Mikael,
Thanks for allowing us to live Le Mans vicariously through your adventures.
I watched a good portion of the 24 from an armchair, well actually an office chair as I came to discover that Canadian cable carried zero coverage, criminal! Thankfully I had invested in a Slingbox which allowed me to watch my home (Reno) cable coverage over the web, that alone justified the $200 investment.
I intend to be back at Le Mans next year for the Classic, in the meantime safe and enjoyable travels, you are real ambassador of the marque.
Julian
quote:Originally posted by No Quarter:quote:the best I've ever, ever, ever done with my Pantera is a Little over 350km on a tank
That's because you don't care about the environment as much as I do.
Diesels. Yes and Hybrids. Read an article while here about how the ACO see it as their obligation to do their bit for the environment. What a load of crap. It's not for racing as we like it. But I think it's for the manufacturers, it's their excuse to throw money at it.
In the organizer's defense, they have a long history of favoring innovation and environmentally friendly racing. It isn't something new. It doesn't necessarily make for exciting racing, but their ambition for decades has been to promote innovation. Fair enough, but again, it doesn't always make for exciting racing
I agree - very enjoyable and entertaining Reading. Please keep writing.
Oh, and to answer your question - I'd rather be driving through northern Italy in my DeTomaso than working. You asked...
Oh, and to answer your question - I'd rather be driving through northern Italy in my DeTomaso than working. You asked...
So what’s this “time travelling” all about. Most may have guessed it’s not about going forward in time, it’s about going back in time. Some people find it interesting to find out a lot about their ancestors, a family member of my wife is doing that as a hobby. That inspired me to do something better: See what could be done about tracing the history of the Longchamp. My Pantera was originally sold in the US and I can’t get back very far. I found an insurance card in the dash with some names, tried this forum and POCA, nobody knew them. The Longchamp could be more interesting, because it was originally sold in Italy and I bought it in Italy, so in all likelihood it’s always been in Italy.
So I looked at the paperwork I got when I purchased it, and also Roland in Germany had some original paperwork on it, including the order form where the first owner ticked off what equipment he wanted and the “beige pelle” etc. interior was specified. From what I could see from all of this it had 4 owners before me. All Italian, on Italian paperwork at least. Maybe there were more owners, I don’t know.
So now it was about finding the owners. Since most of it was hand written by somebody apparently in a hurry, some guessing and cryptology was needed. And after that, I spent some hours googling names and addresses. I found one of them on Facebook, but they never answered me.
So what do I hope to obtain? The best would be information on when they owned it, previous owner, any documents they still had, copies of pictures from when they owned it.
And how do I hope to obtain that. By chance all four owners live (I think) right on my route from Le Mans to Venice. One in Torino area, the rest in Verona/Vicenza area. So I simply plan to stop by. I haven’t made an appointment, I don’t know if they’ll talk to me, I don’t know if they speak English. How would you react if an owner of your previous car showed up? If you’re a car guy, favorable I’d say, but these people may be in another place in their life, and don‘t care. If I find the addresses, and nobody’s home or no English spoken, I have a note with me in Italian with what I’m trying to do, I’ll leave that and maybe hear from them.
Optimistic I know, some of these people will be very old.
So I looked at the paperwork I got when I purchased it, and also Roland in Germany had some original paperwork on it, including the order form where the first owner ticked off what equipment he wanted and the “beige pelle” etc. interior was specified. From what I could see from all of this it had 4 owners before me. All Italian, on Italian paperwork at least. Maybe there were more owners, I don’t know.
So now it was about finding the owners. Since most of it was hand written by somebody apparently in a hurry, some guessing and cryptology was needed. And after that, I spent some hours googling names and addresses. I found one of them on Facebook, but they never answered me.
So what do I hope to obtain? The best would be information on when they owned it, previous owner, any documents they still had, copies of pictures from when they owned it.
And how do I hope to obtain that. By chance all four owners live (I think) right on my route from Le Mans to Venice. One in Torino area, the rest in Verona/Vicenza area. So I simply plan to stop by. I haven’t made an appointment, I don’t know if they’ll talk to me, I don’t know if they speak English. How would you react if an owner of your previous car showed up? If you’re a car guy, favorable I’d say, but these people may be in another place in their life, and don‘t care. If I find the addresses, and nobody’s home or no English spoken, I have a note with me in Italian with what I’m trying to do, I’ll leave that and maybe hear from them.
Optimistic I know, some of these people will be very old.
First I looked for Paolo, the last owner before me. I bought it from a dealer (commission) in Torino in 2008, his name was on it. On the GPS it looked easy enough, 20 km from the Torino-Milan freeway. Turned out to be a very small village in the mountains, so plenty of hairpins and steep roads, took forever. When I got to where the GPS thought the address was, the road was first paved, and then a dirt road. A muddy dirt road with high weeds in the middle. Hhmm strange. Well, I hadn’t come this far… Drove about 2km, not seeing a house. Then the road started going down and weeds were twice as high, it looked less travelled. And if I drove down there I might not be able to reverse back up, partly muddy. So I turned around on a field, muddy as well, had to really think where I drove, or I would have been stuck.
When I got back to the end of the road, I rang some bells. One Italian lady that spoke English told me I could go around through “town” to avoid that muddy road. So I did. The other end was better, I was looking for number 6, and the road started with 2 on the right. Found 4. Then 8! Where was 6? I talked to the people in 4 and 10, talked meaning my English and extremely weak French, their excellent Italian and some French. They had never heard of the man, and not seen my car either. Being that he sold it in 2008, I thought maybe the neighbors had heard that exhaust. Funny thing, one guy I spoke to I said it was about Paolo having owned my car. He immediately said: “Well that’s your problem now.” As if I was looking for Paolo to complain about something.
So what was between 4 and 8? Seemingly nothing. But there was a paved drive going steeply downhill next to 4. But weeds showed nobody used it. Still, I walked down, found a house that was shut off, and a red/white builder’s tape across the entrance. No sign of any kind. Not even a mailbox to put the letter in. So a total loss. If Paolo had lived there in 2008, for sure he didn’t any more, and nobody had heard about him.
When I got back to the end of the road, I rang some bells. One Italian lady that spoke English told me I could go around through “town” to avoid that muddy road. So I did. The other end was better, I was looking for number 6, and the road started with 2 on the right. Found 4. Then 8! Where was 6? I talked to the people in 4 and 10, talked meaning my English and extremely weak French, their excellent Italian and some French. They had never heard of the man, and not seen my car either. Being that he sold it in 2008, I thought maybe the neighbors had heard that exhaust. Funny thing, one guy I spoke to I said it was about Paolo having owned my car. He immediately said: “Well that’s your problem now.” As if I was looking for Paolo to complain about something.
So what was between 4 and 8? Seemingly nothing. But there was a paved drive going steeply downhill next to 4. But weeds showed nobody used it. Still, I walked down, found a house that was shut off, and a red/white builder’s tape across the entrance. No sign of any kind. Not even a mailbox to put the letter in. So a total loss. If Paolo had lived there in 2008, for sure he didn’t any more, and nobody had heard about him.
Monday
Today turned out to be very eventful. First a yearlong dream for me came through, then some disappointments, and last but not least the biggest driving scare I’ve had, that nearly changed my Longchamp ownership status considerably! But let’s not jump ahead, chronological order. I started in Milan in the morning, going for my 5th Time Traveller experience…
Today turned out to be very eventful. First a yearlong dream for me came through, then some disappointments, and last but not least the biggest driving scare I’ve had, that nearly changed my Longchamp ownership status considerably! But let’s not jump ahead, chronological order. I started in Milan in the morning, going for my 5th Time Traveller experience…
The 5th “time traveller” thing is the Monza track. I’ve always been fascinated by the bankings and what could be done there back in the day. Nothing would thrill me more than driving the old Monza track, first the track we all know and then two times 180 degrees bankings. I assume we’ve all seen “Grand Prix”? Racing footage is great, dialogue embarrassing. Just imagine the speeds they could obtain in their four-wheeled coffins. So my plan was to drive there, this was also en route for me, and see if I could get in. To drive it, or just to go in and walk around. Or spot it from afar from the top of a wall?
So I drove towards Monza though Milan morning traffic. Most of you may know, but Monza is in a park in the middle of a city. Truth told, it was probably well outside the city when built, but now the town has risen around it. Wasn’t really sure where to go to, west or east or? Drove around the stone walls that are crumbling a bit. Got to the east side. Asked a guy where the Autodroma was, main entrance. Other side I understood his Italian. So set the GPS to that. The clever GPS wanted to drive straight through from east to west, so I tried that. I got to a golf club entrance, here I should either deflect or go through the golf part of the park. I chose the latter, still on the GPS. Nobody was there playing golf, only groundskeepers who looked at me like I didn’t belong, which I probably didn’t.
Then I got to a fence. At least a car fence, rusty, heavy chains on. But a door besides it, open. Exactly the same 10 meters ahead. And I could spot a guardrail on the other side! Was I at the track? Maybe near the banking I always wanted to see? I locked the Longchamp and walked through the two gates.
So I drove towards Monza though Milan morning traffic. Most of you may know, but Monza is in a park in the middle of a city. Truth told, it was probably well outside the city when built, but now the town has risen around it. Wasn’t really sure where to go to, west or east or? Drove around the stone walls that are crumbling a bit. Got to the east side. Asked a guy where the Autodroma was, main entrance. Other side I understood his Italian. So set the GPS to that. The clever GPS wanted to drive straight through from east to west, so I tried that. I got to a golf club entrance, here I should either deflect or go through the golf part of the park. I chose the latter, still on the GPS. Nobody was there playing golf, only groundskeepers who looked at me like I didn’t belong, which I probably didn’t.
Then I got to a fence. At least a car fence, rusty, heavy chains on. But a door besides it, open. Exactly the same 10 meters ahead. And I could spot a guardrail on the other side! Was I at the track? Maybe near the banking I always wanted to see? I locked the Longchamp and walked through the two gates.
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Fantastic. I wanted to see this for so long, this is on my “To do before you die”-list. I’m not that much into F1, and I’m sure it’s all fenced in when the hoards come to F1. Here I was on a Monday morning, free to go look. I walked first to the second banking, it was slightly closer, not knowing when I would be called upon to get out. Walked the banking. Then I saw joggers and cyclists, using the track. How pathetic in a way. Does this world still have room for us dinosaurs that love classic racing? Or do you have to wear spandex and a €10k bike that saves you 1 kg to utilize what the world has to offer?
I walked from the second bank to the first bank. Quite a distance of course, but strangely while most race tracks seem bigger when you’re there, this seemed smaller. I guess it’s the “Grand Prix” movie where it looks like the drive the stretches forever. The first banking was a lot steeper. I started walking it at the top, I wanted to go to the place it goes over the current F1 track, but I had to give up, it became too steep. When I got to the place it goes over, I managed to crawl up, see pictures below. This banking was like 45 degrees. I guess that means that you can turn 1G even without any traction? Can’t do the math, but could you go as fast as your engine let you here, or was there still an upper limit?
I walked from the second bank to the first bank. Quite a distance of course, but strangely while most race tracks seem bigger when you’re there, this seemed smaller. I guess it’s the “Grand Prix” movie where it looks like the drive the stretches forever. The first banking was a lot steeper. I started walking it at the top, I wanted to go to the place it goes over the current F1 track, but I had to give up, it became too steep. When I got to the place it goes over, I managed to crawl up, see pictures below. This banking was like 45 degrees. I guess that means that you can turn 1G even without any traction? Can’t do the math, but could you go as fast as your engine let you here, or was there still an upper limit?
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You may think, banking, how old fashioned, doesn’t take much driver talent. I think it does. And guts. And it enabled Italian drivers and manufactures to test things at speed that nobody else could. Maybe Monza aided in the superiority of Italian cars for many years? Today German cars are often greater than the rest, because they have to live and compete at top speed on a daily basis. I think Monza’s bankings are the 8th wonder of the world. And I was there today.
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Driving on from there, I knew I was in the right part of the world, when I read city signs like “Brembo” and “Campagnola” (though our wheels are Campagnolo, so no relation?).
The rest of the day was spent on trying to find the 3 remaining previous owners. The first, I found her apartment building. A bit disappointing, I’ve always envisioned that the previous owners had to have mansions, owning a 5700cc DeTomaso in Italy with their taxes has never been cheap. So they had to be rich, maybe have many cars? Apparently not. I rang the bell at the apartment house, no answer. Hhmm. And I couldn’t leave my Italian and English note, because the street mail box had been vandalized. I didn’t want to leave without at least leave the note. Stood for while, then fortunately another inhabitant of that building came along, an old lady, surprisingly fluent in English. She let me in so I could put the note in the owner’s mailbox, and then I went along. No time to wait too long, had also parked in front of somebodys driveway. Hey, this is Italy, I would never do it at home.
The third owner was not to be found at all. Her place of residence was in the middle of nowhere. It reminded me of Spencer Tracy in “A man got off the train”, or Cary Grant out in the fields just before the crop duster attacks him in “North by North West”. Barren, hot, quiet. Not an apartment in sight. A business called Zanardi was there, asked the guard, they had the number next to the owner, in theory, nobody knew her.
So not much success so far. Two wrong addresses, one not home but note delivered. The last one was the most important, they were the first owners. If I could only get to them. So I drove to their address, in the middle of a town, the street the GPS suggested was closed off due to market day. Market day, smarket day. I drive a DeTomaso, so went down the street, through a pedestrian street, and unto where the address pointed. But again, the address seemed wrong. I looked at the door bell names, nothing close. I asked an owner of a café, he spoke only Italian, but I’ve gotten used to understand that, yes the street is correct, but never heard of those people. So out of luck again. Couldn’t even leave the note.
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Strange, 3 out of 4 addresses were not just wrong. They didn’t exist. Maybe this is a conspiracy that involves the mafia and others?! Only one good thing came of those visits, I noticed that owner #2’s last name was now the same as owner #1. I think she’s the daughter in law of the first couple. And she’s the one that I did leave a note. If she contacts me while I’m in Italy, I’ll go, if not, I’ll send her an old fashioned letter when I get home. I would really like to see pictures from when it was new. I’m pretty sure the first owners are still alive, they had 60th wedding anniversary two years ago.
So now the to-do list was empty. All I had to do was drive the remaining 150 km to my campsite. I looked forward to the vacation. Most of the last part was on 90 km/h roads. In typical fashion the car behind me was never very far away. For a while I had noticed an annoying black BMW. I was about to run out of gas, and while there are plenty of gas stations, the automated ones don’t accept my credit card, so I was looking for a gas station with a real human being available.
While doing that, coming to a gas station where I was looking for human movement, going 90 km/h with the BMW close by, I suddenly got a major scare. When my eyes got back from scanning gas station for intelligent life and onto the road, I saw that up ahead a Fiat was parked in our lane, blinking left, waiting to cross. It was standing still, I was going 90 km/h. I started to brake like crazy, soon realizing I would not be able to stop in time, far from it. I contemplated going right, but there was not enough asphalt and the guard rail looked very close. I contemplated going left, and if oncoming traffic had been aware, they could have pulled to their right and given me room, but what it they didn’t? I’d much rather hit a standstill car than a car going at me with the same speed as me. The latter will create a much worse crash.
So it was going right or just braking and ramming it, and then probably get that BMW into the rear. Bye bye Longchamp. So I took the least bad route, braked hard, probably got down to 50 km/h, and darted right. I knew it would probably end in one or two sides damaged, but at least it could be salvaged to drive another day. So I drove right of the Fiat, trying to keep as close to it as possible to maybe avoid the guardrail. The right tires had left the pavement, they were on dirt and lower than the left set.
Fortunately gaps like that are often bigger than you think. I got through without a scratch. I would have sold this situation for one side wrecked, but no scratch at all! I got quite a scare there, my heart physically hurt afterwards, but the adrenalin helped. This is my third real scare like that, so far all ended well, but this was definitely the one where the speed at impact would have been the highest. Can you imagine the rest of my vacation: No Longchamp, no good mood, maybe the Italian police had an opinion about my driving (fortunately hadn’t had alcohol all day (I have now!)). Phew
The BMW behind me must have had twice the scare. First me braking, him avoiding that, then he had to go through the same narrow gap as me, which he did, a bit slower than me. After we both got through that situation, he never went near the Longchamp’s rear again, actually he kept 100 m behind me!
Again, can you imagine, me ploughing into the Fiat, the BMW ploughing into me? Damn scary.
While doing that, coming to a gas station where I was looking for human movement, going 90 km/h with the BMW close by, I suddenly got a major scare. When my eyes got back from scanning gas station for intelligent life and onto the road, I saw that up ahead a Fiat was parked in our lane, blinking left, waiting to cross. It was standing still, I was going 90 km/h. I started to brake like crazy, soon realizing I would not be able to stop in time, far from it. I contemplated going right, but there was not enough asphalt and the guard rail looked very close. I contemplated going left, and if oncoming traffic had been aware, they could have pulled to their right and given me room, but what it they didn’t? I’d much rather hit a standstill car than a car going at me with the same speed as me. The latter will create a much worse crash.
So it was going right or just braking and ramming it, and then probably get that BMW into the rear. Bye bye Longchamp. So I took the least bad route, braked hard, probably got down to 50 km/h, and darted right. I knew it would probably end in one or two sides damaged, but at least it could be salvaged to drive another day. So I drove right of the Fiat, trying to keep as close to it as possible to maybe avoid the guardrail. The right tires had left the pavement, they were on dirt and lower than the left set.
Fortunately gaps like that are often bigger than you think. I got through without a scratch. I would have sold this situation for one side wrecked, but no scratch at all! I got quite a scare there, my heart physically hurt afterwards, but the adrenalin helped. This is my third real scare like that, so far all ended well, but this was definitely the one where the speed at impact would have been the highest. Can you imagine the rest of my vacation: No Longchamp, no good mood, maybe the Italian police had an opinion about my driving (fortunately hadn’t had alcohol all day (I have now!)). Phew
The BMW behind me must have had twice the scare. First me braking, him avoiding that, then he had to go through the same narrow gap as me, which he did, a bit slower than me. After we both got through that situation, he never went near the Longchamp’s rear again, actually he kept 100 m behind me!
Again, can you imagine, me ploughing into the Fiat, the BMW ploughing into me? Damn scary.
I’m now at my vacation site, nothing DeTomaso or any dramas planned for a while. But there’s a third part of the trip next week that I’ll keep you updated about. Later…
Hi Mikael, great trip ,great story.
Next time you visit Monza you also need to go to the Hotel Fossati ,via Conto Paola Taverna 20, 20050 Canonica.
This is the hotel where the formula 1 drivers stay when they are raced at Monza,a lot of historic pic's from F1 and other drivers on the wall of the hotel lobby
great Hotel ,kind people
Also the house and hotel from the Iso Rivolta ,,family"
looking for ward to part 3 of your trip.
Simon
Next time you visit Monza you also need to go to the Hotel Fossati ,via Conto Paola Taverna 20, 20050 Canonica.
This is the hotel where the formula 1 drivers stay when they are raced at Monza,a lot of historic pic's from F1 and other drivers on the wall of the hotel lobby
great Hotel ,kind people
Also the house and hotel from the Iso Rivolta ,,family"
looking for ward to part 3 of your trip.
Simon
quote:Originally posted by Simon:
Hi Mikael, great trip ,great story.
Next time you visit Monza you also need to go to the Hotel Fossati ,via Conto Paola Taverna 20, 20050 Canonica.
This is the hotel where the formula 1 drivers stay when they are raced at Monza,a lot of historic pic's from F1 and other drivers on the wall of the hotel lobby
great Hotel ,kind people
Also the house and hotel from the Iso Rivolta ,,family"
looking forward to part 3 of your trip.
Simon
Fantastic trip Mikael. I kept expecting to read that the black BMW was being been driven by one of the former owners of your car driving — waiting for you to stop so they could steal it back!
Also awaiting part 3...
Mark
Also awaiting part 3...
Mark
Great story...thanks for taking the time to share it. I wish I could write one but mine only involves driving it for the first time yesterday...did 2 miles and had to phone the breakdown truck to bring me home....stick it at the back of the garage and take the mustang out..happy days!!
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Some thoughts while vacationing:
Am I too rough on this Longchamp? I’ve used it as daily driver for almost 1½ years, including snow and salt. It was a great experience, but while I washed it very frequently, it can’t have been good for it. I’ve also trashed it around Spa, overtaking everybody but the pace car, not by having a faster car necessarily, but by determination. And Monday I almost killed it… Maybe I should sell it to somebody who will throw money at it, keep it garaged and only drive it on sunny Sunday afternoons?
I think Alessandro would tell me to drive it like I stole it. Which I almost do.
Am I too rough on this Longchamp? I’ve used it as daily driver for almost 1½ years, including snow and salt. It was a great experience, but while I washed it very frequently, it can’t have been good for it. I’ve also trashed it around Spa, overtaking everybody but the pace car, not by having a faster car necessarily, but by determination. And Monday I almost killed it… Maybe I should sell it to somebody who will throw money at it, keep it garaged and only drive it on sunny Sunday afternoons?
I think Alessandro would tell me to drive it like I stole it. Which I almost do.
A word about safety. My maneuver to avoid the stationary Fiat was quite a spectacle: brake, right, left, pass it, left, right, all in a split second. Now that it’s been a few days, I’m actually more proud of the maneuver than embarrassed that I got myself in that situation 
. I know that legally I would probably have been blamed, but thinking about it, have I ever before in my almost 40 years of driving experienced a car stationary on a 80/90 km/h road? I can’t remember anybody doing that. But the point here is that I would not have gotten away with it, if the Longchamp hadn’t behaved flawlessly like it did. It braked hard and straight and handled perfectly, despite the extra weight in the trunk.
When I was about 10 days away from this trip, the Longchamp was ready. Everything worked, test trips had sorted out a few small things. But…I noticed that front brakes made it pull to the left upon initial use, only at the start, no problem when the force was applied. I didn’t really understand why, because they had been perfect in autumn, so maybe it was just the pistons needing massaging after not being used all winter? I expected it to go away the more I used the brakes. But after a few runs, it didn’t get any better, it actually got a little worse.
In the end I did the right thing, I opened up the “slow” caliper, and the pistons were rusty. I cleaned them and saw they were pitted. They could probably have worked, maybe with a slight leak, but I ordered new pistons and seals (and front brake hoses) from Roland. Fortunately he got them to me in time, and fortunately these 3 piston calipers are constructed so that 1. When they rust, it’s the pistons not the calipers themselves, and 2. They’re very easy to assemble. So now I had perfect brakes.
If I hadn’t had that done, I would have gone on the trip anyway, driving carefully. Yeah, right, nothing can prepare you for Italian traffic. Reminds me, when in Modena last year, up on a lift where Ludovico and his men were looking for my bearing noise, he walked around and checked all steering and suspension and brake parts. He noticed I was looking at him, and he said that for performance driving suspension, brakes and steering is much more important than engine, gearbox etc.. He was right of course.
So make sure these important parts are 100% on your DeTomaso please.
. I know that legally I would probably have been blamed, but thinking about it, have I ever before in my almost 40 years of driving experienced a car stationary on a 80/90 km/h road? I can’t remember anybody doing that. But the point here is that I would not have gotten away with it, if the Longchamp hadn’t behaved flawlessly like it did. It braked hard and straight and handled perfectly, despite the extra weight in the trunk.When I was about 10 days away from this trip, the Longchamp was ready. Everything worked, test trips had sorted out a few small things. But…I noticed that front brakes made it pull to the left upon initial use, only at the start, no problem when the force was applied. I didn’t really understand why, because they had been perfect in autumn, so maybe it was just the pistons needing massaging after not being used all winter? I expected it to go away the more I used the brakes. But after a few runs, it didn’t get any better, it actually got a little worse.
In the end I did the right thing, I opened up the “slow” caliper, and the pistons were rusty. I cleaned them and saw they were pitted. They could probably have worked, maybe with a slight leak, but I ordered new pistons and seals (and front brake hoses) from Roland. Fortunately he got them to me in time, and fortunately these 3 piston calipers are constructed so that 1. When they rust, it’s the pistons not the calipers themselves, and 2. They’re very easy to assemble. So now I had perfect brakes.
If I hadn’t had that done, I would have gone on the trip anyway, driving carefully. Yeah, right, nothing can prepare you for Italian traffic. Reminds me, when in Modena last year, up on a lift where Ludovico and his men were looking for my bearing noise, he walked around and checked all steering and suspension and brake parts. He noticed I was looking at him, and he said that for performance driving suspension, brakes and steering is much more important than engine, gearbox etc.. He was right of course.
So make sure these important parts are 100% on your DeTomaso please.
quote:Originally posted by No Quarter:
Some thoughts while vacationing:
Am I too rough on this Longchamp? I’ve used it as daily driver for almost 1½ years, including snow and salt. It was a great experience, but while I washed it very frequently, it can’t have been good for it. I’ve also trashed it around Spa, overtaking everybody but the pace car, not by having a faster car necessarily, but by determination. And Monday I almost killed it… Maybe I should sell it to somebody who will throw money at it, keep it garaged and only drive it on sunny Sunday afternoons?
I think Alessandro would tell me to drive it like I stole it. Which I almost do.
People who don't use their cars will have prettier cars than you. But they won't have half the memories or experiences. Which would you rather have?
My choice is clear.
Great read! Great trip! Thanks for sharing. Look forward to the next installment...
[/QUOTE]People who don't use their cars will have prettier cars than you. But they won't have half the memories or experiences. Which would you rather have?[/QUOTE]
I'm with you guys. My car is looking a little beat up but I have 40,000 miles worth of memories I wouldn't trade for anything.
Doug M
I'm with you guys. My car is looking a little beat up but I have 40,000 miles worth of memories I wouldn't trade for anything.
Doug M
quote:little beat up but I have 40,000 miles worth of memories I wouldn't trade for anything.
Plus most (some?) of those 40K Miles are driving at high speed across Europe to see Le Mans, Monza, the Ring... What a thrill.
Sounds pretty awesome to me!
Keep driving it!
So today it was time for the last part of the European Tour. And this became an eventful day indeed, though not exactly as I had expected…
Normally I would just drive home from Venice area to Denmark, almost 1700 km. I’ve done it in one day once in a company Audi V6, left the vacation site at the Adriatic at 7 am, good weather, no queues, 200km/h+ when possible, was home at just after midnight. But normally it’s a two relaxed days but a bit boring trip. But this year, let’s drive in the Alps! Not just the freeways, but the passes as well. I was inspired by the Top Gear show where they seek to find the best driving road. And I also talked to Mike Drew, I knew he had driven some of the passes in a POS last year after LMC, so which would he recommend? Before long I had an itinerary with 8 passes and the Davos to Bormio that Top Gear elected best road. That was a whopping 8 hours and 485 km according to Google map, not sure I could fit all that in, but I had at least quite a menu to choose from.
As the time to do it got nearer I could see I had to do it a Sunday. That’s not optimal, too many people doing what I’m doing. Especially the best known Stelvio is full most days, and this being a Sunday, I decided to skip it. It was #2 on the list, so I skipped #1 and #2, and drove directly towards the town of Susch. That would get me onto the “best driving road” and on that road two passes Ofenpass and Fluelapass.
So off I went
Normally I would just drive home from Venice area to Denmark, almost 1700 km. I’ve done it in one day once in a company Audi V6, left the vacation site at the Adriatic at 7 am, good weather, no queues, 200km/h+ when possible, was home at just after midnight. But normally it’s a two relaxed days but a bit boring trip. But this year, let’s drive in the Alps! Not just the freeways, but the passes as well. I was inspired by the Top Gear show where they seek to find the best driving road. And I also talked to Mike Drew, I knew he had driven some of the passes in a POS last year after LMC, so which would he recommend? Before long I had an itinerary with 8 passes and the Davos to Bormio that Top Gear elected best road. That was a whopping 8 hours and 485 km according to Google map, not sure I could fit all that in, but I had at least quite a menu to choose from.
As the time to do it got nearer I could see I had to do it a Sunday. That’s not optimal, too many people doing what I’m doing. Especially the best known Stelvio is full most days, and this being a Sunday, I decided to skip it. It was #2 on the list, so I skipped #1 and #2, and drove directly towards the town of Susch. That would get me onto the “best driving road” and on that road two passes Ofenpass and Fluelapass.
So off I went
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On the way the mirror suddenly fell out. It had done so a year ago, and I’d gotten it squeezed back in, but a very vibrating Italian back road got it loose again. I had gaffa in the trunk, but in the bottom of the trunk, so I got some normal tape from a gas station in Italy. Coincidentally, for the first time ever I let somebody else fill my Longchamp with gas, a new paintjob is near anyway, and it did give me the pleasure of pointing to the other side of the car and say: “Duo”.
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Even though I skipped Stelvio, much of the way from the main freeway to Susch is the same as to the Northern part of Stelvio, so there was one hell of a traffic. Took the picture below when in the queue with nothing better to do. Thankfully as soon as we came to the fork where Stelvio drivers turned off, most turned off, and I knew I had made the right choice.
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I did Ofenpass, not very eventful. Got in a queue with tourists, so it went a little slow. The most eventful was that my GPS fell off after sitting where it should for 11 days, so I had to juggle that and keep on the road. Sorry there are no pictures of the snaking, I was driving! Try Google Earth.
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So I was now on the best driving road in Europe? Well maybe. At least it’s long. I prefer the Ulm to Innsbruck myself, complete with 4 lane 90 km/h hairpins. But it was worth the detour for sure.
As we got higher, it had gotten colder, and a few drops of rain. Fluelapass was approaching. Now on the first pass traffic made it a little boring. But on Fluelapass, quite the opposite! When we got to the fork to go left for Fluelapass, only the guy in front of me and I took that left. He drove a Range Rover Sport, I seem to remember they have OK horsepower? Regardless, he took off like a bat, he was apparently a local because he took some unique lines into the hairpins. I decided to try to follow him. So I did, which took all I had. On the climbs between the 180 degrees turn, I could catch him a little, and in the turns I just tried to do what he did. So in a right turn 180, blind of course, he got all the way to the left to make his turn easier. I did the same.
Super fun. But also a bit reckless I guess. He was hard to follow, with local knowledge and 4WD. So the Longchamp was working hard. But after I two times spun the rear wheels trying to keep up with him in a hairpin, I decided, this can end in big tears, better let him go. So I let him go. But we had fun for 10-12 hairpins, priceless. A few hairpins further up it began to rain, so I would have had to let him go anyway, and if it had been down instead of upwards, I wouldn’t have tried.
As we got higher, it had gotten colder, and a few drops of rain. Fluelapass was approaching. Now on the first pass traffic made it a little boring. But on Fluelapass, quite the opposite! When we got to the fork to go left for Fluelapass, only the guy in front of me and I took that left. He drove a Range Rover Sport, I seem to remember they have OK horsepower? Regardless, he took off like a bat, he was apparently a local because he took some unique lines into the hairpins. I decided to try to follow him. So I did, which took all I had. On the climbs between the 180 degrees turn, I could catch him a little, and in the turns I just tried to do what he did. So in a right turn 180, blind of course, he got all the way to the left to make his turn easier. I did the same.
Super fun. But also a bit reckless I guess. He was hard to follow, with local knowledge and 4WD. So the Longchamp was working hard. But after I two times spun the rear wheels trying to keep up with him in a hairpin, I decided, this can end in big tears, better let him go. So I let him go. But we had fun for 10-12 hairpins, priceless. A few hairpins further up it began to rain, so I would have had to let him go anyway, and if it had been down instead of upwards, I wouldn’t have tried.
I started the descent from Fluelapass, trying to keep it on the road. Some of the locals, all in pricey 4x4s, thought I should be faster maybe, I did what I could and dared. Then suddenly a high pitch whine from the engine room. Not constant, seemed to be affected by rpm. Looked at oil pressure, water temp, amps, all OK. Turned off A/C, no change. The only accessory left being driven by the engine (besides the transmission of course) was the power steering. Could it be that? I had definitely used the steering more and harder than ever before. Suddenly being on a mountainside in 10C and rain 1200 km from home seemed far away.
I couldn’t stop and check anything, I would be crazy to stop in that road. Just like that Fiat. After a few turns there was a pocket to park in, I got out, opened the hood, nothing to see, nothing to hear. I was in a t-shirt getting soaked. I got in again, noise came with rpm above idle, but not all the time. Strange.
I decided to drive to the town (if I could) and get to a gas station or at least under a roof of some kind. Noise was there intermittently. It seemed to get a little less frequent if I drove slow. I got to town, found a gas station, no rain upon me, opened the hood. No noise. My theory was the power steering, so I opened to see the fluid level, it was OK. But, despite the fluid canister is placed on the inner fender far away from the engine, it was hot! I think I overheated the power steering. Because the noise was gone by now with my soft driving. The Longchamp has no power steering fluid cooler, maybe it should have? Does anybody know of a Longchamp that has it original?
So now I was in Davos, with crummy cold and wet weather (their summer I think), and a maybe faulty power steering. Should I do the last 4 passes? No not on this trip. I had had enough for now. The Range Rover Sport chasing was great, and most of the scenery as well. And a serious noise that disappears by itself, that’s not something we experience often. So I told my GPS: Navigate to Home. That quite quickly led me to freeways and tunnels, and the power steering (?) noise never came back.
I couldn’t stop and check anything, I would be crazy to stop in that road. Just like that Fiat. After a few turns there was a pocket to park in, I got out, opened the hood, nothing to see, nothing to hear. I was in a t-shirt getting soaked. I got in again, noise came with rpm above idle, but not all the time. Strange.
I decided to drive to the town (if I could) and get to a gas station or at least under a roof of some kind. Noise was there intermittently. It seemed to get a little less frequent if I drove slow. I got to town, found a gas station, no rain upon me, opened the hood. No noise. My theory was the power steering, so I opened to see the fluid level, it was OK. But, despite the fluid canister is placed on the inner fender far away from the engine, it was hot! I think I overheated the power steering. Because the noise was gone by now with my soft driving. The Longchamp has no power steering fluid cooler, maybe it should have? Does anybody know of a Longchamp that has it original?
So now I was in Davos, with crummy cold and wet weather (their summer I think), and a maybe faulty power steering. Should I do the last 4 passes? No not on this trip. I had had enough for now. The Range Rover Sport chasing was great, and most of the scenery as well. And a serious noise that disappears by itself, that’s not something we experience often. So I told my GPS: Navigate to Home. That quite quickly led me to freeways and tunnels, and the power steering (?) noise never came back.
So right now I’m in Germany. I got through Italy, Switzerland, Austria and then Germany in one day. 12 hours of driving including filling gas, one hot dog, and a little time spent looking into the engine room.
Should reach home tomorrow…
Should reach home tomorrow…
A few things:
One brand of car whose owner always gives me a thumbs up here in Italy? Both on this trip and the previous, can anybody guess? [Maserati]
Reminds me, an old guy in an expensive Mercedes sports-something, I thought he was giving me thumbs up, but saw that he was actually picking his nose. Ah well...
A Danish friend send me a link where a guy posted pictures of cars at the Danish Le Mans camp. The Longchamp was one of the 25 pictures. Guess what? All the other pictures had texts explaining what car it is and what makes it special. My picture? No text. They haven't got a clue...
One brand of car whose owner always gives me a thumbs up here in Italy? Both on this trip and the previous, can anybody guess? [Maserati]
Reminds me, an old guy in an expensive Mercedes sports-something, I thought he was giving me thumbs up, but saw that he was actually picking his nose. Ah well...
A Danish friend send me a link where a guy posted pictures of cars at the Danish Le Mans camp. The Longchamp was one of the 25 pictures. Guess what? All the other pictures had texts explaining what car it is and what makes it special. My picture? No text. They haven't got a clue...
Home now, total 5125 km. Nothing eventful today besides a 1 hour queue and 2 hours of rain.
I never got to test top speed. So I don't know if it can do 300 km per hour or close, but I know more importantly that it can do 5000 km in 12 days
Thanks for reading, it was fun to post about it, and as my teen says, if it's not on the web, it hasn't happened
I never got to test top speed. So I don't know if it can do 300 km per hour or close, but I know more importantly that it can do 5000 km in 12 days
Thanks for reading, it was fun to post about it, and as my teen says, if it's not on the web, it hasn't happened