Passo Tourismo - Hi there from Italy in a mid-80's 911

[Iciclehead]

Hi guys, I am sitting in a hotel in Italy, middle of the dolomites, just having driven from Munich to Brixen (aka Bissanone in Italian) in a '87 911 courtesy of Lars (the guy who runs Passo Tourismo).

If any of you guys ever dream of taking a 911 through Europe, well, this is the real deal. This is my second trip with Passo, first was through Bavaria including a 260kmh run from Munich to Stuttgart, this one was south to Italy and for the next 3 days I will doing the Sella Ronda tour....through the Dolomites.

Deal is pretty darn good, around 2800 euros including the car, hotel, meals (except for lunch), all the insurance and stuff...every thing except gas and booze..and that is not per person, it is per car.

So I have my darling wife with me, she is quite enjoying the role of navigator and provider of additional sound effects (you know....the ones that include the emphatic "oh dear" when the switchback that is actually a 30kmh corner was entered at 50 kmh).

Now in the Elephant Hotel, talk about amazing place....great food, service and surroundings....not sure what I like best, the car, the drive or the hotel. Its all good.

I will post pictures of my journey over the next few days...and, in terms of disclaimer, I have no financial interest in Passo, just a VERY satisfied customer.



yeah, and that is my smiling mug beside the car.....just having had a nice lunch.

Oh and by the way, first drive in a G50 car, man that transmission transforms the car, such an easy shifter, much easier to move quickly and precisely.....

Dennis

[jorian]

Europe in an air-cooled Porsche sounds terrific. (See what I did there?)

Couple of questions:

- is the car completely stock?
- how many days/nights is the trip?
- are there other choices in cars?
- are you traveling in a group?

Thanks for the report. Enjoy.

[dennis in se pa]

WOW! Sounds like a great experience. Good luck and enjoy.

[faverymi]

I sooooo want to do that.

Bucket list!

[avi8torny]

Lars bought my 87 Targa a few years ago and added it to his stable. I have an open invite to drive it once again, just need to find the time. Thanks for the post, looking forward to your pictures.

[LakeCleElum]

Thanks for a great tip. Looks like $2,800 E is for 3 or 4 days. I'll check their web site here:

Classic Porsche 911 Rentals and Tours

I've done Europe 5 or 6 times in a rented Turbo Diesel and booked my own hotels....Would luv to do it in an Air-Cooled.....I Luv Italy, but sketchy roads and drives when off the beaten path...

[KNS]

Originally Posted by avi8torny

Lars bought my 87 Targa a few years ago and added it to his stable. I have an open invite to drive it once again, just need to find the time. Thanks for the post, looking forward to your pictures.

That would be fantastic - to get back into the seat of your old 911 and tool around Europe. You have to do that!

[TheMentat]

Thanks for the recommendation! Look forward to doing something like this one day (perhaps when the kids are grown a bit more).

PS: you may find that things are a bit different when you get home!

[Iciclehead]

Ok guys, this is the end of day 2....wow, am I tired.

First to answer a few questions. Passo has about 7 or 8 different 911's of varying vintages and configuration. Last time I had a Targa ('84 I think, 915 transmission in any event), this time I specifically asked for a coupe, which is what I got.

Second, the roads in Europe generally are better quality than those in the US and Canada. Not to say that they are perfect, but rather that they appear to be designed with the expectation of higher performance driving, in general in the last two days (and all my previous years of driving in Europe), it is rare to run into the kind of potholing and road deterioration I have seen in North America. Certainly today, the roads in general were quite good, the odd section that showed signs of frost damage, but mostly good with the odd new section.

Third, driving here is not an issue.....the road signs are generally the same, a few you need to learn (like the orange diamonds meaning priority road or you have the right of way), but no issue at all. In general, other than the Austrians, drivers here pay more attention to what is going on around them, so you can take liberties with lanes and movement around traffic that would get you shot in USA and the royal "Number One Finger" salute in Canada. If you don't do anything sudden or illogical/unpredictable, they will compensate.

For example, I had a few times where I got stuck behind traffic and other than one guy, when the road opened up, they moved over as far as they could and made room for me to pass, which means I was out of their mirror and I was able to enjoy the road.

Fourth, driving like today teaches you why Porsche's are built the way they are. The tach in view as you manoeuvre around the switchbacks, the steering with lots of feel, the powerful brakes that don't give up after your 35th (!!!!) switchback in 5 km and the visibility....really guys, if you have never driven a 911 like I was able to today or a few years back in Bavaria, well, you may as well put a Porsche crest on Subaru and go vroom! Vroom! and pretend. Not the same experience and gives you a whole new view of your little German toy.

I am truly exhausted, left at around 9, back at 5, 3 stops in between...I lost count of the switchbacks I took, but if they are serious ones like the ones below, they are numbered by turn, and I did at least 4 or 5 series of switchbacks that had about 30 numbered turns per series, with double or triple that number of turns, esses, curves and bendy bits. I never got much over 80 kmh and there were a number of uphill hairpins where I had to go down to first gear as the cornering speed was so low (full lock), with several metres of incline through the hairpin/switchback that second gear was lugging.



Picture does not do it justice, but just imagine 100+ of these puppies with hardly a straight piece of pavement in between.



Had one cool experience. Stopped here:



Took a break (you need to stop every hour or so to refresh your brain if nothing else), a tour bus pulled up that I had passed a ways back. Bunch of guys took pictures of the car as I was getting in, while I was driving past them to the road, they were cheering, thumbs up....huge smiles and no, I did not misinterpret one finger salutes for positive vibes, they were very much encouraging me "go get 'em", very different than Canada where high speed driving is seen to be a perversion close to that of casting desirous eyes at sheep.

All good,

More tomorrow...

D.

[Skillet83]

Very cool!

[Nostril Cheese]

Man I wish I was where you are.

You needed a toque.

[Iciclehead]

Ok, back in Munich, trip was fantastic. Second day through the Dolomites was equal in every way to day one, a little shorter and I was more careful about staying on top of things, not nearly so tired as I was the first day.

Last stint into Munich on autobahn was nice, car behaved quite well up to around 200kmh, traffic was OK and had some nice sustained high speed driving. Again...what are Porsches for?

I am sorting through the pictures and the video's I took, I will post once I get a little time in the next day or two....but wife and I were wondering why more North Americans don't do this. I guess I am European enough and have lived here long enough to not be at all nervous about coming here, driving and generally coping with the differences (which aren't all that big of a deal IMHO).

Any thoughts? Other than the obvious time/money side of the equation....it was such a great experience in the last 4 days, I would presume this is on the bucket list of everyone on this list!

Oh yeah, one more thing, She Who Must Be Obeyed has told me to tell you lot that while the driving was a wonderful experience for her (other than the odd sphincter tightening moment caused by the dummy behind the wheel), SHE found that all the stuff around the Elephant Hotel, the big honking walking area around it, the shops, boutiques, restaurants, sidewalk bars, artsy stuff were for her the best part of the deal!

...for my simple soul it was all about the driving, but she tells me there is more to life than Porsche's, driving and autobahn....?????? Can't figure that one out...???

Dennis

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Dennis, please tell everyone the roads in the Alps are mind numbingly boring....

We can then keep them to ourselves

I've done a few drives around the alps, it was a lightbulb moment for me so much so I bought s small house at the cheap end of the Alps and I'm building a 964kg Porsche 964 C2 just so eventually one day I can spend all my pension on fuel while driving every alpine pass 2000m or higher in day light and at night. This is my bucket list.

There are no finer roads in the world, fast sweeping high altitude driving at its best followed by blasting along at 150mph for minutes at a time on an unrestricted autobahn makes for a magical day.

Glad you enjoyed it

[Iciclehead]

Unfortunately Captain Ahab, while your suggestion is a good one, the tiny shred of humanity that I have left in me requires me to tell the truth to my treasured friends (both of them!!) on this list.

I went through the pictures and video's, and while I would never accuse my wife of any error, lets just say that the driver did not take any video's at all, neither did he use settings on the camera that switched to black and white/special effects....but that is the way they turned out somehow.

So, I posted two video's on YouTube, here are the links.....you get the idea. Still awfully curious as to why there isn't a line up of Pelican's who want to do this...I asked Lars whether it was a thought of his to package a broader tour including other areas and activities (e.g. shopping in Munich or Paris for people who are married to Porsche guys and who are in to that kind of thing)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWubMZzEEzM&feature=em-upload_owner

https://youtu.be/e7ZaAR0Q_ck

Anyway, happy to hear comments and entertain more questions. I am now in Karlovy Vary, overlooking a nice street of restaurants and considering which one to eat at this evening....

Dennis

[Boomtown Rat]

After seeing Mr. Iciclehead's copious posts, pictures and video, I wanted to chime in and say, "Thank you!".

Dennis and his wife have been repeat customers and are true aficionados of "our way" of traveling. They have come back twice and we are looking forward to their return in the - not so distant - future, to introduce them to, yet again, another "Road Trip of a Lifetime".

Some of you may recall when, back in 2009, I had the idea for this business. I presented it to the Pelican community, with Wayne's blessing, via this great forum. We've been fortunate to have several members come to Munich and take one (or two) of our tours. A lot has changed in the last 5-6 years here... We have a bunch of new tours, our small fleet has grown to 9 classic Porsche 911s and we have grown as a team.

Now that the Euro is at a 10+year low against the Dollar, the time is right to get out and drive with us!



For your viewing pleasure, please follow the following links. We spent a little bit of money last Fall to produce these two clips.

https://youtu.be/OogAcqC2qoY

https://youtu.be/y3zbcTqkWiY

We look forward to seeing you in Munich!

Cheers,
Lars

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Lars, well done on being brave enough to set something like this up.

Not sure if you have a Slovenia tour on offer but if you don't you may want to explore a bit down that way. Easy to add a Gmund Porsche museum stop on the way.

If you need any help let me know as I can recommend two excellent hotels to stay at

[stealthn]

Dennis you lucky so and so, I'm green with envy.... It snowed here yesterday in the morning on the way to work, first time my Cayman saw snow...

Looking forward to seeing your pictures and hearing the stories over a beer when you are back.

Bob

[LakeCleElum]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Lars, well done on being brave enough to set something like this up.

Not sure if you have a Slovenia tour on offer but if you don't you may want to explore a bit down that way. Easy to add a Gmund Porsche museum stop on the way.

If you need any help let me know as I can recommend two excellent hotels to stay at

I second the vote for not only Slovenia, but Croatia; I've driven both. Much cheaper for travel/hotels/meals/BEER.

Been to Grumd last summer, a must do. Alps is my Fav place in the world; 2nd is the Amalfi Coast.....Heaven..........

[Iciclehead]

Hmmm Slovenia, I am in Prague at the moment, really like the Czech Republic but driving here was a pain on both ends of the spinal cord, very nice roads, very slow drivers ....and lots of them....and no Porsche for this segment.

Thanks Lars for the kind words, but to reinforce what She Who Must Be Obeyed has told me.....it is more than just blasting around in a 911 is wonderful, but the hotel and surroundings is what makes it so much more than a Vintage Hertz rental. Never would have found the Elephant, never would have had such a good time with the waiter/waitress - young couple who are part of the family that owns the hotel.

The fact that Michael (I believe that is his name.....he says it a little different), got to know our preferences, styles and likes within the time we were there was just great.

...and here is the obligatory picture out of our private balcony...hard to take, I know...who REALLY wants to overlook a picturesque square, in Northern Italy, after a day of driving, after enjoying a fine meal and then knocking back a shot of Ireland's finest.



Dennis

[Iciclehead]

Hi guys, me again....still in Holland back to NA and work on Monday, but wife, who is an avid user of TripAdvisor posted this review....just in case any of you needed help persuading your significant other.....

Our Second Trip! - Review of Passo Bavarian Highlights Route - Day Tour, Munich, Germany - TripAdvisor

Good luck!

Dennis