TS,

So i am in the EARLY stages of planning my next big trip...prally for Spring of 2009 but i am getting started early on the planning (and saving).

My last HUGE trip was to Japan for about 10 days - all car related stuff as i went with Turbo Magazine's Official Tour - and it was AMAZING! We did the Tokyo Auto Salon, crazy car related events (drifting lessons, track day, mueseums, etc) the whole time. I took over 1000 pictures and was seriously in heaven the entire time. Obviously we did other stuff along the way (cool resteraunts, some sight-seeing, etc) but the focus of the trip was obviously cars (some other tour memebers were race car drivers, industry execs, media, etc). All in all great time.

So where i am going with this is are there any places out there (i am looking - and have been) that specialize in this type of thing for other parts of the world? I would love to do some parts of Europe in this same fashion - on a tour so i dont get killed/lost/arrested and focused on cars (go to factories, shows (Essen?), cool sights or roads, racetracks, etc).

So if anyone has a lead on this, has done something like this, or is intersted to know more, chime in here...

Thanks Yall!

 

Jon, I've been to many locations in europe and they are the following:

Lake maggiorie ( one of the best driving spots in the whole world) I rented a Alfra romeo 159 and had loads of fun. You should visit Prince of Monaco's car collection, I was there last year and happened to see his cars and his fathers collection, ranging from classic amg's, lamborghini triple black countach with black wheels to Formula one race cars and obviously vintage Ferrari's.

I also visited the BMW museum and the Audi museum back in 2004 and happened to see the concept version of the R8 dubbed the Nouvolvari at that time, I also remember there was a nefty all chrome bodied 1999 model Audi S8 which were only sold to a small number of people who come from the Saudi royal family.

Since you might be in Germany I'd recommend you to visit your favourite Porsche tuner and purchase parts for your 911 from them directly TUV free, and also tour their facilities. Since you will be in Europe, I'd suggest visiting Monaco and St Tropez as they are a must if you want to encounter some nice exotics, classic cars and such.

If you would have a chance, I would also recommend you to head of to London and take a cab to see the Ace cafe, which is very famous destination for motor heads and is also the spot for 5-th gear shootings and car comparisons.

I hope I've helped you with the decisions and provided some valuable information.

 

cool info MeanMachine.

i don't have much to add except that during 40+ hours of driving through France and Spain highways over 3 separate trips, i have seen exactly *TWO* cops! driver's paradise.

- chuck

 

Thank you, I can add more but you might be able to figure the locations of the ferrari factory, motor bikes etc.

I would love to visit the Aston martin factory some day, a relative has been to it a couple of times ( aston martin fanatic ) because he was taking delivery of a DBS a couple of months ago and previously a Vanquish S Ultimate edition in 2007.

One day I would love to visit Brabus, Kleemann and Carlsson as they are the best Mercedes tuners in my eyes. I would also love to visit Sportec and Techart as I like their porsche products.

 

Jon, if your into yachts like I am you should visit the many factories scattered around italy.

I went to San Lorenzo, Riva , and Azimut; What I would love to do some day is to go to the Pershing yacht manufacturer as I absolutely love their designs and schemes. Pershing and Mangusta are my favourite yachts, due to their sporty design and 70 knot + speeds.

 

Mohammed, thank you very much! I will keep of all of this in mind....however, what i was attempting to find (obv i did a poor job of explaining myself) is a travel agent or business that sets up these types of trips for people like me who want to go and see A BUNCH of car-related sights around Europe. I find that tours are usually more cost effective and also less "Stress" than going it alone.

Someday i will pull out the black card and do Europe in a Ferrari MY WAY but while i am young an single i think id like to look for something with some structure.

Somethings i would LOVE to see:

- Nurburgring
- Porsche Factory
- Maybe MB or BMW too...
- Monaco/St Tropez/etc area....
- Ferrari Factory
- Lambo Factory
- Famous race track(s)?
- Lake Como (i heard thats insanely nice)

Obviously i wont be able to squeeze all of this in, but these are somethings that come to mind.

Hope i gave a little more direction this time around

 

I've been on the nurburgring twice, always a passenger. The first one was in a E55 Kompressor AMG estate and once in a E39 M5, loads of fun but hold tight.

I also have the same dream of shipping a Ferrari of to europe for a nice eurotrip and putting magnificent stopping destinations but that might be far from reality, hopefully in a few years time I might get my hands on the equivalent of todays F430 spyder.

I've passed Lake como but its getting packed these 2-3 years from all of these tourists, my other secret getaway in italy is Isola D'Elba, Lerici, Monte Rosso, La Spezia due to no congestion, tourits and so on.

 

Any other info on this guys? Any companies that set up this type of thing that you know of?????

 

Not really, have you searched on the internet because I tried google and didnt find anything useful and stuff like 101 car games.

 

Awesome dood! I am doing something similar in july so I'll make sure to give you the highlights when I get back

Squeezing all the museums, factories and tracks in on one trip is not hard at all - compared to US distances, it's not really that far between any of them. Nürburgring - Monaco, which are the two most geographically separated of all your POIs on the list is about 14 hours from one to another, without hammering it.