Stu's 2010 Gran(d) Tour

[Budapeststu]

Hi All,

I'm off on a 9-day trip today. Leaving this afternoon for Portoroz on the Slovenian coast, which will be followed by a trip to Auto Sportiva in Kent, via Baden-Baden.

My Maser will then spend 2 days in Neil's care for its annual and mileage service and of course the aforementioned Larini back boxes and sport centre section. I'm also having the car lowered and as per Loz's advice I'll have the gear linkages adjusted, which will hopefully make 1st-2nd a little smoother than it currently is.

Friday morning we set off back for Budapest, which we're doing over 2 days as I'm too old to do the whole journey in 1 day, Gumball style.

I'm aiming to keep a little blog and post a few pics from along the way. A 2,400 mile round trip is just what the doctor ordered and there are few cars better for the job.

My car's getting better and better. It only had 18,500 miles on the clock when I bought it last year. In fact in 2008-2009 it only covered 500 miles. Since I bought it's it's racked up 9,000 miles and will be up to approx. 12,000 by the time I get back from this tour. You can just feel that it appreciates being actually driven and not cooped up in a garage most of the time.

Stu

 

[lozcb]

Great to see its being used as intended Stuart, these cars are Grand tourers and love eating up the miles , they do it with ease and comfort , what more can one ask , i myself have put on close to 11K miles in 9 months every single one of them memorable , im sure once the Larini's are on you will enjoy the return journey that much more , drive safe and keep us posted

regards loz

 

[reservoirfrog]

hope you enjoy your trip as much as I am currently enjoying mine.
We have covered 2000 miles so far wandering down from sutton coldfield , through france & spain, we are now in albufeira in portugal.
I have never driven a more enjoyable car, or a car that receives so much attention.
its hard to keep to anything remotely legal, speed wise, 140mph over a big suspension bridge south of Lisbon untill her screaming got a bit too much.The wifes, not the car.
must be the worlds best touring car

 

[Parisien]

Not another screamer.......???.................nutin worse than a screamer...ahheeemmm.....enjoy RF!


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[lozcb]

hope you enjoy your trip as much as I am currently enjoying mine.
We have covered 2000 miles so far wandering down from sutton coldfield , through france & spain, we are now in albufeira in portugal.
I have never driven a more enjoyable car, or a car that receives so much attention.
its hard to keep to anything remotely legal, speed wise, 140mph over a big suspension bridge south of Lisbon untill her screaming got a bit too much.The wifes, not the car.
must be the worlds best touring car

Driving enjoyability rob 2nd to none Rob , but having done similar last year in the gransport, im wondering how light your travelling , my screamer filled every crook and cranny with anything and everything including the kitchen sink , the spyder storage is somewhat smaller guess its a case of 5 star hotels and the laundry service , good luck mate and enjoy

regards loz

 

[GransportFan1]

have a great trip.

 

[Andyk]

Sounds like a great trip....With those mods you car will be a *******..Not that it wasn't already....Bet you are glad it didn't sell now.

 

[Emtee]

Looking forward to the next installment Stu. Hope all is going well so far.

 

[Budapeststu]

Dear All, Greetings from Portoroz, Slovenia. We had a glorious trip down on Friday afternoon/evening. The temperature was around 35 deg C, which was a test for the air con but it handled it with aplomb. For those of you that don't know the area, the drive into Portoroz/Piran is one of the most beautiful I know and the towns themselves right up there with Portofino for southern European beauty. I wish I could have screamed up and down the prom in Portoroz on the way back with my Larinis fitted.

The missus was very good with her packing by the way, and when she woke up from a light snooze during the journey, asked me if I'd done the registered 220 km/h max speed on the sat nav while she was asleep!

Here a the first couple of pics of the car on the way down and a gratuitous shot of the view from our balcony at the Kempinski Palace...

 

[Budapeststu]

hope you enjoy your trip as much as I am currently enjoying mine.
We have covered 2000 miles so far wandering down from sutton coldfield , through france & spain, we are now in albufeira in portugal.
I have never driven a more enjoyable car, or a car that receives so much attention.
its hard to keep to anything remotely legal, speed wise, 140mph over a big suspension bridge south of Lisbon untill her screaming got a bit too much.The wifes, not the car.
must be the worlds best touring car

Hey Reservoir Frog, I'm glad to hear you're having at least as much fun as we are. We're heading for the German autobahns tomorrow, so we'll see how long we last before my screamer starts to grate on my nerves.

 

[Budapeststu]

We're actually taking it easy on this trip. The upcoming journeys are as follows:

Monday - Portoroz, Slovenia to Baden-Baden, Germany 853 km (530 miles)
Tuesday - Baden-Baden to Tunbridge Wells 805 km (500 miles)
Friday - Tunbridge Wells to Frankfurt 750 km (466 miles)
Saturday - Frankfurt to Budapest 966 km (600 miles)

I've done Brussels to Budapest in a day and I've got mates who've done London to Budapest, though that was on the Gumball and there was,let's say a budget for speeding tickets...

 

[Andyk]

Bloody **** that is hot..Sounds like great fun though

 

[Parisien]

Fabulous stuff Stu...looks fab... I see you've swallowed a coat hanger as an antidote to the "screamer"............!




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[lozcb]

Fabulous stuff Stu...looks fab... I see you've swallowed a coat hanger as an antidote to the "screamer"............!




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Like you Frank , have to say i recogonise that smile in pic 2


regards loz

 

[Parisien]

Like you Frank , have to say i recogonise that smile in pic 2


regards loz

Its as if.......all his lower face has been botoxed whilst he was smiling.......lol.........and I think I caught you with the same facial expression on one of the runs into Le Mans!!!


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[ENZ525]

Have great trip Stu...
Regards,
Enzo.

 

[Budapeststu]

Look what I found this evening. The colour would be okay if the car had been well looked after but in its present condition the owner should be ashamed of himself!

 

[Andyk]

Good spot.....it looks ok in the pic but then the camera must lie after all. White does seem to suit the QP...

 

[Budapeststu]

The coat-hanger smile remained pretty much all day today. A good chunk of the driving was on unrestricted autobahn and as always, the Maser held its own against the German heavyweight 4-doors. Only one scary moment when a petrol pump didn't click off when the tank filled, so I got about 5 litres of 98 all down the side of the car and over the back wheel.

My better half was straight there with a bucket of soapy water and a watering can to get the petrol off the paintwork and the wheel/tyre. I was suitably impressed with her concern, she even asked me to stand a little further away when she lit up a cigarette in the car park of the service station...

Baden-Baden to Tunbridge Wells tomorrow, should have the chance to take a few more pics and maybe take a Larini before and after video of the car.

 

[Parisien]

Excellent Stu.....................enjoy the last leg and looking forward to the vid...


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