Cavalier attitude

As I began to read Richard Meaden’s review of the Ferrari Roma and its rivals (evo 290), his thoughts about immense European road trips brought back fond memories of my own one-hit journey to the south of France in the late ’80s.

Of course, it wasn’t in a vastly expensive GT car but in a Cavalier SRI 130 with Mrs Stacey, two young kids, a full-size race windsurfer on the roof rack and enough luggage for two weeks.

A Cavalier in this spec was vastly underrated, and thanks to its 8-valve motor and accompanying torque-rich delivery, even as loaded it could cover ground at speeds considered rather rapid in the day.

We drove off the ferry early in the morning and after a run down the A26 at a steady indicated 85mph picked up the Route Napoléon, one of my dream driving roads. It did not disappoint (as it has done somewhat since as traffic has increased) and we drove as quickly as I knew how so we could arrive at Rive de Loup in the Alps Maritime above Nice in the early evening. The highlight was almost running over an enormous snake on a barren mountain plateau. Lord only knows what damage would have ensued had we actually hit the thing.

We reversed the journey two weeks later, the car never missed a beat and averaged almost 30mpg.

Would I have had more fun in a costly Ferrari GT? I’ll never know, but what I do know is that it was one the most enjoyable experiences I have ever had. In recent years I have on three occasions driven the ‘pretty’ route from Santander to the Algarve and back over three weeks in a lightly modified Mk3

MX-5. Although they have been great journeys they don’t quite match up to the total commitment required to get one GM’S finest repmobiles to cover the length of France in a day. Chris Stacey