5000km Euro track&road in a Panamera
06-27-2019 | 05:53 PM
#46
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Posts: 4,727
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From: Canada
Typically German auto manufacturers are quite careful not to display any vehicles associated with the Third Reich or military applications.
Sinsheim fills a few gaps:
A very rare Mercedes G4. These were fundamentally propaganda cars for triumphant entry into conquered territory
About 70 were built. Few survive. About the only other one I recall was used as a set vehicle in the old American comedy series “ Hogan’s Heroes”.
This example survived after the war as a fire tender before restoration:
The 770K was the choice for the Third Reich leadership and more propaganda. These monsters showed up at many paraded and rallies.:
A second 770K has very elegant limo coachwork. However it has a dark history as it was the car used by Himmler:
(There are a couple of 770s in the Mercedes Museum as I recall, but prewar- one built for the Kaiser and one for Hirohito.)
Then, there is the utterly insane:
A powered Unicycle:
I had always thought that all Messerschmitt propellor-driven products were aircraft:
In a nod to ecological concerns this offroader uses no fossil fuels. A fine example of committee design:
Sinsheim fills a few gaps:
A very rare Mercedes G4. These were fundamentally propaganda cars for triumphant entry into conquered territory
About 70 were built. Few survive. About the only other one I recall was used as a set vehicle in the old American comedy series “ Hogan’s Heroes”.
This example survived after the war as a fire tender before restoration:
The 770K was the choice for the Third Reich leadership and more propaganda. These monsters showed up at many paraded and rallies.:
A second 770K has very elegant limo coachwork. However it has a dark history as it was the car used by Himmler:
(There are a couple of 770s in the Mercedes Museum as I recall, but prewar- one built for the Kaiser and one for Hirohito.)
Then, there is the utterly insane:
A powered Unicycle:
I had always thought that all Messerschmitt propellor-driven products were aircraft:
In a nod to ecological concerns this offroader uses no fossil fuels. A fine example of committee design:
06-27-2019 | 05:56 PM
#48
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Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Canada
Conclusion
The car:
This is an extraordinarily competent car both when used as quiet, relaxed transport in a city or on a crowded highway, or driven very hard on a twisty road or even a track. In a way it is a shame that all of the work and design that went into such capability will almost never be used by the vast majority of buyers. It is ferociously quick and planted for its size. It is a true driver’s car.
As with just about any Porsche, the design of the user interfaces is not a strong point.
Porsche is an engineering company at heart. For example, trying to adjust the A/C from anything other than default leads into a byzantine cavern of menu layers and it would take a Ph.D to work it out.
The premium services when the car is fully functional in Canada are of little interest. Companies like Nissan provide superb, intuitive menu structures and some really helpful concierge services for example. I do not need to remotely check the fuel level in the car. It has a gauge. It has Apple Talk but they need to hire someone from Apple to build the whole interface.
The trip:
As always it is best to do things now.
The world is changing. The most popular political party in Germany now is the Green Party. Climate change is on everybody’s agenda and all manufacturers are spending huge amounts on transitioning to electric vehicles. The EC is planning automatic speed limiters for new cars from 2022.
Europe is not well prepared for the heat wave we are seeing there now- even when I was there the best hotel had inadequate air conditioning for instance. Some autobahns are limited for now
Right now however, it is normally possible to get into a car like this and run at speed, go to tracks and do it legally.
There is nothing like a road trip to be completely independent, change decisions if necessary and to own your agenda day by day. An interesting look road may be worth a detour, and you never know what you’ll find.
This is not possible in any kind of group tour.
I am hopeful that there will be some time before either the regulations or age prevent more trips. At 70 it is evident that it can’t go on forever.
But it can for a while yet.
The car:
This is an extraordinarily competent car both when used as quiet, relaxed transport in a city or on a crowded highway, or driven very hard on a twisty road or even a track. In a way it is a shame that all of the work and design that went into such capability will almost never be used by the vast majority of buyers. It is ferociously quick and planted for its size. It is a true driver’s car.
As with just about any Porsche, the design of the user interfaces is not a strong point.
Porsche is an engineering company at heart. For example, trying to adjust the A/C from anything other than default leads into a byzantine cavern of menu layers and it would take a Ph.D to work it out.
The premium services when the car is fully functional in Canada are of little interest. Companies like Nissan provide superb, intuitive menu structures and some really helpful concierge services for example. I do not need to remotely check the fuel level in the car. It has a gauge. It has Apple Talk but they need to hire someone from Apple to build the whole interface.
The trip:
As always it is best to do things now.
The world is changing. The most popular political party in Germany now is the Green Party. Climate change is on everybody’s agenda and all manufacturers are spending huge amounts on transitioning to electric vehicles. The EC is planning automatic speed limiters for new cars from 2022.
Europe is not well prepared for the heat wave we are seeing there now- even when I was there the best hotel had inadequate air conditioning for instance. Some autobahns are limited for now
Right now however, it is normally possible to get into a car like this and run at speed, go to tracks and do it legally.
There is nothing like a road trip to be completely independent, change decisions if necessary and to own your agenda day by day. An interesting look road may be worth a detour, and you never know what you’ll find.
This is not possible in any kind of group tour.
I am hopeful that there will be some time before either the regulations or age prevent more trips. At 70 it is evident that it can’t go on forever.
But it can for a while yet.
06-27-2019 | 08:16 PM
#49
Racer
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 266
Likes: 142
From: God's Country, Alberta
MAGNIFICENT post, thread & pictures (I am still waiting for some to download but had to read ahead).
Thanks for sharing Ronan, your posts have become must reads/views for me. Envious of your travels but grateful that you share your photos & stories.
Thanks for sharing Ronan, your posts have become must reads/views for me. Envious of your travels but grateful that you share your photos & stories.
06-27-2019 | 09:44 PM
#50
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Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Canada
Glad you liked it.
..the car is somewhere in the Atlantic right now..or hopefully on the Atlantic...
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07-02-2019 | 06:38 PM
#54
RL Community Team
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3,332
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From: Toronto
Wow Ronan, I always really enjoy your road-trip photo-essays.Thank you very much!
I've been to a few of the same spots in Germany (e.g. that art museum in Frankfurt) so it is an added treat to be reminded of things, and get your take on it.
Fantastic photos.
Quite the car too, great spec and really cool that you were able to use it in such a perfect way.
A lot of your comments about the changing times resonate with me and I wonder what the future holds. Sometimes I am pretty certain that the "golden age" of being a car enthusiast is coming to an end. But other times I am not so certain. I imagine it must have felt pretty bleak when the mid-70s oil embargoes hit.
The worrying factor this time is I think the adventure of the automobile is not connecting with the new generations now. My son (just entered university) has many friends who are not even keen to have a drivers' license, never mind a car. That autonomy is the future feature most anticipated about cars probably says it all.
I've been to a few of the same spots in Germany (e.g. that art museum in Frankfurt) so it is an added treat to be reminded of things, and get your take on it.
Fantastic photos.
Quite the car too, great spec and really cool that you were able to use it in such a perfect way.
A lot of your comments about the changing times resonate with me and I wonder what the future holds. Sometimes I am pretty certain that the "golden age" of being a car enthusiast is coming to an end. But other times I am not so certain. I imagine it must have felt pretty bleak when the mid-70s oil embargoes hit.
The worrying factor this time is I think the adventure of the automobile is not connecting with the new generations now. My son (just entered university) has many friends who are not even keen to have a drivers' license, never mind a car. That autonomy is the future feature most anticipated about cars probably says it all.
07-02-2019 | 08:40 PM
#56
Thread Starter
Rennlist Member
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,727
Likes: 110
From: Canada
Wow Ronan, I always really enjoy your road-trip photo-essays.Thank you very much!
I've been to a few of the same spots in Germany (e.g. that art museum in Frankfurt) so it is an added treat to be reminded of things, and get your take on it.
Fantastic photos.
Quite the car too, great spec and really cool that you were able to use it in such a perfect way.
A lot of your comments about the changing times resonate with me and I wonder what the future holds. Sometimes I am pretty certain that the "golden age" of being a car enthusiast is coming to an end. But other times I am not so certain. I imagine it must have felt pretty bleak when the mid-70s oil embargoes hit.
The worrying factor this time is I think the adventure of the automobile is not connecting with the new generations now. My son (just entered university) has many friends who are not even keen to have a drivers' license, never mind a car. That autonomy is the future feature most anticipated about cars probably says it all.
I've been to a few of the same spots in Germany (e.g. that art museum in Frankfurt) so it is an added treat to be reminded of things, and get your take on it.
Fantastic photos.
Quite the car too, great spec and really cool that you were able to use it in such a perfect way.
A lot of your comments about the changing times resonate with me and I wonder what the future holds. Sometimes I am pretty certain that the "golden age" of being a car enthusiast is coming to an end. But other times I am not so certain. I imagine it must have felt pretty bleak when the mid-70s oil embargoes hit.
The worrying factor this time is I think the adventure of the automobile is not connecting with the new generations now. My son (just entered university) has many friends who are not even keen to have a drivers' license, never mind a car. That autonomy is the future feature most anticipated about cars probably says it all.
(1) The internet is now the primary form of communication- there used to a time when you needed a car to socialize.
(2) Even such things as food delivery is now on your phone
(3) Urbanization is happing quickly with young people flocking to city centres
(4) Congestion continues to get much worse, with more and more restrictions on drivers, more bike lanes and so on.
(5) The car is becoming controversial with young people who are much more green in their attitudes
(6) Young people live in a sharing economy, so car ownership no longer conveys status.
I live downtown,and it is cheaper to get an Uber than park in many places. I use it more often then ever these days.
It is quite sad, but the world is changing. I am so glad to have been able to truly enjoy the freedom to move huge distance whenever I felt like it, independent of anybody else.
07-15-2019 | 07:46 PM
#57
1st Gear
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
I had a plan to pick up a 2018 Panamera Turbo Sport Turismo at the factory, and drive South to Italy before coming North to try the car on track, even though it is no GT3.
Then came Dieselgate. Porsche and all manufacturers cancelled all European deliveries for a while. The car was shipped to Canada,and then languished in port for many weeks due to new requirements to certify it for emissions compliance. Instead of a nice Autumn trip in 2017, it showed up in February of 2018 in a vicious Canadian winter.
The car is the regular Turbo. Spec did not include the elaborate driver aids such as a lane change assist, night vision assist etc. ), nor did it need a massively expensive sound system; all chrome and model badging was deleted, wood was replaced with CF inside, and Sport Chrono (which includes push-to-pass) and torque vectoring was specified. The car has extra factory sound insulation and was immediately given 3M plastic on the front plus ceramically coated.
Disappointed at not getting factory delivery, the decision was made to ship it back.
To get a car back to Europe requires customs brokerage, transit insurance, road insurance and a reliable carrier. It also takes lots of time. Recommended transit time is six weeks.
The car has to be containerized in Toronto, sent by rail to Halifax Nova Scotia, loaded on a ship to Rotterdam, clear customs there, and then stored for delivery to Frankfurt. It is then loaded on a purpose-built truck and delivered to the hotel. A company called C.A.R.S International did all of the move with the exception of road insurance. They are excellent.
Booking hotels requires to start with an essential item - Proper parking. Forget about quaint country Inns, places that advertise “available parking” , in fact anything that does not guarantee parking.
I once had a one-day-old M6 and arrived in a quaint town to discover it was pedestrianized and had to park in a very tight space street space, then drag my case for a kilometre over picturesque cobbles and drag it up three flights of picturesque bloody stairs.
I had a hotel in Innsbruck tell me I had not booked the parking separately ( even though they had said it was available)and had to find a place to park a new (and wide) GT3RS. I have had numerous places where the spaces were too tight for a wide car.
So, hotel bookings matter.
Here we go for Frankfurt.
The trip will run across the Harz Mountains and North Central Germany to Berlin, back across the Baltic Coast and up to Denmark, back through Hanover and Cologne to the Nürburgring, then..Spa,Antwerp, Ghent., back to Frankfurt and out.
Hopefully.
Then came Dieselgate. Porsche and all manufacturers cancelled all European deliveries for a while. The car was shipped to Canada,and then languished in port for many weeks due to new requirements to certify it for emissions compliance. Instead of a nice Autumn trip in 2017, it showed up in February of 2018 in a vicious Canadian winter.
The car is the regular Turbo. Spec did not include the elaborate driver aids such as a lane change assist, night vision assist etc. ), nor did it need a massively expensive sound system; all chrome and model badging was deleted, wood was replaced with CF inside, and Sport Chrono (which includes push-to-pass) and torque vectoring was specified. The car has extra factory sound insulation and was immediately given 3M plastic on the front plus ceramically coated.
Disappointed at not getting factory delivery, the decision was made to ship it back.
To get a car back to Europe requires customs brokerage, transit insurance, road insurance and a reliable carrier. It also takes lots of time. Recommended transit time is six weeks.
The car has to be containerized in Toronto, sent by rail to Halifax Nova Scotia, loaded on a ship to Rotterdam, clear customs there, and then stored for delivery to Frankfurt. It is then loaded on a purpose-built truck and delivered to the hotel. A company called C.A.R.S International did all of the move with the exception of road insurance. They are excellent.
Booking hotels requires to start with an essential item - Proper parking. Forget about quaint country Inns, places that advertise “available parking” , in fact anything that does not guarantee parking.
I once had a one-day-old M6 and arrived in a quaint town to discover it was pedestrianized and had to park in a very tight space street space, then drag my case for a kilometre over picturesque cobbles and drag it up three flights of picturesque bloody stairs.
I had a hotel in Innsbruck tell me I had not booked the parking separately ( even though they had said it was available)and had to find a place to park a new (and wide) GT3RS. I have had numerous places where the spaces were too tight for a wide car.
So, hotel bookings matter.
Here we go for Frankfurt.
The trip will run across the Harz Mountains and North Central Germany to Berlin, back across the Baltic Coast and up to Denmark, back through Hanover and Cologne to the Nürburgring, then..Spa,Antwerp, Ghent., back to Frankfurt and out.
Hopefully.
07-15-2019 | 10:01 PM
#58
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,727
Likes: 110
From: Canada
https://www.carseurope.net
My contact Is Danielle Kooij in Rotterdam:
email is: danielle@carseurope.net
There are definitely cheaper options but I wanted door-to-door and total safety. They do everything, customs clearance, truck to your location,transit insurance. Most importantly thy are sure that all the required documentation if filed for quick customs clearance. They do not do road insurance of course, and you will need to have this in place before the car is cleared for customs. As for track insurance , goods luck. Generally not possible to get it as a visitor.
07-16-2019 | 09:10 PM
#59
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 4,324
Likes: 147
From: 6th gear!
What did you do for road insurance?
I have this fantasy of taking the ACR over and terrorizing Europe.
I have this fantasy of taking the ACR over and terrorizing Europe.
https://www.carseurope.net
My contact Is Danielle Kooij in Rotterdam:
email is: danielle@carseurope.net
There are definitely cheaper options but I wanted door-to-door and total safety. They do everything, customs clearance, truck to your location,transit insurance. Most importantly thy are sure that all the required documentation if filed for quick customs clearance. They do not do road insurance of course, and you will need to have this in place before the car is cleared for customs. As for track insurance , goods luck. Generally not possible to get it as a visitor.
My contact Is Danielle Kooij in Rotterdam:
email is: danielle@carseurope.net
There are definitely cheaper options but I wanted door-to-door and total safety. They do everything, customs clearance, truck to your location,transit insurance. Most importantly thy are sure that all the required documentation if filed for quick customs clearance. They do not do road insurance of course, and you will need to have this in place before the car is cleared for customs. As for track insurance , goods luck. Generally not possible to get it as a visitor.
07-16-2019 | 11:46 PM
#60
Thread Starter
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Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 4,727
Likes: 110
From: Canada
Road insurance is quite easy. I talked to my agent T Chubb here and it was arranged. Just note that there is zero possibility of track insurance.
I ran Spa and the Ring on my own dime.