Conquering the wild passes on Lake Garda with the 1936 Alvis Special
Summary
The desire to drive a few wild passes around Lake Garda in a classic car has been dormant in me for years. This summer the time has finally come. Bernadette doesn't raise any major objections at first, even though the planned classic car doesn't have a roof, trunk or club chairs. Instead, the 1936 Alvis with its hard suspension and short gear ratio climbs the hill very quickly and the effect of the cable brakes is remarkable even on a 25% gradient. The two-person tent might take some getting used to - after all, classic car drivers tend to stop off in front of hotels! And so we tuck ourselves away in a bright corner with Denzel's "Great Alpine Road Guide" and some 200,000 "Marco Polo road maps" and agree on wild passes between the Valtellina, Lago di Garda and the Pasubio. The journey home should take us over the Gavia Pass. So on July 31, 2010, we set off for an Italy unknown to both of us.
Estimated reading time: 19min
Preview (beginning of the article)
The desire to drive a few wild passes around Lake Garda in a classic car has been dormant in me for years. This summer the time has finally come. Bernadette doesn't raise any major objections at first, even though the planned classic car doesn't have a roof, trunk or club chairs. Instead, the 1936 Alvis with its hard suspension and short gear ratio climbs the hill very quickly and the effect of the cable brakes is remarkable even on a 25% gradient. The two-person tent might take some getting used to - after all, classic car drivers tend to stop off in front of hotels! And so we tuck ourselves away in a bright corner with Denzel's "Great Alpine Road Guide" and some 200,000 "Marco Polo road maps" and agree on wild passes between the Valtellina, Lago di Garda and the Pasubio. The journey home should take us over the Gavia Pass. So on July 31, 2010, we set off for an Italy unknown to both of us.
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