Irresponsible Citizen - Motoring

The Enthusiast's Choice: Caterham Supersport R

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 10:55:10 GMT

As a self-proclaimed car enthusiast, I often find myself drawn into conversations about cars when at social events. What do I think about the BMW 3-series? If I had £40,000 to spend on a car what would I get? What Porsche 911 is best? Though I can’t claim to be able to answer every car-related question I do enjoy trying to help and am flattered that my friends and family consider me some kind of expert.

However, things get flipped on their head whenever I’m at a motoring event. Whether it’s something high profile like the Goodwood Festival of Speed or a small classic car gathering in Chelsea, there are always some very committed petrolheads that will be all too happy to tell you about the one-of-a-kind, vintage Aston Martin that they race at weekends or the £4 million Ferrari they have just taken out of hibernation now the weather is getting warmer.

I love chatting to people like this about their car collections and the road and track adventures that they’ve had over the years. It’s inspiring to discover that many enthusiasts are willing to drive their expensive classic cars rather than seeing them as some kind of speculative investment.

The problem comes when the attention is turned back to me. "What car do you drive?"

It’s a big question for any car enthusiast and in most scenarios I can answer it with confidence. After all, though my car might not be very valuable it is fairly performance-orientated and was made in relatively low numbers. But I’m not really sure that it effectively conveys my passion for motoring to those in the know, particularly the classic car types, and I often find myself making excuses for my choice. Though no one has been cruel enough to say anything, I can’t help but think that they view my car as too safe, too mainstream, not exciting enough, not pretty enough or not pure enough as a driver’s car. “But I used to have a Ferrari,” I tell them.

So what car would effectively demonstrate that I am genuinely passionate about cars and driving without bankrupting me? After three exhilarating days spent with the Caterham Supersport R for the purposes of a review for The City Magazine (article here), I believe that I have found the answer.

Just looking at any Caterham tells you pretty much all you need to know about it. It is going to be fast, fun and uncompromising. It is about the pleasure of driving and nothing more, and that’s what the Supersport R delivers in a big way. Because the driving experience is so raw, it delivers a real buzz and makes you want to go back for more. I would find myself feeling quite drained after a long drive but a bit of food and drink consumed and I was eager to shoehorn myself back into it for another spin.

I think that most car enthusiasts know what they can expect from a Caterham, even if they have never driven one and that says a lot about the strength of the brand. A Caterham isn’t a status symbol or a car that will safely and easily get your family from A to B. It has different connotations. It is about extracting the most pleasure possible from the process of driving.

With that in mind, I think it is the perfect car for a petrolhead on a budget. It will bring you a huge amount of pleasure. Even better, no one will have any doubt about your credentials as a true motoring enthusiast at all those motoring events. It might not be a £4 million Ferrari but if you tell a fellow petrolhead that you drive a Caterham, they are likely to respond with a reverential nod.

My review of the Caterham Supersport R, Motoring Thrills Distilled, was published in the June issue of The City Magazine.

BMW M3 CSL review

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:55:07 GMT

The BMW M3 CSL. Nothing more than a tarted-up, out of date 3-series to some; a supercar in a practical body for others.

There are few modern performance cars more divisive, particularly because the standard E46 M3 on which this car is based is so widely adored. Look on forums and you'll find praise and criticism in equal measure, alongside a little regret. I have never come across a car that people so often regret having sold, and that includes my Ferrari F40-owning friend.

When the time came for me to replace the Ferrari F355 Berlinetta that I had run for just over a year, I decided the CSL would be the first car I looked at. Actually, that's a lie. I had arranged to test drive a Series 2 Lotus Exige S thinking that it might provide some of the thrills of the Ferrari but at a lower buying and running cost. Somehow I managed to get on the wrong train and never made the test drive. What I put down to stupidity seemed more like fate when I clambered into the CSL for the first time a couple of days later.

I knew many of the facts and figures about the car already. There are numerous websites detailing the vast number of differences that the CSL has over the standard M3 and the CS. The 110kg weight-saving is the most obvious, with the loss of sound insulation, thinner rear window and lighter wheels helping to maintain 50:50 weight distribution, and the carbonfibre roof lowering the centre of gravity. Power is up to 355 bhp, dropping the 0-60 time to 4.8 seconds.

Despite all the differences (you can check them out here), there was a big question mark over the value of the CSL at launch. Was it really worth almost £20,000 more than the standard car? Now, ten years later, it is well on its way to being recognised as one of BMW's greatest creations, many fans drawn in by its speed, composure, noise and rarity. Only 1,400 of these cars were built, 422 of them coming to the UK (only 106 black, apparently).

I bought mine in Autumn 2012. However, it wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I had my first "proper" drive. Commitments in London had meant that I hadn't been able to use the CSL much since I had picked it up but finally I managed to arrange a couple of days away, if only to Essex. On day two, with nothing but a leisurely lunch planned with my Dad, I budgeted three hours to travel 40 miles and set out into the frosty countryside.

Its purposeful looks, both inside and outside, give the impression of a car that's been designed for pure driving enjoyment. Settle into the deeply sculpted sports seats, fire up the engine and grip the alcantara-trimmed steering wheel, and it becomes clear that the CSL is a Jekyll and Hyde car. At least that's what you hope when you first drive it, so undramatic is it until you grab it by the scruff of the neck and drive it like a man. That's when it comes alive.

Hit the Sport button, turn the SMG shifts up to the fastest speed and the CSL suddenly becomes a ferocious companion. On greasy roads it will spin up its tyres, wiggle and squirm in any of the first three gears if you're too eager on the throttle. It's a car that will bite you if you take liberties with it but it's also very communicative and, if you decide to experiment a little on well-sighted corners, it's relatively easy to catch if the tail breaks away.

With that unruly behaviour in mind and an indicated temperature of 0 degrees outside, I elected to do the sensible thing and leave the DSC enabled. Maybe a more experienced driver would have been more cavalier but I intended to make it to lunch in one piece. Once the car had warmed through I embarked on what would be a truly enjoyable drive. In truth, the roads were average and the conditions far from favourable. Thankfully there was minimal traffic on my chosen route and the CSL, in these conditions, was completely engaging.

The noise, the grip, the direct steering and the searing pace came together in a wonderful way. Even the SMG gear changes, which come in for much criticism on motoring forums, felt good. There really is a learning curve with that gearbox. The uncouth, thumping shifts that are often commented on do happen. But time your shifts right and they are seamless, effective and in keeping with the feel and focus of the car. I am no expert yet but I look forward to further learning the traits of the SMG system as I continue to learn how to get the best out of the car. It certainly didn't hamper my enjoyment of the car on this day and I even found the auto mode a welcome feature on duller, heavily trafficked roads during my return to London 24 hours later.

So I can only really share my first impressions of the BMW M3 CSL at this point in time. Suffice to say that I'm impressed with the car. It feels well-made and I certainly don't fear something catastrophic going wrong as I did with my old Ferrari. In fact, it feels the better car on almost every measure except perhaps looks. I don't doubt that it would be a better drive along something like the Route Napoleon. Thankfully plans have started to come together for this year's road trip and I think it will be the perfect car for hooning around western Europe.

2012: One book, three Ferraris and a BMW

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:11:33 GMT

It's been a good year on the motoring front for me. I have released my first motoring book, been on a superb Ferrari trip through France and Switzerland, and bought a modern classic BMW.

Having spent the first half of the year getting One Careful Owner ready for publication, it was hugely exciting to host the launch on Monday 16th July in central London. In fact, I think much of what I was feeling was relief at having finally finished the project. Even so, I came to find great satisfaction every time that I received another order for the book over the months that would follow. Further relief came with the positive feedback the book received. Octane magazine, The Scotsman and even the mighty Burton Mail covered its launch. Better yet, reader reviews on Amazon and iTunes were all positive, even from those that weren't usually interested in cars.

On completion of the book, I realised that the time had come to part with the Ferrari F355 Berlinetta in which I had enjoyed so many of my adventures. I originally bought it as a means of engaging with the dormant petrolhead within and I knew that my time with it would be limited. Of course, selling a car like that, at the right price, was never going to happen overnight. When plans for a road trip with some Ferrari-owning friends emerged, I was quickly coerced into taking my car off the market and enjoying one final jaunt. I'm pleased that I did.

In convoy with a Ferrari F40 and a Ferrari 575M, I experienced every positive motoring emotion possible. It was the kind of experience that I had sought out when I first decided that there was a F355-shaped hole in my life. After much planning, June came and we rolled out of London for the coast. The prospect of a week driving through Europe with two good mates in three stunning cars was mouthwatering. Heavy rain dampened our spirits as we blasted across northern France. The prospect of further bad weather encouraged us to change our plans of heading for the Black Forest and to the autobahn for some high-speed runs. We made our way to Lausanne instead and, with an eye on the weather forecasts, focused on the Swiss Alps and then Route Napoleon a couple of days later.

Though more congested than when I had driven it the previous year, Route Napoleon was great fun. One of the party had never driven it before and was blown away by the diverse nature of this epic road. I swapped between the F355 and the 575, coming to realise how accomplished the big silver GT car was when equipped with the Fiorano handling pack. It was really great fun on the endlessly twisting roads we were chasing each other along. The F40 was quickly out of sight, arriving at our destination a full hour before the slower Ferraris. A day or so before putting our cars in a transporter and returning to the UK, I had a chance to find out just how amazing the Ferrari F40 is when my generous friend let me have a quick driving of it. You can read my impressions here but suffice to say that it lived up to the hype.

Eventually the F355 was gone for good and it was only a matter of time before I replaced it with something else. I considered numerous options, from Porsche 911s and Caymans to Lotus Exiges. In truth, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted. It had to be fast, interesting, reliable, not too common, and good looking. I wanted something that would be both cheaper to buy and run than the Ferrari. Eventually I settled on a BMW M3 CSL. For some people it is nothing more than a tarted-up, overpriced 3-series but in truth it is quite a special car, significantly enhanced over the standard E46 M3. Looking at discussions regarding the CSL on various motoring forums, I had never before come across a car that so many people regretted selling. One such person was my F40-owning friend.

I ended up buying the first car that I saw. The manager of the specialist dealership showed me just what the car was capable of on the way back from the train station and I was blown away. It was clearly a very serious piece of kit - more F40 than F355 - even if I knew that it would take me some time to be able to hustle it along country roads in the same manner. Sadly I haven't had a truly great drive in it yet, though I have seen how comically easy it is to get the tail out on greasy roads. So bring on 2013 and some more adventures behind the wheel so I can tell just how good this car is.

Big engine, small car - Hartge Z3 Coupe V8

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 11:44:36 GMT

I don't mind admitting that I spend far too much time browsing the classifieds, primarily to work out what my next car might be but sometimes just to see what's out there or to get an idea of values of certain cars. Occasionally I come across something a little different, such as the Hartge Z3 Coupe V8. It is a car I didn't realise even existed and I felt compelled to learn more about it.

In standard form, BMW’s Z3 M Coupe is a car that divides opinion like few others. Its slightly frumpy, pseudo-hatchback styling is something you either love or hate. Thankfully there is no disputing the performance on offer. With a 3.2 litre straight-six lifted from the M3, it develops 325bhp and is capable of hitting 60mph in little over 5 seconds.

Despite having a reputation for being a bit hairy on the limit, some owners decided that the M Coupe could handle more power and there are various upgraded versions around. One of the most desirable has to be this Hartge Z3 Coupe with a 5.0 litre V8 crammed under the bonnet and gorgeous exterior detailing. The owner claims that it is a complete one-off, registered as a Hartge rather than a modified BMW and complete with Hartge chassis number. It’s a 1998 car that was once owned by Herbert Hartge himself and used to show what his company was capable of doing to spice up the standard car.

The results are very impressive, particularly if the claimed output of 420bhp and 0-60mph time of 4.3 seconds is accurate. Visually it is much more aggressive than usual, mostly thanks to the slits on the TVR Sagaris-esque bonnet which add some much needed presence to the front end. Oh, and it sounds pretty special too as this clip shows.

It’s a brave choice but if rarity, power and noise are important to you then this disturbingly desirable car might just appeal. It would certainly make an interesting addition to my dream garage.

Ford announces one-of-a-kind 850hp Cobra

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 08:50:05 GMT

Special GT500 created as a tribute to Carroll Shelby and 50th anniversary of Shelby Cobra

American muscle cars are quite rare here in the UK, though I'm not entirely sure why. Most petrolheads have a soft-spot for them but we seem happy to admire them from afar. Part of the problem is that European cars are seen to do everything better, particularly when it comes to taking on a challenging country road. Another issue is the lack of right-hand drive cars, enough to put all but the most committed fans off.

In truth, high performance offerings from the likes of Ford and Chevrolet have become ever-more tempting and now Ford has created the ultimate modern day, supercar-baiting muscle car – an 850 horsepower Shelby GT500 Cobra powered by a 5.8 litre supercharged V8 engine. This one-off vehicle will be on display at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion this weekend as a tribute to Carroll Shelby, who passed away earlier this year.

Built by “Friends of Carroll Shelby” – a group that includes Ford Motor Company, Shelby American and Ford Racing – the car has been designed to realise the vision that Carroll Shelby had for the latest GT500. The big difference over the standard 662hp GT500 is the inclusion of a Ford Racing 4.0 litre Whipple supercharger. Performance details are limited but the standard car claims a top speed of 202mph and a 0-60 time of less than 4 seconds, so the 850hp car should be ballistic.

To help it deploy all that power, rear wheels are now a massive 13-inches wide and wrapped in high-performance rubber. Thankfully the brakes have been upgraded to help rein-in some of the performance on offer. Mustang aficionados out there might also notice the new bonnet, new 20-inch wheels and rear wide-body kit. The Guardsman Blue and Wimbledon White-striped colour scheme will also look familiar to fans of the original Cobra roadster from the 1960s.

Carroll Shelby’s relationship with Ford stretches back 60 years, his experience as a driver and designer influencing many of the company’s performance cars during that time. “Even at 89 years of age, Carroll was an inspiration to us all,” explains Ford’s Jim Farley. “This year marks the 50th anniversary of the original Shelby Cobra. The one-off car we have created represents the very idea he had about making the 2013 Shelby GT500 into a true Cobra.”

Experience the legend: Ferrari F40

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 09:43:38 GMT

There are few road cars more revered than the Ferrari F40. Even many veteran motoring journalists rate it as one of the most exciting cars ever created and it is not difficult to understand why.

The F40 was launched in 1987 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the marque and it would be the last car that Enzo Ferrari would sign-off before he died. Though intended to be a limited edition car, by the end of production in 1992 just over 1,300 cars had been sold. Ferrari were more than happy to capitalise on the demand for its fastest ever road car even if that meant upsetting the original customers who thought they had invested in a much rarer, more exclusive car.

Looking at it now, It is perhaps no surprise that the F40 was so popular. Its striking looks and hard-hitting performance ensured that this Ferrari instantly became a dream car for thousands of enthusiasts around the world. Its 471 bhp twin-turbocharged V8 engine, impressive aerodynamics and low-weight construction meant that it would hit 60 mph in well under 4 seconds and go on to a top speed of 202 mph. These are big numbers by any standards even if there are numerous supercars that can keep up with the F40 today. But the raw driving experience and the ferocity of acceleration when the turbos kicked-in meant that this was a car that deserved respect. When I interviewed renowned car collector Lord Mexborough, he told me that it felt faster than any other car he had ever driven, even though others were supposedly faster. Coming from a man who had just told me he had driven a Bugatti Veyron and McLaren F1, that meant a lot. It wasn't just Lord Mexborough that felt this way. In the articles I had read it always came across a car that would bite you if you weren't concentrating. I had even been told by some Ferrari specialists that it was likely to spit you off the road if the turbos came on boost on a wet surface.

So the Ferrari F40 is rare, fast and seriously eye-catching. It is also quite scary to drive and, costing between £300,000 - £400,000, very expensive to replace should you crash one.

All these things were weighing on mind last Saturday, as I sat in the passenger seat of an F40 for the first time. It was the penultimate day of a week-long Ferrari tour through France and Switzerland and I was excited and nervous in equal measure. Over the preceding 1,000 miles I had watched this car blast along the motorway in torrential rain, scythe through Alpine mountain passes and creep over speed bumps and into underground car parks. Its flat snout had become a familiar sight in my rear-view mirror and then, moments later, its huge rear wing would dominate the view through my windscreen. I lost count of the number of times that I watched it disappearing off into the distance, slowing only to let the other cars catch up and to check we were heading the right direction. But familiarity certainly didn't lessen the aura of this iconic car.

In fact, I experienced quite the opposite reaction. Before this trip the F40 had seemed so distant from my world that it was a car I rarely thought of. For many car enthusiasts it is one of the cars that they would most like to drive, if only once in their lives, but I didn't feel that way. I had assumed that there was no way it could be that exciting and other cars topped my list. But spending each day in a convoy with one, hearing the noise it made as we passed through tunnels, watching passers-by point and stare, and seeing it sat next to my own car every morning soon started to change that feeling.

There had been some hints in the planning stages of the trip but I was still slightly taken aback when the offer came to drive this legendary Ferrari. First the generous owner would show me what the car was capable of and then we would find somewhere quiet for me to have a go. Once I had clambered into the carbon-fibre tub and strapped myself into the low-set sports seats, we trundled off to find a decent road, closely following the 575M which was on navigation duties.

I don't quite know what I was expecting but the acceleration was ferocious. I had never experienced anything quite like it this side of a jet plane. Every time that a gap appeared we would spring forwards violently, noise seemingly erupting from all around until the next corner appeared and spoiled the party. We were supposed to be heading towards the long winding road that follows the Var inland from Nice, a road that I had driven a year earlier and been very impressed by. Instead we were struggling to escape a sinuous network of roads that linked hillside villages together high above the valley. Though frustrating, it gave me a chance to see that an F40 can be hustled quickly along tight roads without incident if you know what you're doing, calling on a strong grip from its huge tyres and changing direction with no discernible body roll. It helped that the owner was a very experienced driver and racer. I would probably have felt uncomfortable with the speed we were carrying along these roads in almost any other scenario but I felt very safe in this car with a driver who knew how to get the best out of it.

Clearly getting bored with these restrictive roads and with the sight of another village up ahead, the car's owner reacted to the frenzied waves of a father and son out for an afternoon walk by spinning up the rear wheels in first gear and wiggling up the road on full boost, somehow controlling the surge of power before normal service was resumed. In an instant I had been shown how this car is far from unpredictable if you know what you're doing but, by contrast, is capable of breaking traction very easily if you're not careful. We eventually found ourselves down near the Var and identified a quiet stretch of dual carriageway scattered with roundabouts. It would do nicely for a beginner F40 driver. I was given a few more pointers - the brakes are not the most responsive, the top of the throttle pedal travel is a bit sticky and the gearbox can be notchy - and then it was my turn. Typically, as I played with the pedals to get a feel for their weighting in the roadside car park we had stopped in, I stalled the car. Somehow that made me feel a lot more comfortable, reminding me that this car is just like any other at low speeds.

Within a couple of minutes of setting off, the Ferrari F40 no longer frightened me. I had been given all the warnings and I knew that the turbos would come on boost at around 4,000 rpm. I found the gearbox to be no more challenging than that in the F355 and the throttle pedal no stickier, though the brakes did need a good stab to get any real response. That said, for the first run I didn't venture above 4,000 rpm, choosing instead to get a feel for the controls and the dimensions of the car. On the second run the owner urged me to give it a bit more power. The F40 already feels quick at low revs but when the boost kicks-in it reconfigures your understanding of speed. The car catapults you towards the horizon with no respect for the laws of physics. A couple more runs up and down the dual carriageway and I was grinning from ear to ear.

It's a strange machine. In some ways it feels crude and dated but in others it feels focused and very ahead of its time. The steering is heavy at low speeds but direct. The car feels rigid and will bobble around on road imperfections but the suspension is not uncomfortably firm. The sound is intoxicating from within and outside of the cabin, with the roar of the engine overlayed with a "psshhhht" sound whenever you lift off the throttle. It looks like a big car but it feels very intimate from behind the wheel and, judging by some of the roads we experienced in the course of the week, is actually very usable. It managed high speed runs along the motorway in torrential rain, tackled slower traffic on tight mountain roads and even dealt with the French speed bumps and underground car parks I had feared would be an issue before the trip.

I stepped out of the driver's seat barely 15 minutes after strapping myself in. I looked again at the evocative design of the car and glanced once more at its stripped-out interior. Now all apprehension had completely evaporated and I was hooked. I hadn't even begun to scratch the surface of the abilities of this fantastic machine but thankfully I had already been shown what it was capable of from the passenger seat. My thanks go to the owner of this F40 for trusting me with his pride and joy for long enough to understand why it is so highly rated. I have now driven one of the motoring world's biggest icons and I am no less excited about the experience five days later.

Owning a 90s supercar - the running costs

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:10:25 GMT

It's been ten months since I bought my dream car - a 1996 Ferrari F355 Berlinetta. If you have been following me on Twitter or visiting my website you will know that I bought this car to enjoy it. It was never meant to be a museum piece or an investment. That's not to say I am uninterested in the value of my car. One of the reasons that I went for an F355 is because depreciation should be minimal.

I never expected my car to be cheap to run, even though I had read that Ferrari had upped their game with the F355 and made it more reliable. Honda had shown with the NSX that a supercar could be usable and reliable, forcing other manufacturers to react accordingly. This knowledge didn't put me at ease and it took me quite some time at the wheel before I stopped worrying that something horribly expensive would go wrong. Thankfully my car had been driven and well-maintained over the years. As Evo's "secret supercar owner" reported in his recent blog post, you shouldn't be hit with huge bills all at once if you attend to issues as they arise.

There are still horror stories of course. It was reading the readers' letters section in Evo magazine today that pushed me to finally add up how much I have spent on my car over the past ten months of ownership, something I had been intentionally putting off. One reader told of how an F355 he had viewed had a single bill for £8,000 "for replacing worn-out parts". I knew it wasn't that bad for me but I also knew that I had spent thousands of pounds.

I had taken the car back to independent Ferrari specialists Foskers, from whom I bought it, on three occasions since April 2011. The first visit was to have a new stereo fitted, to attend to the throttle sticking and to fit a battery conditioner. The second visit was essentially an unofficial service after my 2,000 mile trip around Europe. It included new brake discs and pads, all fluids changed, new coolant hoses and a new fan control switch. The third visit was to attend to an issue with the car starting. Mum, look away now...

The total cost for this work came to £5,694.18.

On top of this outlay, there is all the fuel I have used (I have no idea what that might come to), insurance (around £1,200 per year), the garage space I have rented in London to keep the car in, and road tax.

What about depreciation? Well, I haven't had the car valued but I don't think it will have lost much. Looking on Pistonheads today, there are only seven manual, right-hand drive Berlinettas for sale at present. The manual Berlinettas are seen as the purest of the breed and are, for many people, the most desirable. Of the 11,000 or so 355s that were made, less than 4,000 were to this specification and hopefully this will have a positive impact on the long-term value of my car.

As that implies, I don't want to sell it and I will keep it as long as I can afford to do so. I certainly have days when I think about changing but I get so much pleasure from driving such an exotic and high-performing car that there is little to compete within my price range. I must admit that I love the fact that values aren't plummeting on the F355 as they have with almost every other car I have owned. Comparing the depreciation on a new car, even a hot hatch, suddenly my Ferrari doesn't look such bad value after all.

There's one more thing that I would like to share about my car. I recently discovered that it is the exact car that Jeremy Clarkson drove in his video Unleashed on Cars. In it he proclaimed that the Ferrari F355 is the greatest car in the world, while driving my car. That's got to do something for its credentials!

Tesla: the unexpected

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:29:26 GMT

If you have been following my tweets you will know that I recently visited Tesla's UK headquarters to find out about the electric car manufacturer, its new Model S saloon, and to try out the Roadster (photos below).

On Friday 27th January, The Scotsman newspaper published my article on this visit in their motoring supplement. You can view the article online here, or download the PDF of the article below.

tesla_article_in_the_scotsman.pdf
File Size:	4543 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Classic Car Rallying - a first taste

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:28:36 GMT

My good friend Ross popped round to my flat for a little catch up the other day. He had just been to another friend's wedding out in India and was delighting in telling me that the best men - of which there were three, one being a mutual friend - rode to the ceremony on camels. Even better, as the groom, our Swiss friend rode in on an elephant.

After Ross had told me all about this Indian spectacular he asked, a little out of the blue: "Why isn't there anything on your blog about the classic car rally?" It was a good question.

Ross and I had travelled to the Moray region of Scotland in the summer to take part in a classic car rally organised by our old school. It was the first year that they had run it but it seemed like it might be good fun. Frustratingly my car was in France at the time but I managed to line up the use of an Aston Martin DB7 Vantage for the weekend in the hope that it might pass as a modern classic. The organisers didn't seem to mind about our choice of car and so we officially signed up for the event.

I am very familiar with the DB7 Vantage but Ross hadn't driven one before. As such, it seemed appropriate that it was he who drove us to Drummuir Castle where we would be staying the night before the rally. It was a brief introduction but enough to give him a taste of the fun we would be having on the Highland roads the next day.

Neither Ross nor I had taken part in anything like a car rally before. This one was going to be relatively lightweight, being a half-day journey with checkpoints followed by a mini concours event. Our fellow competitors seemed new to this as well and we all listened intently during the briefing as the concept of tulip diagrams was introduced to us for the first time. I say competitors but it soon transpired that we would have no timings taken; it was a non-competitive event. This was a bit of a shame as a note of competitive camaraderie was developing amongst the group, fuelled partly by the absurdly well-stocked whisky cabinet.

The next morning was overcast and there was talk of rain but that didn't stop everyone from crowding around each other's cars excitedly waiting to be waved off at intervals. Some were obviously a bit worse-for-wear after the aqua vitae the previous evening, Ross and I amongst them it must be said. There was a wonderfully diverse selection of cars including a Morgan, a Caterham, a Porsche 911 and an Alfa Romeo Spider. The stand out car was a 1934 Bentley Vanden Plas Open Tourer.

The Aston was getting a fair bit of positive attention as well, though its drivers soon had a bit of a reputation for speed. By mid-morning it seemed that we were known amongst the group for liking to overtake other competitors. Actually we just wanted to make the most of these stunning roads and were thoroughly enjoying ourselves. The deep, warbling roar of the V12 engine is addictive and we exercised every opportunity to hear it by flooring the throttle pedal.

The roads were as diverse as the cars in terms of quality. Some were horribly scarred by years and years of abuse from the elements. In a purer sports car this might have been a problem but the softer set-up of the Aston seemed ideal. Then there were longer sweeping roads which would suddenly turn into a series of quick corners. However fast we were on the open road, on these tighter sections we were well and truly beaten by the agility of the featherweight Caterham. We were also grateful for having a fixed roof over our heads when it started to rain. Other competitors were forced to pull over and quickly raise their roofs or, in one case, pull over and hold an umbrella up until the worst had passed.

Self-inflicted noise pollution aside, our hangovers eventually passed. We were comfortable with the tulip diagrams and only made one mistake which was towards the end of the rally. Thankfully I employed a bit of local knowledge to get us back on track and we found ourselves first to the finish line feeling secretly triumphant.

The concours event that took place as part of the junior school's Highland Games was a foregone conclusion; the stunning vintage Bentley (below) rightly taking the honours, the DB7 Vantage coming in sixth place. Even so, again the Aston proved popular with the crowds and we were more than happy to leave the doors and bonnet open whilst we found the burger stall, giving people a chance to look around and sit inside.

It was a really fun day and I must confess, I now have an appetite for a slightly more serious rally. Watch this space...

Driving the Route Napoleon

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:37:51 GMT

I've just begun writing up the return leg of my road trip - a four day journey through France in my Ferrari F355 with my good friend Tom Jelley - and I was reminded how good a driving road the Route Napoleon was.

The journey home was simply never going to be as interesting as the earlier stages of the trip. That ten day period allowed me to experience some of the many must-do experiences for petrolheads and I enjoyed it as much as I hoped I would. But the prospect of driving up through France didn't excite me in the same way and the motorsport-related activities I had enquired about had come to nothing. Thankfully there was the Route Napoleon to look forward to.

I had first heard of this road through evo magazine. They have organised a lot of their group tests here and for good reason. It has everything you could want to enjoy a high performance car. The roads are wide, well-surfaced and have an excellent combination of straights and challenging corners. It doesn't seem to be very busy either, even though you might find yourself stuck behind a caravan on a section of hairpin corners.

It is also stunning to look at. The road climbs from the French Riviera and runs all the way to Grenoble at the base of the French Alps, the scenery shifting as you go. Like some of the better roads I have driven you don't have to drive like a maniac to enjoy it but there are plenty of opportunities to see what your car can do should that be of interest. There are challenging sections, hairpins, imposing rock-faces, and long, open winding sections. It has it all. It ranks of one of my favourite roads from the whole trip and is well worth a detour if you find yourself with an extra day to play with on your way through France.

I won't give too much away here but here's a short (low quality) video clip showing a pretty typical section of the Route Napoleon. Excuse the background music.