Plenty of you wrote in with your driving memories
Last month I wrote about the fact that, with making memories in cars effectively on pause, it was a time for looking back. Plenty of you got in touch with your driving memories. You’ll find just a couple of them here.
Apologies for the down-sized issue this month; we’ll be back up to our normal size very soon. Please note too that all our UK drives were conducted prior to lockdown. And please consider a subscription if you’re struggling to find us in the shops. Just head over to the www. greatmagazines.co.uk website, or you can access us on your phone or tablet by downloading our app from the Apple or Android stores.
Stay well, and enjoy the issue.
My best drive? May 11, 1983, driving from Dundee to Doncaster listening to Aberdeen defeat Real Madrid by two goals to one after extra time to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup. (Aberdeen were managed by a young chap called Alex Ferguson. Wonder what happened to him?) My mount that beautiful spring evening was an Alfasud, in a dodgy coral colour. The great part of the trip was the A68/ A696 section. The roads were clear of trac, the evening sun brilliant and the radio telling me of a footballing fairytale. At one point I was joined by a black BMW and we drove in convoy for well over an hour, him pulling away on the straights only for me and my mighty Alfa to claw him back when things got bendy. We exchanged a friendly wave when he pulled off, heading for Newcastle airport. That car, the road, the evening sunshine, the football on the radio and the camaraderie will stay with me forever. Thanks for a great magazine.
Ken Barrett
In 2008 I hired a then-brand-new Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 Roadster, in orange. After a day spent discovering the car was every bit as bananas as I’d hoped, we stopped at a set of lights. A kid, maybe 10 years old, jumped out of the car in front to take photos. He hopped back in as the lights went green. A little further on, the road was long, straight and clear. I pulled out, matched their speed for a moment so the kid could get some more photos, then held second gear all the way to the redline, full throttle. The noise was epic, and I like to think that lad still remembers the day he saw a bright orange Lambo at full chat.
Mike Corbett
A Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera, a deserted Aldi car park and an even layer of fresh virgin snow. These were the days before CCTV and, miraculously, nobody else had the same idea. So I had the place to myself – for two hours. On entering the car park I immediately found myself performing an entirely unintended 180º pirouette, confirming everything I’d ever heard about the notorious 911 pendulum effect. Two hours later however, with not a single snowflake left undisturbed, I was able to hold that car at any angle I liked, for as long as I liked. A drifting god no less, and all in second gear at no more than 20mph.
Crispin Marshfield, Bentley design manager