Stelvio Tour 2009 in a 1987 Porsche Carrera 3.2 Sport Coupe

 By David R. Tunnicliffe

As with all extended trips to mainland Europe deciding what to take, will fit in and be sufficient into a sports car is always a dilemma.  And so it was on this trip, not helped by three extra days at our caravan in the Pas de Calais.  But it was 7.30am and time to be off to catch our 12.15pm ferry!

 After abandoning yet more ‘unnecessary’ kit at the caravan we finally departed from Calais on Saturday, 4^th July (Day 1) on the 299 mile (479 kms) drive down the A26 to Metz.  We arrived in Metz at the Hotel Metz Technopole 2000 at 3pm -  €35.40 (£31) lighter in pocket after paying the Peage.   The route set out by tour operator, Continental Car Tours, had gone via Lille, Mons and Liege, a toll free but notoriously busy motorway network.

 That evening we all began to congregate in the bar and soon our British reserve fell away as we started to bond through our common goal and interest.  It was during the evening that I caught up with Paul Knowles, a fellow Sporting Bear.  He was taking part in his Porsche Boxster with his brother Nigel.

The 28 cars entered spanned several decades, the oldest of which was a 1951 Jaguar XK120, while the youngest was an almost new Audi R8. After an early breakfast we were all eager to be on our way on the second leg (Day 2 - 310 miles, 494 kms) of  ‘transport section’ to Fussen in Germany (near Innsbruck).  This was, for many, their first taste of German Autobahn driving.   There is nothing quite like it for shaking you traveling a little over 100 mph, than to be passed at high speed by a large, black, Mercedes CL – leaving me feeling like I was standing still!  The drive to Fussen was exhilarating to say the least.

  That second evening at Hotel Europark, beside a roaring river the odd moan of discontent about the road book began to show, myself included.  Small but not insignificant errors caused one or two of the group to go off piste!  We had brought the satnav (to be sure of finding the hotel each evening and to give early warning of hairpin bends in the Alps – but nothing more).  How glad we are that we did have it with us and used it often to good advantage when the road book failed.

 Day 3 was immediately into the Alps starting with the Fern Pass and after the short (125 miles – 201 kms) journey we arrived at the Hotel Stolz exhausted after a full 5 hours behind the wheel.  The scenery was magnificent with roads flip-flopping back and forth between Austria and Germany on narrow and winding roads demanding full concentration. 

Day 4 Matrei am Brenner to St Moritz (170 miles – 272 kms) was described in the literature as the highlight of the tour.  We, like many others, opted for the direct route over the Passo Di Monte Giovo (6870 feet) to Merano.

  From there we turned left toward Bormion and onto the Stelvio Pass (9045 feet).  This road is 16 miles long with a series of 48 hairpin bends and is the second highest in Europe.   From here we climbed the Passo Del Bernina (7801 feet) and into Switzerland.  The road book made light of it but in reality that day we climbed no less that 4 passes before arriving in a downpour at the Hotel Laudinella in St. Moritz.  A wonderful hotel and one to be visited again.  Day 5 began along route 27 with a brief sprint into Italy.  Within 30 miles we were again climbing.  This time, we attacked the magnificent Spluga Pass (6932 feet). 

   In many ways this is a far more enjoyable drivers road that Stelvio though it does not attract the credit it should.  The road near the summit is winding and heads left while traversing the wall of the mountain.  I could see the Audi R8 a few bends ahead of me and realized I was gaining on him (I was only making progress officer…).  I watched for cars coming down the pass and seeing a long stretch was clear pressed on and passed the Audi R8, smartly followed by the 1954 Austin Healey belonging to Roger and Penny (not yet Sporting Bears but I am working on it!)  who had been snapping at my heals . From here we made good progress toward the old St Gottard Pass and following S2 from Airola continued over the pass catching glimpses of the new motorway St Gottard on stilts above us.  This was followed in rapid succession by the Brunig Pass at the beginning of which the sat nav told me I had 47 kms to run and 1 hr 38 mins of driving!!!  The big Healey and I managed to trim 37 minutes off the time making the ice cold beer at the end of that day a worthy trophy.  Over dinner at the Hotel Rossli in Alpnachstad, Switzerland we all agreed ‘no more passes please’ at least not for a day or two.

Day 6 was a rest day.  It gave us all an opportunity to travel on the steamer on Lake Luzern, or travel on the railway up Mount Pilatus (7000 feet) or take the train into Luzern.  We opted for the lake in the morning and a return by train.  Luzern is highly recommended being clean, friendly and very welcoming – if expensive!

Day 7 offered two alternatives; a run up the motorway (assuming you had bought a Vignette at CHF 45 (£27)) to the Schlumpf Motor Museum in Mulhouse; the second following a route through Northern Switzerland on minor roads, into the Black Forest finally crossing the Rhine into France and onto Colmar in Alsace.

    We opted for the second route having been warned that the museum really needs at least 3 hours to do it justice.  Predictably, passing through Freiburg was a torturous affair with lane closures and heavy traffic.  Finding the hotel was a challenge since even the satnav told us we had ‘reached our destination’ some distance from the hotel.  This may be due to interference from the local airport radar signal.  Not to be out done our plan is to drive to Schlumpf in September (in my Mercedes with cruise control and air-conditioning – since the 911 has neither…) and take in the railway museum as well.

 By Day 8 most had accepted that the road book was ‘interesting’ if not rubbish with spelling errors of street names and towns. (Day 7 saw various cars driving back and forth along a section of road all looking for the correct route!).  We accepted it as force mesure but it needs to be improved, this is not a cheap holiday – with tolls, fuel etc it will set you back approx £2,000.  Value for money it is but for the money you should expect the road book to be accurate.

 The second to final leg from Colmar to Reims (213 miles – 342 kms) was a joy to drive passing through the charming town of Munster on route to Epinal.  The drive through a densely forested Pass was impressive as was the route to Bar le Duc and beyond finishing on a very long stretch of what had probably been an old Roman road.

 Our final evening meal together in the Mercure Hotel (these were all group meals, booked and paid for in advance as part of the Tour costs) was a euphoric affair.  By the end of the meal paper aircraft were flying round the dinning room.  It had the atmosphere of ‘school’s out’.  E-mail addresses etc were exchanged and everyone retired in good form ready for the final leg on the Autoroute  to Calais.

 Conclusion.  Would we do this sort of event again?  Definitely yes – but always armed with a satnav and the VERY largest scale maps you can buy.  Would we recommend the event to others? Definitely yes - but caveated with satnav and maps.  I will be writing to the tour organizer (not emailing) to raise their level of awareness.  No rep’ was present on the event although to be fair the documentation did warn you of this in advance. 

 And finally.  Many of us are experienced rally participants and some have indeed written road books before, myself included (Giza section of Pharos Rally Egypt 1987 among others).  Fee-paying customers have the right to expect that the book and it’s directions are accurate and have been checked and verified before an event and not, as it would appear on this occasion, been copied from an out of date map.