Greatest drives
Posted by Tom Ford at 2:10PM on Thursday 02 August, 2007 21 Comments
I've shown you mine, now show me yours...
So just what makes a 'great drive' then?
I got confused straight away from the very unspecific nature of the question; do you mean great man vs machine testosterone-fuelled face-off, or simply something memorable that involves a car?
Are we talking specific driving of specific motor vehicles, or just memorable car-based events?
Personally, I like to think that a 'great drive' is anything car-based. Take my
new M3 story in this month's magazine for instance. Here's what I think of as a '70s hairy-chested great drive; big mountain scenery, fast car, lots of sideways action and grunting. The kind of thing that made me want to be a motoring journalist in the first place. An uncomplicated recipe for meat'n'tatties car story.
But when I think about it, I've had memorable moments in 1.0-litre Fiestas (a first kiss)... one or two in a Land Rover incapable of hitting more than 50mph (my first car - and therefore my ticket to freedom) and a couple of fabulous motoring moments standing completely still. A more complicated idea, sure, but no less valid.
So I guess what I'm asking is what 'great drives' have really floated your boat? Was it a car? A place? A person? Or a combination of all three?
Best stories win nothing but my undying respect...
Check out the 80 greatest drives gallery for some ideas.
Advertiser links
21 Comments for "Greatest drives"
POST A COMMENT USING THE FORM BELOW
Comments are now closed for the blog archives.
My favourite drive is the two roads in California that link Stinson Beach and Mill Valley.
Basically, you have a choice of routes: tight, hairpin-covered roads that go up and down Mt. Tamalpais, winding through dense Redwood forests with the trip down accompanied by views of the Pacific Ocean
Or you could have the fast, flowing roads of California's Highway 1, with Mt. Tam on one side of you, and the Pacific on the other. With a 200-foot vertical drop leading to that Ocean, mind you.
My favourite was sitting in a mate's '92 Mitsubishi Pajero. The thing was like an enormous stallion, with an engine that didn't so much grunt as roar.
The gear knob was big and imposing, the dials were fantastically useless (it had an altimeter on the centre console) but taking that car up to the Midlands' lakes and fly fishing with it as base camp, is a truly memorable experience. I grew up in that car.
Driving an Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato (yes, one of the originals) fast around Surrey country roads was always a great experience.
A car from the time before powersteering, ABS and radial tyres... it was a time when man was in control. I guess everyone has forgotten how cars really drive...
My greatest drive has to be the Ibuski Skyline, a road the weaves through the mountain tops between Ibusuki and Kagoshima on the Japanese island of Kyushu.
Simply incredible views, especially with the continuously active volcano of Sakurajima looming in the distance. The car you take the ride in isn't important.. it's the scenery that you will never forget.
My favourite drive is Pickering to Whitby across the Moors. There's some great scenery coupled with exhilarating driving experience.
My favourite drive is Broken Hill to Darwin 3143 Klms. Driving a 2004 BA XR8 260 Klw V8... what a Ute. Long straight roads, beautiful scenery and 250 Kph.
There's nothing like it anywhere else in Oz. The speeds achieved were before the speed limit was bought in. It takes about 3 days solid driving but what a bloody drive, incredible!
My absolute favourite drive has to be the Pig Root. It connects Central Otago with Coastal Otago in New Zealand. Big Long straights in picture perfect landscape, topped off with a twisty mountain pass.
It's utterly stunning. Last time I traveled on it, it was minus seven degrees celsius the whole way. Snow everywhere except the road, and a crisp clear day. Fantastically awesome. Touching, heartwarming and deeply personal...
Get there.
My favourite drive is driving my '84 Mini... anywhere!
Best drive ever? The Chianti Classico road from Figline to Siena, a twisting road through beautiful vineyards and Tuscan villages.
And if you ask TomTom to take you on that road using the shortest route, you'll end up offroad somewhere.
Best Drive? 1986 Nissan Bluebird (let me finish!), on my way to Cardiff airport at 4 o'clock on a splendid June morning, early sun shining, heading west on a very empty M4 (no cars bar myself)... about to go over the Second Severn bridge (only just opened then) when Champagne Supernova by Oasis came on over the (Alpine) stereo.
Good tune, breath-taking scenery, had the road completely to myself. That's a good drive!
The best drive on the planet is the Amalfi Coast in Napoli. This is the main road along the coast to Amalfi... narrow, winding and very busy in the summer with local maniacs and scared tourists in hire cars and tour coaches.
Look out for the tunnels, blasted from solid rock - they narrow in the middle and you nearly always meet something bigger than you are. The views are amazing but try to keep your eye on the road.
Your hire car should be small and lively - a Mini Cooper did it for me, Just don't get too fond of it.
My favourite must be the old road over the Gotthard pass down into Ticino (the Italian part of Switzerland).
Cobblestones and hairpins, my MG-F was overtaking motorcyclists, power sliding through the curves with a steep slope on one side and a very deep valley on the other.
Driving from Delhi to Ludhiana in 4 hours. What normally takes 6-8hrs on the terrible Indian roads, was accomplished by throwing all the rules of the road away.
Ringing the most out of a Zen's 1000cc engine and having two aunts in the back seat, sitting with their eyes closed and wishing to God they were anywhere else, except in the hands of a crazy Canuck! Tons of fun!!
Hats off to Will-Dawg... The pig root in winter is one of the most spectacular drives I could think off!
First cars are always special... and mine is a drive I will never forget. A second hand 1.5l 89 Honda Civic, bright red. I took it out 'behind the airport' to let my hair down and put the foot down.
As I wound around the final bend onto an infamous long straight, I was greeted with a hawk, sitting on the side of the road eating its prey. When I hit the throttle, it spread its wings and took flight... it accelerated up the road in front of me, and then to my surprise, as I caught up with it, it spread its wings, dropped its nose, and settled into the updraft coming off my bonnet.
I was in awe of its beauty, and grace (it put my civic to shame). It just hovered a few feet above my bonnet for 3-4 seconds, and then banked one wing and spun off in a banked sweeping turn.
Every since, whenever I am out on the open road, the sight of a bird of prey coves me that same childhood smile that I had all those years ago.
... a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes and 106 miles to Chicago in a 1974 Dodge Monaco.
I'd say taking California Highway 1 was pretty good, as Nico said. Taking California's highway 49 through the gold rush areas has a lot of great stuff, too.
But the best over all for me is through Yosemite National Park and Tioga Pass. A bit north of Tioga is Sonora Pass with Alp-looking roads with hairpins, several-hundred foot drops, and a WRC worthy roller coaster effect. I only wish I had a sports car and not an econobox.
55 AMG on Zwartkops racetrack in Centurion, South Africa. Man nothing beats it. The first time I had ever been on a track and I think that memory will stick in my head forever.
It was such a pleasure being able to let rip in a car with way more power than anything I had ever driven before. At the end of the day, giving the keys back with a massive grin on my face which lasted for days.... I don't think words could describe it.
The road from Moremi, through the Savuti Channel up to Chobe in the Okavango Swamps in Botswana, truly the most beautiful place in the world.
Old Land Rover, thick sand, mostly 4 wheel drive, Bataleur eagles, and nothing resembling civilization for hundreds of kilometres.
My greatest drive was my first drive up to Baguio (a mountainous summer retreat in the northern part of the Philippines). I was in a little Corolla 1.3.
Here in the Philippines, if you can drive up to Baguio it means you have "arrived" in terms of driving skill because there are lots of overtaking opportunities and then the winding mountainous roads that lead to Baguio city.
The drive home from work always puts a smile on my face.
The drive home from work always puts a smile on my face.