-rounder, it's a comfortable mini GT when you want to knock out consecutive 15 hour days, and then it switches to a tearaway little sports car on winding roads, it really excels at both. You could say an Aston would be better at covering long distances, or a Lotus Elise would be better in the mountains, but you wouldn't have as much fun in the mountains with the Aston and you wouldn't be as comfortable on the drive to get to them in the Elise. The coupe is better than the Elise as a GT and better than the Aston as a sports car

Anyway: 5 days, 3,275 miles, 65 hours in the cockpit (on long trips I find the seats are absolutely magic - as well as hugging you in tight on twisty mountain roads they are also just so comfortable when you're devouring continents. I occasionally have a bad back but didn't think about it once on this trip, and felt so fresh on coming back I'd have done it all over again the following day!)

Right then, pics:

 

[bigwinn]

That’s a bucket list item for me- especially in the coupe!

 

[buzyg]

More like mountain porn. Great photos either way. 8)

 

[Mr Tidy]

What a great trip, and some superb photos.

 

[Nanu]

Looks fun. Not jealous in the least

 

[Secondtothird]

Thank you, yeah the drive over the Alps at sunrise from Switzerland to Italy was absolutely jawdropping. These pics don't really do it justice but you get the idea.

Stopped off in Tuscany on the way back up, hadn't been there in 22 years, lovely to be back.

Owen

 

[1536Z4]

That`s a lot of miles in a short period of time . Hats off to you

 

[Secondtothird]

Thank you, my grandfather flew bombing missions out of Foggia in southern Italy for the US Air Force in 1944 and 45. In 1960 he went back with my grandmother to try and find his old airfield but it had been dismantled by then and returned to agricultural land. I think it's always bugged him a bit he couldn't find it and show her.

Thankfully I found the coordinates of the air base online this summer and told him I'd drive there to take some pictures for him of what it looks like now. So that was the reason for the trip really, to photograph a tilled piece of earth.

In the war guys were stepping off that patch of land, climbing up into the bellies of B17s and never stepping foot on land again, so it did merit a quiet moment of remembrance for them too.

My grandfather was made up when I called him from the spot and told him where I was - he was on the exact same spot 80 years before, and two days later flew his 14th mission to Vienna to bomb a Nazi oil refinery.

He made it back safely and flew another 22 missions after that.

Owen

 

[BumpyZ4]

Nice car and scenery!

 

[firebird]

Epic pictures that capture the beauty of the country and what a fantastic road trip.
Magnificent.

 

[RMB]

[ref]Secondtothird[/ref], Owen, great pictures, lovely car, and an epic trip for a very noble cause.
Your grandfather must be pushing 100 at least? He must be so pleased and proud of you.
My grandfather was at Monte Casino in 44. That was a bit of a scrap. I want to visit one day in the zed.
We lost him jan 23 at age 98. He would have been 100 this February just gone.
# remembrance day.

 

[Secondtothird]

Thank you RMB, very kind words. I'm sorry for your loss, 98 years old, what an innings. And yes, Monte Cassino was tough to say the least, and the destruction of the abbey was a real mess and such a shame. Those boys had it tough down there.

We almost lost my grandfather to pneumonia in July, but thankfully he pulled through. He turned 101 in February.

On the way down through the Italian Alps I also stopped off at Bolzano, which in February 45 was the toughest mission he had, targeting large Nazi marshalling yards. They defended the site with hidden anti-aircraft guns on the peaks of the surrounding mountains at 9,000ft. He flew at 25,000ft, and so it was a lot easier for them to hit planes with flak - my grandfather was a bombardier, so sat in the perspex nosecone, and clearly remembers flying through the smoke and fire of the plane in front of them which got hit and went down.

Owen

 

[coldel]

Great trip and a must do for anyone wanting to do a big Euro road trip. We went down to Lake Como and used it as a base for the week then heading out and doing all the main passes. One of the surprises which many miss out on is Interlaken which was amazing (much better than Stelvio we thought) and of course the endless tunnels in Switzerland etc.

 

[Secondtothird]

Yeah as fun as the Stelvio was, and it was, the roads up from Davos and Zernez in eastern Switzerland were more flowy. Though the mountain roads in Gargano were 2nd, 3rd and 4th gear heaven.

Owen

 

[Secondtothird]

Oh and I forgot to add, I zeroed my MPG average before I left and checked it when I got back. Drove it the way it should be driven in the mountains, but balanced out with lots of long motorway stretches with cruise control on meant ... 38.1mpg

Owen

 

[Mr Tidy]

Wow - 38.1 mpg is very impressive!

 

[x-driver]

Where were those pictures with sea background taken?

I'd also recommend passes Gavia, Sella, Pordoi, Fedaia, Giau, Gardena, etc. Beautiful scenery

 

[Secondtothird]

Sorry just saw this. The Gargano National Park on the spur of the heel. It's an epic, epic place if you like attacking corners on coastal roads.

Owen

 

[DMike]

Great pics, you could dominate the forum's photo contest for several months!

 

[Secondtothird]

Owen