Tour Amalfi in an Alfa – or Rome in your ‘baby mouse’
NOT only is Italy the home of glamorous cars, it also has exciting roads on which to drive. Here, The Car Miscellany author and former Top Gear writer
SIMON HEPTINSTALL picks his favourite driving experiences.
WHEN I N ROME...
NEGOTIATING Rome’s unruly traffic and illogical road system can be a nightmare – unless you’re driving an original Fiat 500 from the 1960s.
Nicknamed the ‘Topolino’ (it translates as ‘baby mouse’), it is so small that if you open the sunroof and stand up, the car ends at your waist. It makes a charming, nimble vehicle for exploring the city. Roman drivers normally blare their horns and pedestrians gesticulate rudely, but both smile and wave happily at the sight of this national icon.
A local tour company based in a back street near the Coliseum runs a fleet of Fiat 500s. Visitors hire one and follow a guide in another. Over a walkie-talkie, he gives colourful commentaries as you explore Rome in convoy.
It’s great fun, like driving a dodgem car, and a very Italian experience, with no airbags, rear safety belts or time to practise. They simply hand you the keys and you head out into the traffic. Toot toot!
From £230 for two, driving a Fiat 500 in convoy with a guide in a separate car. rome500exp.com
ENJOY A HEPBURN MOMENT
A CLASSIC open-top Alfa Romeo can be delivered to your five-star waterside hotel so you can drive the famous Amalfi Coast road. This spectacular route wiggles along the coast south of Naples. See sheer mountains on one side and steep drops to the sea on the other. This year is the 165th anniversary of the building of this road.
Dream of being Audrey Hepburn in the Galaxy chocolate advert, which was filmed here – or Dustin Hoffman whizzing around in the same 1960s Alfa in The Graduate.
Drivers are offered period sunglasses, leather driving gloves and driving caps to complete the style package.
The antiques-filled Hotel Santa Caterina is just a short distance from the historic centre of Amalfi, and has terraces leading down to the sea.
Two days’ B&B plus two days’
classic car hire starts at £815pp. hotelsantacaterina.it/en
TUNNEL VISION
VISITORS to Milan can take a short extra tour this year – in a 200mph Ferrari. A specialist agency is offering a selection of Italian supercars for shortterm hire to give visitors a brief experience of what it’s like to drive one on the outskirts of Milan.
The experiences start from about £85 for a 30-minute trip. However, owner Ricardo Moro recommends his top-of-the-range driving thrill: an hour behind the wheel of a Ferrari on a 20-mile round-trip on a scenic stretch of motorway heading north towards the Alps, passing twice through a four-mile mountain tunnel to savour the amazing sound of the car’s engine in the confined space.
Traffic is unlikely to be a problem: Italian drivers have such reverence for the Prancing Horse marque that they often pull over to let Ferraris pass.
The tunnel route was a favourite test drive for late Formula 1 hero Ayrton Senna.
A one-hour Ferrari drive costs from £258. A video of you driving the Ferrari is an extra £129. scuderiamoromilano.com
HIGH SPEED MUSEUM VISIT
THOUSANDS of car fans visit the home of Ferrari near Modena every year. Now there is a chance to drive the cars there as well as to ogle them. The ultimate extra after a visit to the museum is to jump in a £200,000 Ferrari 458, drive to the Maranello circuit nearby and tackle five high-speed laps in the 200mph supercar.
The hour-long racetrack experience starts at about £769. motorsportmaranello.com
YOUR VERY OWN I TALIAN JOB
HERE’S a chance to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Michael Caine’s classic car caper The Italian Job, and the 60th birthday of the real star of the film, the original Mini. At the Renaissance Tuscany Hotel, about an hour from Florence, you can choose from 15 different Minis to drive around the local countryside.
Two nights’ B&B with half a day’s car hire costs from £998 per room. marriott.com