Interested in driving an old Range Rover to Florence and back? Here are a few facts.
The car – A 2009 Range Rover Diesel TDV8. Pictured here safe and sound back in the office car park, Guildford. (Looks black in this light.. but it’s Bournville Brown.)
Route – Guildford to Portsmouth. Ferry to Caen. Cross the Alps through the Mont Blanc tunnel. Down Italy to Florence. Reverse on way back.
Distance – Guildford to Florence was 924 miles.. and back again was 912. Slightly longer going out due to a ‘satnav mistake’ finding my hotel in north Italy. Total 1,836 miles.
Duration – If you’re driving solo and taking things steady then two days from door to door.
Fuel economy – Just over 30mpg. Cruised at just under 70mph.
Tolls – in France 225 euros. 188 euro’s in Italy. Watch out for the ‘virtual’ tolls from Caen towards Paris – you to pay online.
Parking – Florence has a ‘Zona Scudo Verde’.. Green Shield Zone, keeping old cars out of the old centre. Had to park 5 km out of town. Only cost 15 euro’s for the week.
Overall cost – Ferry £337, Diesel £500, Tolls £360. Total £1,197. (A similar trip by air would be around £500.)
Worst road – The A1 Milan to Bologna. Flat. Straight. Endless.
Best road – The A6 in Burgundy north of Beaune… but the Valle D’Aosta down from Monte Bianco is a something else.
Car spotting – France is full of Citroens and Italy is full of Fiats. There was a mid-engined modern-ish Ferrari in rosso red with yellow brake calipers near Modena. And a lovely Alpine A110S in that light blue of theirs, somewhere deep in Burgundy.
Mechanical mishaps – None. Apart from my rear number plate coming unstuck after baking in the sunny Italian car park. No Halfords in Italy. No specialist number plate sticky pads. But I bought some ‘bio-adesivo’ strips in a hardware store, which did the job.
Don’t do it – If you want the fastest, cheapest way to get there.
Do it – If you love driving. French and Italian motorways are quieter than the UK. Get your timing right around Paris, Milan and Mont Blanc and you’ll barely touch traffic. Glorious motoring.
Andrew Greenhalgh 