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Future Dream Drives in Your Miglia (or Ribble or Sammio)
When you finish (or if you have finished), where do you plan to drive or where would your dream drive be.
I have two routes that I want to do, when my Miglia is completed:-
[indent]1. Drive from my home to Lands End, then to John 'O'Groats and back home (hopefully with out using the AA, over two or three days)
This is something I would like to do for charity, it is about 1700 miles in total.
I spent a few months working out of an air base in the Arctic Circle, called Evenes (near Harstad) in Norwary, back in the nineties. It was so beautiful that I'd love to take my Spyder over on the Harwich - Esbjerg (Denmark) ferry, then drive up through Norway, taking in the fjords, to spend a few days in Harstad, then drive back down through Sweden. Not exactly a weekend's driving though...
Would love to take a Ribble/Tribute/Miglia over The Duke's Pass in the Trossachs area of Scotland. Something like 92 bends over the 7 miles of the pass and some truly stunning scenery. Many of the roads in this area are good but the Duke's is something special.
I have driven it many time in my old Midget and more recently in a Lotus Elise - The fact that it is only half an hour away for me is an added bonus!
I spent a few months working out of an air base in the Arctic Circle, called Evenes (near Harstad) in Norwary, back in the nineties. It was so beautiful that I'd love to take my Spyder over on the Harwich - Esbjerg (Denmark) ferry, then drive up through Norway, taking in the fjords, to spend a few days in Harstad, then drive back down through Sweden. Not exactly a weekend's driving though...
I spent a few months there with two Gazelles in the late 80s (we may or may not have flown under the Harstad bridge ) - we drove series 3 land rovers with trailers all the way from Oslo
we drove series 3 land rovers with trailers all the way from Oslo
Gosh, I traveled there by fat albert. We'd been issued with all the arctic and mountain warfare kit as it was February - thermal underwear, ankle to neck zip up onesie, arctic parker, goggles, mittens, mukluk boots etc, which we all dutifully put on before we landed. We then traipsed down the ramp looking like 'skimos, into blazing sunshine to find the locals in shorts and tee shirts. We all felt really silly until a blizzard hit about half an hour later.
Stunning place though, like the surface of another planet. Oh and the locals were friendly. Very friendly. Especially the girls...
I spent a few months working out of an air base in the Arctic Circle, called Evenes (near Harstad) in Norwary, back in the nineties. It was so beautiful that I'd love to take my Spyder over on the Harwich - Esbjerg (Denmark) ferry, then drive up through Norway, taking in the fjords, to spend a few days in Harstad, then drive back down through Sweden. Not exactly a weekend's driving though...
Yep, that's why I fitted a heater and built in some luggage space.
I really will take my Spyder for an extended drive round Viking country when I hang up my handcuffs. I loved Scandinavia so much when I worked there that it'd be my dream drive and it's only a short hop across from Harwich to Esbjerg.
Looking back now I can't believe I got paid (extra) to go to such fabulous places on behalf of Her Majesty, it really was a 'boys own' job.
I did one summer ex in Bardufoss and it's just as impressive when it's not -30 deg and 6ft of snow
Never made Bardufoss, but as well as Evenes I did get to go to: Kastrup (Copenhagen); Aalborg; Skrydstrup; and Sola, many times and all at her majesty's expense.
Funnily enough, when I was younger most of my girlfriends were blonde and had viking accents.
One really nice drive that doesn't need us to go thousands of miles that i'd hearty recommend to anyone with an open top car is across the Mendip hills from Bristol, down Cheddar Gorge and end up in Weston Super Mare or Burnham on Sea, on the sea fron with a bag of chips!
Or an alternate ending if you fancy starting a bit earlier and doing a longer drive is down the Gorge, down through somerset and end up at the Haynes motor museum!
The other i've always wanted to do in an open top car is A5 from Shrewsbury up into N.Wales and then onto the A4086 and over Pen-Y-Pass down into Caernarfon. A real good one to test your brakes!
Another one for those who may fancy a Scottish trip is the Belach na Ba, the road to Applecross in the west highlands. It made it into the National Geographic best driving roads list. Although it is effectively a dead end as it is only the village at the end of the pass - there is a nice hotel with great food to reward you for your efforts! http://www.applecross.uk.com/inn/
At the moment, my dream drive is the Oxford A34 northbound Southern By-pass complete with monster lorries and narrow lane markings. This will signal that I am on the way to an MOT.
On a more imaginary and ambitious front, a trip to Circuit da la Sarthe with a small tent in the boot is what keeps me going. And, the thought of a blast up Gurston Down.
Yes, at GD they put the chock in front of the rear wheel. It's amazing how narrow the exit of Hollow seems when I try to be brave. A definite comfort lift needed. I'm interested to see how much slower I'll be compared to the 1978 FF1600 that I used to pedal, but I'm sure it will feel as quick.
I only do the classic - not the diesel race (although I have a scimitar with a straight six diesel, perhaps I could take that?).
The single seaters were at 130+ in Hollow! I was lifting at 60!!! I have a video of someone leaving the track on wet grass and he almost made it to Salisbury!!!
Im with Towed on this one. The road down the Lofoten Islands is simply out of this world beautiful full of tiny colourful fishing villages, dramatic mountains and crystal clear sea. Its great all year round but I would recommend anybody planning to go there to see it in late March/early April, its very cold then with lots of snow around but it still has dark nights which is great for the Northern lights. An over night stay in Leknes is also a must.
Think my roads would have to be:- The Stelvio Pass in Italy, Transfăgărășan Highway in Romania, Monaco Grand Prix route, The Overseas Highway in Florida, The Iroha Zaka in Japan, The Lysebotn Road in Norway, The Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road in the United Arab Emirates.
One of the greatest roads I have been on was whilst on holiday in the French Alpes at Courchevel 1850. The roads were very bendy but the scenery was awesome!
Yes its very inspirational i posted a link on my thread last week, it makes you want to badge the car and join the Millie Miglia race albeit as an imposter.
May be if a few of us fancied it we could get together and give it ago.
) - we drove series 3 land rovers with trailers all the way from Oslo 
