What’s Your Grand Touring Fantasy?

Ferrari Dino 246 GT, Aston Martin DB4 GT or Maserati Ghibli, my girlfriend, my 1968 Omega Speedmaster Professional on the wrist, from Lisbon, Portugal (where i’m from) to Rome, Italy

A trip around the Italian lakes of Northern Italy would do it for me. Lake Como and Lake Garda.

All over Europe in an Aston Martin, Jaguar or maybe a big bulky Mercedes.
All over USA and some bits of Canada with a Dodge Challenger, Mustang or a rugged pick-up

SM works fine to me. I mean if only.

Nothing beats the growl of my old Alfa Romeo Spider or the grind of its gears as you coax it into 2nd, and few things can put the fear of God in your heart when you floor the gas pedal on a 997 Turbo… but count on your bones to shake and rattle for weeks after any worthy trip longer than one or two hours. For proper GT cruising look at a car with cushionny yet firm seats, a reasonably soft suspension, decent looks and an engine that won’t embarrass you. For me it was my 1998 Volvo C70… took… Read more »

Pretty much any of this guy’s travelogues:

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Ferrari 550 Maranello, up through the Baltic countries and Finland to North Cape at the northern tip of Norway, then back south by the Norwegian west coast. At least 7000km, had to be in June, to enjoy the midnight sun.

Yes Ariff, I have a ’94 E320 coupe… They are fantastic cars. The furthest I’ve driven her was from Sydney to Melbourne, but she could have kept going for years! One of my other cars would be my choice for a long tour, a 560SEC from ’88. That is the perfect GT car. Enough horsepower, smooth, comfortable, whisper quiet at highway speeds, comes alive when you poke her with a stick. I’d love to do a lap of the Med… From Portugal to Lebanon if all borders would allow it!

BMW 640d Gran Coupe, myself and 3 others. From St Andrews, Scotland, to Mallorca, Spain. From there, all the way to Stockholm, Sweden, back down through Germany & Switzerland to Italy. From there, Go through almost every (safe) Eastern European country.

For a North American tour, a plus one, and a Mercedes 124 320CE. Always loved the 124 Mercedes. Probably because my family had both the estate and the sedan version. Also, the W124 CE just seems to be perfect size for me. Big enough for golf bags, a rucksack and a whole lotta filming equipment. 🙂

At the time, driving from San Diego to Rio for last year’s Copa do Mundo seemed a very good idea. My Volvo 142 is not an official GT model but is comfortable and rugged per the model’s rally history. The year before I did drive that car from San Diego to New York city and back but I suspect the roads between here and Brasil are more challenging. Anyway, driving to a far away World Cup is a Grand Tour I would like to make and, to continue the fantasy, I suppose a Citroen SM Mylord decapotable would do nicely.

I have been fantasizing about a trek from London, catching the ferry to France, drive down through spain, catch the Ferry to Morocco and making my way down Africa to Cape Town to visit family. An impossible trip that would bankrupt me for half of my life although it would be an adventure of most epic proporsitions.

Last summer we drove our BMW 330Cic from Arizona to Montana and back with stops in Idaho, (Spokane) Washington Utah and Eastern Oregon. We covered 8 states and 4600 miles in 20 days, if that ain’t Grand Touring, I don’t know what is.

Mine involves a British coupé, a vintage mechanical chronograph, and MOST IMPORTANTLY bespoke fitted luggage.