Porsche Boxster S European Delivery
[After posting my Euro Delivery experience on my website, I was contacted by a New York Times reporter for a story they were doing on the same subject. The reporter did get most of the my story right except for the part implying I drove through the Grossglockner at 150MPH top down. I did drive through the Grossglockner top down but this road is too twisty and crowded for high speeds. As I made my way from Salzburg to Stuttgart, I did hit 146MPH but that was on the autobahn. You can read the New York Times article here.]
After a visit to Russia, I was back in Germany to take Euro delivery of a new car. I will not get into the details of the car since it is not a BMW (although the sheet metal is stamped by BMW) and I do not want to get any angry letters from those of you that only want to read about BMWs. But I did have some great drives. I had planned on visiting the Black Forest and so I asked Hans Richter from Texas-German Autohaus for some suggestions on roads (Hans is from the Black Forest). I made my base in Baden-Baden and started my drives from there, heading south as far as Switzerland. I had planned on going into Switzerland to try get to fly on a Junkers JU-52 but since I knew the weather was IFR in the area of the airport (basically, meaning special equipment would be required to fly because of poor visibility), I knew the planes would not be flying.
After Baden-Baden, I was off to Bavaria and a night in Munich. I stopped by the Hofbrauhaus and found it hopping with German, American and European tourists. The band was playing the usual German drinking songs but they also threw in a few songs for the Americans like “Que Sera Sera” and “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver . Oddly enough, the Germans knew the words better than the Americans – I think it was because most of the Americans were too young to know of these songs.
The next day found me driving to Salzburg, Austria – again. As I was racing down the Autobahn I passed several cars, including a Ford Focus hatch. I had to slow down for traffic but as I was returning to my cruising speed of 125mph, I noticed the Focus coming up. By the time he was four car lengths behind me, I was at 125mph and was surprised he was keeping up with me! I was told not to exceed 5000rpms for the first 1000kms (about 620 miles). Not wanting to exceed the mark, I moved to the right to let him pass. He couldn’t. I think he had this little car’s rubber band wound up as tight as it would go!
As I looked for my exit in Salzburg, I spotted two trucks with a delivery of BMWs. I think all the 18-wheelers I have seen back home hauling BMWs have been covered truck – to protect our fine cars. Not these, they were just like the ones we use to deliver Fords – all the cars were exposed to nature and all the road hazards. But, I did notice one car in the front (closest to the cab) and on the bottom level. It was practically bubble wrapped except for openings on the front and rear windows for the driver to see. Some lucky Austrian was about to take delivery of a Z8.
I love Salzburg and prefer it to Vienna, probably because it is easier to get around. I really had not considered how oftenI had been to Salzburg until I walked into the Mozart Hotel and the staff welcomed me back: “Mr. Salazar, so nice to see you again!” So much for going to a place where no one knows you. One perk of being considered a regular customer is that I now get a really nice room. Unfortunately, I intentionally had not planned my destinations because I just wanted to play it by ear. This meant that I was only able to stay at the Mozart for two nights and then go to another hotel because the Mozart was fully booked for my third night. But, this did give me a chance to try a new hotel, the Bristol. The Bristol costs a little more than the Mozart but you can still get in for under $200. It is a nicer hotel (5 stars versus the Mozart’s 4) and it does have a better location. Would I recommend one over the other? No, not really. I still like the friendliness of the Mozart but if you do not mind paying a little more, the Bristol is a good choice, too.
Anyway, getting back to the driving. The reason I was in Salzburg was because of the roads surrounding the area. More importantly, I was close to what is probably my favorite road, The Grossglockner! This drive exceeded all my expectations for a fun drive. I had driven it before but that was in an Audi A4 wagon – a nice car but nothing that made you go “WOW!” This time I was in my own car, top down, racing up the Grossglockner. The
challenging part of the Grossglockner is that you want to race up the twisty, steep road and tackle those hairpin turns. But, at the same time, you are presented with this incredible view of snow covered mountains, beautiful, lush valleys and, at times fog, sheep on the road or people pedalling their way up. All along the road you have places where you can pull over and enjoy the view and I probably stopped at 90% of these. I took many, many pictures but I probably took the best shots with a low-res digital camera. I wish I would have taken more with a traditional camera because those digital pictures are too low quality to print.
OK, so now you know.
Related links:
http://www.grossglockner.com
http://www.ju-air.com
Video from the trip:
Following motorcycles down Edelweiss Pass (the Grossglockner, Austria) in my Boxster S
Heading down the Grossglockner in my Boxster S
