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Reliving movie history on the Grand-Saint-Bernard Pass

By Budd Stanley

Who could forget the classic opening to The Italian Job? No, not Marky Mark walking through a Venetian piazza. The one from 1969 starring Michael Cain that opened with Rossano Brazzi carving his way up an Italian Alp in a classic Lamborghini Miura to the musical mixture of a Lamborghini V-12 and the song “On days like these” performed by Matt Monro. Well, that special bit of road that Brazzi was enjoying until his untimely run-in with an ill placed bulldozer, was the Grand-Saint-Bernard Pass. After my adventures on the Col de Turini (see story), I travelled north to experience the Grand-Saint-Bernard (lets call it the GSB) and ironically hit Turino at the hight of rush hour. Like Minis full of gold loot, I too struggled to get my Z4 through the endless maze of traffic filled streets, for on the other side of the city lay the alps and the town of Aosta which leads to the hidden jewel.

Linking Aosta, Italy, to Martigny, Switzerland, the pass is a much more interesting alternative to the toll tunnel that goes through the mountain. Experience has taught me when new roads are built under old ones, it’s a good sign that traffic will be light on the long road, and this was the case when I made the climb into the alpine border lands that mark the Swiss-Italian territories. Taken mid-evening on a weekday, I nearly had the entire pass all to myself, even the motorbikes and cyclists were few and far between, a trait the GSB is known for.

The route starts in the mountain valley leading north from Aosta, Italy, and begins as a winding country two-lane road. At the base of the Valais Alps, the road narrows to a single lane through a heavy wood, with rock barriers, so careful anticipation of oncoming is required. However, it all got interesting once I punched through the tree line and out into the alpine, a spectacular manmade line that traverses the side of the mountain four times before loping over the rocky crest. The expanse of the valley heeds a great view of any impeding traffic, while the narrow winding lane is littered with only a few sharp hairpins to give the driver an abundance of challenges.

Over the first crest, and I was greeted with a feast of meandering corners slowly making their way up to the famous tunnel of death just below the first peak. It is in this magnificent bowl that all the filming took place for the original Italian Job. No wonder, as this road is by far the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in terms of cosmetics, the route is a constant joyful challenge and the landscape is breathtaking. As I carved my way through the natural obstructions, I couldn’t help but whistle the iconic song to myself, with a disappointed look coming from my girlfriend from across the cabin. Yeah, it’s a cheese ball song, but at this particular moment in time, and in this particular place, no other song seemed worthy.

I have to hand it to the Italians, the condition of the road was immaculate. It looked as though it just had a complete makeover prior to my arrival. The tarmac had that fresh black color with bright white lines, and the entire route up to the peak had clean, stained-timber Armco barriers that would act more for decoration than as a savior if anyone were to leave the road. Rightly so, several pullouts have been created for drivers to take a break from sweaty palm driving, and to enjoy the rocky outcroppings, alpine meadows and brooks that make this place just that much more special. At the peak lies a mountain top lake, still half covered in ice, as well as the usual touristy kiosks, hotels and restaurants.The peak of this Alp represents the Swiss-Italian boarder, manned by two uniformed agents and a sharp looking Land Rover Defender. With a nod, I was waved through and began the decent down the Swiss side of the pass.

The Swiss side is a stark contrast to that of the Italian, as the road was very narrow and bumpy. Nerves are tested with much larger drop offs and nothing more than a few stones planted on the side of the road to keep you alive – maybe.

Arriving in Martingy, Switzerland, the end point of the pass, I had time to reflect on this beautiful stretch of road. While it may not have been the greatest driving road in the series, it still made for a truly special driving experience. Breath taking views, great road construction, history, and a great mix of aggressive and challenging driving conditions all make the GSB is a must if you find yourself in northwestern Italy, or southwestern Switzerland.

Total Distance: 74.8 km
Altitude: 2,469 m

Best time to go: Pass is only open between June and September.

Places To Stop: Pullout just over the tunnel entrance for spectacular views (27 km), Swiss Border, kiosks and Inns at the top of the Col (33 km), Pullout near tunnel ventilation shaft with a history lesson of Napoleon’s expedition and great views (36 km).

Starting Point: Coordinates 45°44′28″N – 7°18′51″E. Beginning in Aosta, Italy, take the E27/SS27 (Ave Grand-Saint-Bernard) north into the Alps. At 19 km, leave the tunnel route and follow SS27 over the pass. At 33 km is the summit as well as the Swiss border, the route then tracks down the Swiss side joining back up with the new route and continues on to Martigny, Switzerland.

Finishing Point: Coordinates 46°5′16″N – 7°3′19″E, Martigny, Switzerland.

Road Type: Smooth flowing two lane alpine road on Italian side that turns into a rough and narrow lane that slows due to terrain.

Warnings: Due to altitude and snowfall the pass is only open during summer months. The Swiss side of the pass has large drops with only the occasional stone to prevent long drops off the road.

Victorious Delage looked a vision in white

By Nigel Matthews with Philip Powell

For the first time in the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance’s 60-year history a white car won the best of show award in 2010.

A 1933 Delage took the honour at the prestigious Carmel, California, event and to be perfectly honest, I did not think the white colour scheme was going to pull it off. However, the car looked stunning and simply glistened all day on the 18th Fairway with a non-stop crowd milling around it.

A car that was born in the depression and restored in the recent recession, the Delage D8S certainly gives a new meaning to the phrase elegance.

In January of this year, at the request of Jim Patterson of Louisville, Kentucky (not to be confused with Jim Pattison of B.C.) I flew to Blenheim, Ontario to the RM Restoration workshops to view and document his one-off 1933 Delage D8S de Villars Roadster.

Patterson had purchased the car at the RM auction in Monterey during August of 2007 for $3.74 million dollars. The car was very nice and had undergone a recent restoration but it was not up to the exacting standards of the Patterson collection, which consists of numerous curvaceous French automobiles, filled with outstanding examples from Bugatti and Delahaye, as well as Delage.

Intrigued by the restoration process, Patterson thoroughly researches each vehicle’s history, and then ensures that the restoration is correct in every detail. In this instance, the vehicle’s provenance is both distinguished and brief, beginning with first owner Aurelio Lerroux, the son of Alejandro Lerroux, then Prime Minister of Spain. The second owner was a Sr. Rico, friend of Aurelio Lerroux and the brother of the mayor of Madrid.

The car then passed to the Gran Hotel Velasquez in Madrid where, oddly, it served as VIP transportation for several years. Later, it was put into storage, hidden from curious eyes for some 40 years, having had just three owners. For sheer glamour, few could have matched the 1933 Delage D8S Roadster, which was the star of the 1934 Paris Auto Salon, it then went to the Delage showroom on the Champs d’Elysees where it was advertised for over 100,000 francs, an exorbitant price in those years.

That the car was a prototype is confirmed by the Coachbuilder concept drawings, which are still with the car. Clearly, Carrosserie deVillars seized a one-time opportunity to showcase their daring concept on the new D8S chassis -the most exclusive and powerful Delage had to offer. The result is a masterpiece, the finest work presented by two of the most innovative French companies of that era. Fortunately, the car’s designers were given an outstanding platform on which to apply their artistry.

The D8S was a marked improvement of Louis Delage’s D8 masterpiece, with a lightened and lowered chassis, a shorter 130″ wheelbase, and an upgrade of the D8’s in-line, 4-litre pushrod overhead valve straight eight to 145 bhp @ 4500 rpm, enough to make it quicker than a blown Bentley of the period.

During the early stages of development, the engineering team was also designing a new military aircraft engine. Deciding to link the two, Delage asked his staff to produce a cylinder head with specially made short springs located next to the valves to help prevent breakage. Even the D8S carburetor was an aviation type, surrounded by heated oil to avoid icing. Interestingly the coil and distributor are from Delco-Remy rather than French supplier Marchal. The brakes are cable-operated although, unusually for the period, they’re vacuum assisted. All of these unique engineering features remain as originally installed and have now been restored to as new condition by the skilled RM craftsmen.

One of the design objectives was to make the hood as long as possible, allowing nothing to interfere visually with the unbroken sweep from radiator to windshield. Typical cowl vents would have marred the effect and so vents were slotted in under the hood, opening into the cowl area to supply fresh air to the cockpit.

A foolproof system assured that the vents aligned with the hood opening mechanism to prevent damage. As a further example of attention to detail, the jack is mounted securely to the steering box. A handy wrench is attached to the fuel pump. Even the headlamps are a work of art, with diffuser lines worked into the silver-plated bowls.

However, it seems likely that they succeeded in designing a car equally impressive with the top up as well as down. Inevitably not everything is what it seems in a restoration of this kind. For example, when Don McLelland, the Project Manager first examined a photo from the Paris show it became apparent that the body chrome mouldings were originally concave in shape. Yet the current mouldings were convex. As the crew disassembled the car, they noted that the structural wood below the surface of the steel skin actually had cut-outs and grooves placed by the coach-builder to fit concave mouldings. RM removed several fill-in wood pieces and repaired the steel door skins to allow sufficient room, then accurately reworked the mouldings.

Patterson’s Delage D8S has now been returned to its original white colour scheme though the finish is extraordinary, even for a renowned classic.

Writing this story and having it published in my name prior to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance presented a problem. I judge at the event and had to distance myself from any conflict of interest, despite not judging that particular class or having a best of show vote, it was simply the right thing to do. Philip Powell and I worked on this project and article and I’m happy to bring this to you today.

Philip Powell is the host of Marque1.com and Nigel Matthews is the sales and marketing executive for Hagerty Canada

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Tank that nearly stole the show

Words & Photos by Nigel Matthews

The Steamworks Concours d’Elegance, which stretched from Gassy Jack Square to the west end of Water Street in Vancouver on Sept 4th, was protected by a tank! It was all part of a very well planned display of vintage military vehicles supplied by the Canadian Military Education Centre in Chilliwack.

As you might imagine, the organizers had to answer some serious questions from City Hall before the 36,000 kg (39.7 ton) tank was permitted to place one link of its rubber tracks onto the city street.

The T-55s lineage dates back to the T-34 and World War Two. More T-55s have been produced than any other tank; production figures vary ranging from 42,000 to as many as 57,000 used by 50 countries on both sides of the Iron Curtain. It is estimated that 39,000 are still used in military service today.

If mechanical specs interest you here are a few. Torsion bar suspension, five rubber-tire road wheels are mounted per side. Unlike other tracked vehicles there are no return wheels for the tracks; the track runs across the top of the road wheels on its return.

The V-12 diesel engine is mounted transversely and drives the rear sprockets, just like the Lamborghini Muira! The dimensions are as follows, length 6.4 m (21ft), width 3.3 m (10.8 ft) and height 2.4 m (7.8 ft)

The modified VW Bus with a Cadillac V-8 engine on display half a block from the tank (pictured above), produces 20 horsepower more than the T55s 580-hp. The tank’s top speed is 50 km/pH (30 mph) with a range of 600 km (372 miles). The amour plating is 203 mm thick so door dents are not a problem, but the very small shopping mall spaces of today would be.

As I made my way down Water Street, I met two police officers patrolling their beat and asked them which vehicle on the street they would like to take home? They both replied in unison “the tank”.

Where does one find a second-hand tank? Try tanksforsale.co.uk! You might find a ‘one owner, driven only on Sundays by a little old lady’ example for sale.

Nigel Matthews is the sales and marketing executive for Hagerty Canada

Sea to Sky Classic Run – October 11, 2010

2010 Poster - click for larger version

It’s that time of year again! Winter is closing in and for many that means the days of driving their classic car are numbered. But don’t pull the cover over your baby too soon, because the 2nd Annual Thanksgiving Day Sea to Sky Run is back! Once again, this is a quick, local, and fun meetup to “give thanks” for another fine season of motoring.

What: A casual cruise and meetup with fellow classic car owners of all pre-’79 marques and types. Drive the best part of the Sea-to-Sky Highway on a quiet holiday morning, and enjoy the company of classic car nuts before you have to head off to the in-laws for thanksgiving dinner! We have planned it so that you can be back home by midday. Some of you might have done a Sea to Sky run recently with your various car clubs, but its always fun to mix all the marques together and meet new people. And really, who can say no to the beautiful views and winding turns past ocean and mountains – especially on a holiday!

This year’s event will benefit Sea to Sky Food Banks. Please bring a non-perishable boxed or canned food donation (canned fruit, veggies, tuna, etc.).

When: Thanksgiving Monday, October 11, 9:00-11:00am. (SEE BELOW for convoy meetup times)

Where: Galileo Coffee, 173 Highway 99, Britannia Beach, BC

West Vancouver Gathering Location: If you’d like to convoy with others up to Britannia Beach, we will be gathering at the Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver on the UPPER PARKING LEVEL on the SOUTH side (See image for location). The group will be LEAVING this spot at 8:30am.

Green marks the spot. UPPER LEVEL SOUTH. Click for Larger Version.

Squamish Gathering Location: For those coming from Whistler and Squamish who want to meet the others in West Vancouver first and make a drive of it, we will depart the Squamish McDonald’s parking lot at 7:20am. Otherwise, just plan to be at Galileo at 9:00ish!

Are you coming? Got any questions? Join in the discussion about this event on the forum!

A look at last year’s event…

Squamish Rumble to the Rock 2010

Morning rain didn’t discourage classic cars owners from gathering on Cleveland Avenue in Squamish for the annual Rumble to the Rock event on Sunday, September 19th. Held in conjunction with Trev Deeley’s Motorcycle ride for charity, the Squamish Classics club closes down the main downtown street for their annual show & shine. Predominantly American iron and hotrods, there is always an eclectic mix of trailer queens, rust buckets, daily drivers, and nicely patinated early-century vehicles. Here’s a few snapshots from this year’s event.

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This past weekend also played host to the 2010 Whistler All-British Run and the inaugural Rally du Chilliwack. If anyone has stories and photos from those events, let us know!

Of Women…and Ferraris

This past week an email came through my box that I just had to share. After showing a few fellow car friends, I quickly realized I had stumbled upon a piece of writing that was likely to hit home with every car enthusiast. Whether male of female, if you cherish a vehicle in your collection you can probably relate. The personal, and open nature of the email is what sets it apart from so many. Not only can we relate, but truthfully we can all learn from this too.

The discussion originally started on another event’s email list. One of the members posted to say his Ferrari would be participating for the last time, and he was likely to sell it. A brief discussion on the Ferrari ensued, and then the real truth behind it’s ‘retirement’ came out. The Italian machine was heading to storage, as his wife wasn’t too pleased about the latest purchase…another Ferrari. It was then that Scott Fisher joined the conversation. Whether your garage hosts a collection of Ferrari’s, or simply dreams of a $500 project, you will probably relate to his words. Hopefully, we all learn from them too.

…So a whole slew of years ago, I rode along with a buddy looking at a car he wanted to buy. His girlfriend was riding along with us, I was in the back seat and we were talking about the car all the way to the seller’s house; she was silent — not exactly an icy silence, at least not until viewed in retrospect.

Well, it was a smoking deal — won’t go into the details (and of course, names changed to protect the guilty and all that) — and he bought it.

And I was then forced to witness the most humiliating chewing-of-a-new-orifice that I had EVER, and have ever SINCE, beheld a woman giving to the man she was supposedly in love with. It was embarrassing, not only because of the specific and minuscule nature of the demands she made (“and would it KILL you if ONCE in a while you wore a shirt with BUTTONS?”), but because it was being performed in front of a third party.

We rode back to their place, I got in my MGB and headed back home. On the way I stopped at the local Safeway and picked up a bottle of chilled champagne, my wife’s favorite beverage. I walked in; she was sitting at the table doing some art or craft, and smiled at me as I approached her. When I held out the champagne, she beamed.

“For me?” she asked. “What’s the occasion?”

“Because you’re not Sue,” I said (not her actual name). I explained the evening, and she just shook her head sadly.

Kim (my wife’s actual name) got many a bottle of champagne over the next 20 years. Whenever a guy said he couldn’t buy a car because his wife would kill him, I’d be there. Whenever a woman handed a guy a list of things to do before he could leave the house, I’d be there. Whenever I’d read a Craigslist ad where a guy was selling his Jensen-Healey to buy a Honda Odyssey because they were expecting their first child, I’d be there. I’d be all around them in the dark.

Kim passed away suddenly last June, a few days before our 31st anniversary. Our own daughter even gave me grief for the car I purchased as Kim’s memorial — not coincidentally, a Ferrari, which is what prompted this outpouring.

So goodbye, Kim. I miss you like meat misses salt, and I owe you a posthumous bottle of champagne because our daughter isn’t YOU.

And neither is anyone else.

But it leaves me in a position that is enviable in at least one way. I’ve faced the worst thing in my life and survived. So If I ever lapse into a relationship with a woman again, and she gives me the least bit of grief for ANYTHING car related, I’ll have the strength to quietly start putting her shoes in a bag and never speak to her again.

Because if what my friends have had to endure is any indication, there appears to be a never-ending parade of controlling, joy-killing women in the world, but there’s only a finite number of Ferraris.

I’m just saying.

–Scott Fisher

Scott's 1966 Ferrari 330 GT 2+2

Fall Freeze…Frozen for 2010

The much anticipated Fall Freeze is, regrettably, frozen for 2010. While the Classic Car Adventure’s offices have been a-buzz with planning, route ideas and excitement…it’s just not feasible for the 2010 season. Why, you might ask? Well, unfortunately Dave Hord is undergoing the surgeon’s knife about 4 months sooner then expected. “It’s true,” says Dave, “a four-year old mountain bike injury has managed to cancel the Fall Freeze for 2010. It’s an old shoulder injury, one I’ve mostly ignored, but I’m at the point where even changing an oil filter hurts…so it’s time to visit the repair shop!”

There is good news, however. Two new events in B.C. are happening this fall, and both should be of interest to classic car enthusiasts. September 18th is the Rally du Chilliwack, and October 1st-3rd brings the Jellybean Autocrafter’s Fall Colors Tour. If you were waiting to hear about the Fall Freeze, you should definitely consider either of these two events! We’re really excited to see more events starting up that are designed for drivers. Additional chances to get out and use our classics can only be a good thing 🙂

Despite the surgery speed-bump, we won’t be resting here at the Classic Car Adventures’ office. Dave’s not allowed to wrench on his Volkswagen during the recovery, but he’s been given full clearance for planning the Spring Thaw. 2010 was a great year, but with six months recovery we’re pretty sure 2011 is going to be even better!