Nurburglarringythingy

Malcolm

Supporter
I went to the ring with the GTD club back in 94 and we had 9 GTDs plus couple of support cars. That was a good road trip. Spent one day lapping the ring in my GTD and it was a hoot. I had Paul next to me to co drive and we worked it so that we shared info on what was coming up. We both wanted to live so left ego's at home! There is a video of this trip out there as it was professionally filmed.

You can't learn the circuit in a day that is for sure. I have said I will never race there which I will stick to as I will never gather the required knowledge but I would go again in my own car. A freind of mine Matthew had a mispent young adult life there and knows the place intimately, both in the wet and dry. Last time he raced there he was on pole position for his class by 1 min 15 secs! Knowledge is the key and to get it Matthew says he has done over 3500 laps which includes 2 or 3 24 hour races.. I've done 8. Laps that is!
 
Mike,

At the risk of thread drift....tell us about the circumstances of driving your own car there...I assume you had it shipped from the states?

I'm a pilot for American Airlines. Things went to hell after 9/11 and I got furloughed (made redundant for you Brit-speakers) in March 2004. As part of the severance package, I was allowed to use airline travel privileges for two years. I had spent the prior full year flying back and forth to Iraq (I'm also a C-5 Galaxy pilot in the Air Force Reserve). So I found myself with the gift of time, plus a full year of salary piled up in the bank. What could be better?

Thanks to the tightness of the international Pantera owner fraternity, I had offers of surplus garage space in several cities in Europe from various Pantera owners. So I took the plunge and shipped my '66 GT-350 clone from Long Beach to Bristol Port, England. It lived most of the time in Cobham, Surrey (just off the inside of the M25, halfway between Heathrow and Gatwick), and the rest of the time it was about 20 minutes north of Charles de Gaulle airport (Paris).

I then lived like a rock star for two years. I'd fly over in first class on a 777 out of LAX, hop in my car, cross the channel and tear around the continent for a week or two, drop it in Paris, fly home, go work for the Air Force for a week or ten days, then fly back to Paris and repeat the exercise.

I can't remember what it cost exactly; I know that I had to pay about $50 each way if I flew coach; first class was a bit more, and worth it! :thumbsup:

I think I took a total of 16 (!) driving holidays in 2004 and 2005, making all the big events--Goodwood (both kinds), Le Mans, Le Mans Classic, the RAC Euroclassic, various De Tomaso events, the RAC Motoring Challenge (a brilliant two-day event that they only did once, consisting of a private track day at the Nurburgring one day, and Spa the next), plus several non-automotive driving holidays (I took my mom around Devon and Cornwall, for instance).

Alas, when my travel privileges ended in 2005, I shipped the car back to the USA. It went to Detroit for a six-month restoration, which is now in its seventh year. :mad:

The motor was supposed to run on the dyno this week, and I hope to have it back in the car and have the car back home in California by the end of the year.

It will live in California for the foreseeable future, although at some point I do hope to establish it in Europe on a more-or-less permanent basis.

One thing that made it totally fantastic was that I was allowed to keep my USA number plates on the car, as it was imported under a 'temporary importation' scheme. You know those infernal cameras on sticks that they place on the side of the road in England? They flash at you annoyingly when you blast past them going 30 (or 60!) mph over the speed limit. That flash is a bloody nuisance. I never heard a word from the authorities the whole time I was there. If you are living in England, I highly recommend driving your car wearing a USA plate. It's the most liberating thing in the world! :laugh:

Finally, here's some photos. Here it is at a deserted crossroads in rural France:

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At the Ferrari factory (on one of the RAC Euroclassics I was able to drive the car on the private Ferrari test track at Fiorano; this was taken on a previous international De Tomaso trip to Italy to visit the De Tomaso factory)

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At the Goodwood Revival:

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Rounding Hotel Corner in Monaco:

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Exiting La Source hairpin at Spa:

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In front of Chateau Chantilly north of Paris, starting point of the RAC Euroclassic one year:

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Here's a shot in front of Tintern Abbey in Gloustershire, from when I first had my car in Europe:

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The numbers on the doors were vinyl, a legacy of running track days with the Nor-Cal Shelby club prior to sending the car over. I tried to remove them, and the paint peeled off the door! :stunned: So I put them back and kept them there.

It turns out that it's illegal to drive with numbers on your doors in some European countries and England (how dumb is that?) which is why I had to cover them with vinyl roundels as seen in the photos above.

Interestingly, the German slot car company Carrera got ahold of a photo of my car, and used it to make a 1/32 slot car! They did an admirable job of it; they even modeled me accurately, as the driver is wearing my red Arai helmet and yellow Pantera Club long-sleeved t-shirt! They got everything right except the wheels; they already had an existing GT350 model with stock wheels, so they kept those instead of changing them over. Still, how cool is that?

IMG_0901.jpg


Okay, we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming!!!!! Thread drift complete; if you want to chat more about this, start up a new thread in the Paddock or Ron will chew us all out! :laugh:
 
I hired my car from SixT rentals at Frankfurt Airport, then drove out to the track from there. It was the 24hr race weekend, so no chance of a run. Having said that, I think I've run a groove in the track on rFactor...

By the way, that place has the best atmosphere on the 24hr race weekend, as I'm sure, Jim can confirm!

We'll be racing there again on October 29Th so if anyone's there please say hello.
 
If you have Gran Turismo 5 on your PS3, you can do as many practice laps as you like. It will also help you to know your way around the circuit.
I did it in a GT40 in 7 minutes and 14 seconds (on the PS3 it is) ;-)
 

Rick Muck- Mark IV

GT40s Sponsor
Supporter
I'm a pilot for American Airlines. Things went to hell after 9/11 and I got furloughed (made redundant for you Brit-speakers) in March 2004.

I had a job interview at 8:45 AM 9-11-01. Amazingly, I got the job. To start the job I flew Buffalo to DFW on American a couple days after flights resumed. When leaving to return home, I was standing in the security liine when an American captain walked over grabbed my hand and started to pump away a hearty handshake. I did know a couple of American pilots so I was searching my memory for the face. He must have seen my blank look as he told me "Thanks for flying again! I have two kids in college and I REALLY NEED THIS JOB!!!"
 
I'm a pilot for American Airlines. Things went to hell after 9/11 and I got furloughed (made redundant for you Brit-speakers) in March 2004. As part of the severance package, I was allowed to use airline travel privileges for two years. I had spent the prior full year flying back and forth to Iraq (I'm also a C-5 Galaxy pilot in the Air Force Reserve). So I found myself with the gift of time, plus a full year of salary piled up in the bank. What could be better?

Thanks to the tightness of the international Pantera owner fraternity, I had offers of surplus garage space in several cities in Europe from various Pantera owners. So I took the plunge and shipped my '66 GT-350 clone from Long Beach to Bristol Port, England. It lived most of the time in Cobham, Surrey (just off the inside of the M25, halfway between Heathrow and Gatwick), and the rest of the time it was about 20 minutes north of Charles de Gaulle airport (Paris).

I then lived like a rock star for two years. I'd fly over in first class on a 777 out of LAX, hop in my car, cross the channel and tear around the continent for a week or two, drop it in Paris, fly home, go work for the Air Force for a week or ten days, then fly back to Paris and repeat the exercise.

I can't remember what it cost exactly; I know that I had to pay about $50 each way if I flew coach; first class was a bit more, and worth it! :thumbsup:

I think I took a total of 16 (!) driving holidays in 2004 and 2005, making all the big events--Goodwood (both kinds), Le Mans, Le Mans Classic, the RAC Euroclassic, various De Tomaso events, the RAC Motoring Challenge (a brilliant two-day event that they only did once, consisting of a private track day at the Nurburgring one day, and Spa the next), plus several non-automotive driving holidays (I took my mom around Devon and Cornwall, for instance).

Alas, when my travel privileges ended in 2005, I shipped the car back to the USA. It went to Detroit for a six-month restoration, which is now in its seventh year. :mad:

The motor was supposed to run on the dyno this week, and I hope to have it back in the car and have the car back home in California by the end of the year.

It will live in California for the foreseeable future, although at some point I do hope to establish it in Europe on a more-or-less permanent basis.

One thing that made it totally fantastic was that I was allowed to keep my USA number plates on the car, as it was imported under a 'temporary importation' scheme. You know those infernal cameras on sticks that they place on the side of the road in England? They flash at you annoyingly when you blast past them going 30 (or 60!) mph over the speed limit. That flash is a bloody nuisance. I never heard a word from the authorities the whole time I was there. If you are living in England, I highly recommend driving your car wearing a USA plate. It's the most liberating thing in the world! :laugh:

Finally, here's some photos. Here it is at a deserted crossroads in rural France:

main.php


At the Ferrari factory (on one of the RAC Euroclassics I was able to drive the car on the private Ferrari test track at Fiorano; this was taken on a previous international De Tomaso trip to Italy to visit the De Tomaso factory)

main.php


At the Goodwood Revival:

main.php


Rounding Hotel Corner in Monaco:

main.php


Exiting La Source hairpin at Spa:

main.php


In front of Chateau Chantilly north of Paris, starting point of the RAC Euroclassic one year:

main.php


Here's a shot in front of Tintern Abbey in Gloustershire, from when I first had my car in Europe:

main.php


The numbers on the doors were vinyl, a legacy of running track days with the Nor-Cal Shelby club prior to sending the car over. I tried to remove them, and the paint peeled off the door! :stunned: So I put them back and kept them there.

It turns out that it's illegal to drive with numbers on your doors in some European countries and England (how dumb is that?) which is why I had to cover them with vinyl roundels as seen in the photos above.

Interestingly, the German slot car company Carrera got ahold of a photo of my car, and used it to make a 1/32 slot car! They did an admirable job of it; they even modeled me accurately, as the driver is wearing my red Arai helmet and yellow Pantera Club long-sleeved t-shirt! They got everything right except the wheels; they already had an existing GT350 model with stock wheels, so they kept those instead of changing them over. Still, how cool is that?

IMG_0901.jpg


Okay, we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming!!!!! Thread drift complete; if you want to chat more about this, start up a new thread in the Paddock or Ron will chew us all out! :laugh:

Very Cool!
 

Ron Earp

Admin
A vintage Mustang would be an awesome car to have in Europe. I bet that attracted attention, more so than the "exotics" from Italy.
 
Very cool story Mike.

I was lucky enough to do 2 laps of the ring in 1991, in my own SA registered car, although it was only a daily driver hatchback. My company seconded me to some Uk and Europeon customers of ours that year and sent my own car over for me to to use.

I enjoyed the laps, although without circuit knowledge I think the only thing I passed was a bus full of jap tourists. My passenger got out before the second lap as I was scaring him. With a full tank of fuel and suitcases on board the tail was coming round a bit at times.

I remember a VW GTI came past at one stage, 4 up and including what looked like a mother in law in the back.

Cheers

Fred W B

Edit - I found a pic to scan, please excude the dent in the door from a Rotterdam parking incident

scan%20001.jpg
 
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Mr Drew, very very cool story, in the words of Monty Python's life of brian " you lucky,lucky Ba****d" ! :)
have driven the ring a few times in a celica GT4 with 350bhp and 4wd which was quick but you do have to watch your mirrors , a gt3 porsche came past us on a sub8min lap with massive speed differential. would love to drive my v8 baby there.
 

Jeff Young

GT40s Supporter
Helpful thread guys. Yes, I do plan on ths and was not clear that I was intending to rent a car from an organization (if any) that rent specifically for the Ring (not a standard rental). Paul's post above seems to be just the ticket.

While I have a lot of competition experience in the US, I'm not looking to do anything other than cruise around at a brisk pace for a few laps to experience the Ring. I have driven it on Grand Prix Legends and will do so again before I go.

Very helpful thread again. Thanks.
 
Helpful thread guys. Yes, I do plan on ths and was not clear that I was intending to rent a car from an organization (if any) that rent specifically for the Ring (not a standard rental). Paul's post above seems to be just the ticket.

While I have a lot of competition experience in the US, I'm not looking to do anything other than cruise around at a brisk pace for a few laps to experience the Ring. I have driven it on Grand Prix Legends and will do so again before I go.

Very helpful thread again. Thanks.

Have fun Jeff - and make sure you take / fit a video camera of some description. Even if it's only for your eyes, it will bring a smile to your face every time you watch it....:thumbsup:
 
I rented a Mercedes E500 from europecar a couple of years ago (might have been pre-transponder....) and did two laps of the Ring. I smoked the rear tires pretty good, and the brakes we're definitely a bit softer the rest of the trip after that. I also jammed a whole bunch of dirt and grass into the passenger side wheel well and the vicinity with a few partial off road excusions during throttle on oversteer.

Took her back to the rental agency and paid my $49.00/day fee and that was that. I had to stiffle a snicker when the agent asked me "Have a nice holiday? Any problems with the car?" Was thinking, well, there weren't any problems when I picked it up, but there's a few problems now....
 
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