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Col de Sommeiller
has been the best. About 30 kms of gravel road to an abandoned former skiing area. No other way to reach it than by car. I bought the Golf Country on the cheap specifically to run it on a tour through the westerns Alps. It turned out to be loved by wife, kids and spectators. The best question was "did you do all the modifications yourself?"
Rare car indeed. BUT getting those special parts when needed - for instance a distributor - was always a nightmare. So after 10 years of hanging on, I decided to let it go. Room in the garage is limited and when another car came out after years of restoration to replace it.... The guy I sold it to is very happy with it.....
Cheers from Old Europe
Richard
The road less traveled - crossing from France into Italy via the D2204, D6204 and the Route Strategique du Col d’Agnelini 🇫🇷🇮🇹
Being in the South of France and enjoying driving, the Col de Turini is supposedly a must - being a special stage on the Rally Monte Carlo and a stuff of legend. So that was exactly what was planned during a recent trip. Arriving from the coast to Sospel,...
Ohah (like they would say in Hamburg) . I hope your rims are still ok?
Looks a bit like where we live in Switzerland! Respectfully, Dirk
Rims are fine and dandy 😁
As said - a surprising turn of events but great fun irrespective. And whatever wear and tear the tires took happened well before on proper roads 😂🤷🏻♂️ Because t that means you have an interesting place of habitation in Switzerland? 😊👍🏻 ...
Good altitude for the lungs 🫁🧘🏻♂️
If you feel you miss home while in France, now there’s choices 😁👍🏻
great travelogue, thanks
just the kind of adventure that gives me a smile. Especially if I'm in a rented car as I would be (coming from the states...)
Cars can still do a lot more than the owners / drivers…
Most of the time 😉 Glad you enjoyed the post 👍🏻🙏🏻
Absolutely spectacular!
Enjoyed this post and pics very much. Tell us how it is , driving that V8 beast around ??
Actually I really like it 😊👍🏻
Like everything there are some faults and niggles but overall it’s a nicely rounded car. Very useful boot, enough space for a family of four (although having fully grown adults in the back is less fun for them than for you in front), a spectacular handlin...
It truly has been a very cool surprise!
Especially since none of it was scheduled or anticipated. But for driving fun the first bit was similar to the Route Napoleon (but even emptier) and the second, well, different type of adventure 😊
Looks a fun drive …
I always think you learn a lot about your car on a journey like this.
Absolutely you do!
It performed admirably overall and was well matched to all but the Stelvio at the end, where it really was too large for the road. A tad heavy tire wear (not on the gravel section but on the faster road segments) and a bit more turbo lag than I generally ...
Definitely a positive surprise, this drive 😊👍🏻
And as you said - very scenery rich indeed 👌🏻🙌🏻
Glad to do so 👍🏻
So many fun roads out there to be explored! And if one enjoys driving it’s nice to share for like minded friends 😊👍🏻
I love those pictures!
I think that's the road we took over to Italy twenty-some years ago, in 2CVs. ...
Even the cows look the same 😁👍🏻
You are a fount of surprises, Mike! And of amazing pictures from fantastic journeys 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
So true! The gravel roads between Italy and France are a blast!
Impressions from 13 years ago. I'm longing to go back again! Cheers Richard ...
These are truly epic 👌🏻👏🏻🙌🏻
And with a Golf Country no less 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 This must be one I. Only a handful of times that I have seen one - simply cool 👌🏻👍🏻 Do you still have it? And do you remember the pass? (Seen the one but not sure if that is what all the pictures show) ...
Col de Sommeiller
has been the best. About 30 kms of gravel road to an abandoned former skiing area. No other way to reach it than by car. I bought the Golf Country on the cheap specifically to run it on a tour through the westerns Alps. It turned out to be loved by wife, ...
Thanks a lot for that, Richard 🙏🏻
I remember the Golf Country from my childhood. My father just became importer for the brand for a country and we had to appropriately change our domestic car park. My mom thought this one was really cool, as did I but finally she got something more sensib...
As mentioned…
The last section was a bit of a surprise indeed 😁 Glad you liked it 👍🏻🙏🏻
Great report of a challenging trip
....very scenic and must be a fun and enjoyable experience. Will try to give it a shot some time.
The area is full of great roads!
And if you have time to explore them all, you’re in for a treat! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Superb pics & trip!
Saw some of those old military bases last year on the cycle trip. Is the road to Tende now re-opened? ...
Glad you enjoyed the report - and did it yourself, too 😁👍🏻
Not sure if the road has been reopened in the meantime 🤷🏻♂️ And there might be another road (Kaunertaler Glacier - report in a separate post) you might enjoy 😉👍🏻